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What are the Benefits of United MileagePlus Premier Silver Status?

When you travel on domestic and international flights, often you will be offered programs that could benefit you from your regular travel experience. One such travel program that is offered by US-based United Airlines is MileagePlus. If you are a frequent flyer with United Airlines, then you must have probably heard about this loyalty travel program. Also, there are many benefits that come with it. So, if you want to United Mileage Plus program, you have to read to the end of the page.

In this travel guide prepared by Treknova, we will provide you in detail with the various benefits of becoming a MileagePlus Premier Silver member.

MileagePlus Premier Silver Status – What is it?

United Airlines offers a loyalty program called MileagePlus to its customers. This MileagePlus loyalty program further consists of several tiers of elite status that include Premier Silver, Premier Gold, Premier Platinum, and Premier 1K. Of these, Premier Silver is the lower-most elite status in the group.

However, customers can easily upgrade to higher elite statuses after successfully qualifying for the eligibility requirements.

How Do You Qualify for Premier Silver Status?

In order to be entitled to the benefits of United’s Premier Silver status, you will be required to meet their eligibility criteria. You can achieve this in various ways.

There are three ways you can qualify for United’s MileagePlus Premier Silver status. These are listed as follows:

  • Flying
  • Hotel
  • Status Match

We will explain these more in detail.

(a) Flying

In order to receive Premier Silver status, you will need to meet the requirements: 12 QPF (Premier Quality Flights) and 4,000 QPP (Premier Quality points), or just 5,000 QPP will also do.

Additionally, with co-branded United cards, you can earn 500 PQP with the first $12,000 spent each calendar year and an additional 500 PQP with an additional $12,000 in spend. So, you can earn a total of 1,000 PQP with $24,000 in spend that can be applied up to the Premier Platinum tier.

A few eligible United cards include United Explorer Card, United Club Card, United Explorer Business Card, and United Club Business Card.

(b) Partner Hotel Stay

If you already are Marriott Titanium and Ambassador elite member, you can enroll to enjoy complimentary United MileagePlus Premier Silver status. These are the top elite statuses for Marriott, so they are not that easy to earn.

In order to become a member of Marriott’s elite status, you must meet their hotel stay requirements, which include the following:

  • Premier Silver: 10-24 nights
  • Premier Gold: 25-49 nights
  • Premier Platinum: 50-74 nights
  • Titanium: 75-99 nights
  • Ambassador: 100 nights + $20,000 in qualified annual spending (in U.S. Dollars)

In some cases, you might be able to leverage a status challenge to help you climb up elite levels with Marriott. Otherwise, you will have to complete a lot of stays to obtain top status with Marriott.

(c) Status Match

Another way of qualifying for Premier Silver status is to simply do a status match. This status match for United Airlines is not very difficult to achieve. All you have to do is just submit the required form and documents, which should include your proof of status for the status match. After you have submitted the necessary documents, you may need to wait to be matched to a respective level of status.

You will then be able to keep the elite status for a short period of time. If you wish to maintain that status for the entire year, in that case, you will need to meet additional requirements.

United Airlines makes it an easier way to reach premier

After the corona pandemic, united airlines make some changes to reach premier status which help passengers to qualify easily. Here we discuss some requirements for the basis of the 2022 activity through a given table.

Premier StatusPremier Qualifying Flights/Premier Qualifying PointsOr PQP only
Premier Silver 8 PQF + 3000 PQP3500 PQP
Premier Gold 16 PQF + 6000 PQP7000 PQP
Premier Platinum24 PQF + 9000 PQP10,000 PQP
Premier 1K®36 PQF + 13500 PQP15,000 PQP

Note* PQF is based on the number of flights flown in which four flights are to be flown on united express. And PQP is based on the purchase of flight base fare and carrier-imposed along with seating purchased and upgrades

Benefits of United MileagePlus Premier Silver Status

When you qualify for the MileagePlus Premier Status program, there are plenty of benefits that you can enjoy whenever you fly on United Airlines flights.

Below we discuss some of the United Premier Silver benefits status membership.

Priority Boarding

You get the benefit of Priority boarding along with passengers in Group 2. You can also get enough overhead storage bin space. However, Group 2 passengers queue can be very long, particularly on large aircraft.

Below is the order of different United Airlines boarding groups:

  • Pre-boarding (Top tier elites, Military, Disabilities, etc.)
  • Group 1 (Business class and first-class, mid-elite levels)
  • Group 2 (Lower elite levels, United credit cardholders)
  • Groups 3-5 (Economy passengers)
  • Groups 6-9 (Economy passengers)

1 Free Checked Baggage

You get one free checked bag when flying in an Economy reservation. The standard checked baggage fee is $30 for a one-way trip, so this is an easy way to save $30 on all of your trips. You will also be able to check three bags when flying in a premium class and those bags can weigh up to 70 pounds.

Premier Access

You can enjoy Premier Access benefits, which include:

  • Priority check-in
  • Priority security screening (where offered)
  • Priority baggage handling

Priority check-in is great, as this benefit can also save you plenty of a lot of time. You can purchase these premier benefits as a Premier Silver status member.

If you don’t have elite status, you can purchase these benefits on an individual basis for each trip.

Award Travel Benefits

You will be offered special benefits when you book award tickets.

A few such premier silver benefits include:

  • Priority award waitlisting
  • Standby for international awards
  • Unrestricted access to United Standard Awards on United and United Express-operated flights
  • Better availability for United Saver Awards in Economy

Earn 7xAward Miles

You can earn 7x the miles per dollar spent on the base fare in comparison to 5x the miles earned by standard members.

Instant Upgrades on Y or B Class

You can receive instant upgrades to Business/First class when you purchase a Y or B class full-fare Economy ticket.

However, the full-fare Economy ticket can be quite expensive. It’s just like you are paying for a Business class. You might even see a Business/First class fee that is cheaper than a Y or B class fare.

Complimentary access to Economy Plus

You can add a companion who is on the same itinerary for free. For instance, couples traveling will only need one person with Premier Silver status to benefit. So, you make 2x the savings on your reservation.

Also, you can receive complimentary Economy Plus upgrades. Though there is a possibility that Economy Plus could be sold out or that you do not have an ideal seat selection, like the middle seat. But, Premier Silver members frequently receive these upgrades. The price can also vary on your selection of Economy Plus seats. For example, if you choose aisle seats in the emergency exit row, it will likely cost you more than a middle seat in the middle of the Economy Plus section.

You will be notified about the upgrade at check-in at the earliest, unlike higher-status members who receive their notifications at booking.

Complimentary Premier Upgrades

You are offered complimentary upgrades for both yourself and a companion traveling on the same itinerary to Business/First class. You will also be notified on the day of departure.

However, bear in mind that the complimentary upgrades are limited to specific routes only. Complimentary Premier upgrades are available on most United and United Express-operated flights in the following regions:

  • Continental U.S.
  • Hawaii (from the west coast)
  • Alaska
  • Canada
  • Mexico
  • Central America
  • Caribbean
  • Oceania (not Australia, New Zealand)

On the other hand, there are also a few excluded routes, which include Premium trans-continental routes for flights between:

  • Newark (EWR) and Los Angeles (LAX)
  • Newark (EWR) and San Francisco (SFO)
  • Boston (BOS) and San Francisco (SFO)

The same is for routes and long-haul Hawaii flights between:

  • Hawaii and Houston (IAH)
  • Newark (EWR)
  • Chicago (ORD)
  • Denver (DEN)
  • Washington (IAD)

Also, there are few other excluded zones, which include:

  • South America
  • Europe, the Middle East, Africa
  • Australia, New Zealand
  • Asia, Japan
  • Tahiti

If you are flying on a route that is known for heavy business traffic, you should consider your odds close to zero for this kind of upgrade.

Priority Desk Phone Line Assistance

You can avail yourself of assistance on a priority basis from the United Airlines customer help desk.

Conclusion – Benefits of United MileagePlus Premier Silver Status

United Premier Silver status members do get to enjoy a boatload of benefits, as we have seen mentioned above. These perks offered can be quite valuable, however, they may also count toward your personal travel need.

If not all, some Premier Silver status members may find these worth the gain. Also, although the upgrades to Economy Plus and reduced fees may not quite provide much value, many travelers will find the benefits to be really great additions and worth it.

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