United Airlines launched status buy-up offers the other week (read more here) that were ridiculously priced and made little sense.
A reader emailed us to let us know that there is an unofficial program benefit to extend Premier 1K’s tiers. You must request this by calling MileagePlus or chatting through the app.
You can access United here.
United Airlines 2025 Premier Status Buy-Up Offers: Worth the Cost?
The unpublished policy is that you can get the Premier 1K status extended once every 5 years without having to pay a fee, but it doesn’t come with the Plus Points (that you can use for upgrades) but includes all other status-related benefits.
You may have to explicitly ask for this extension, as the agents may try to prompt you to pay the cash price or what is required in miles.
As this is an unpublished benefit, the United can obviously withdraw it without any public announcements, but it is currently in place.
Conclusion
It makes sense for airlines and hotels to extend your status if you are a long-term status member and your travel suddenly drops for a year for family, health, or any other reason.
United apparently doesn’t want to make this an official and published benefit of the program.
So, if your 1K status is about to drop next week, and you have had it for four+ years, call United and ask for an extension.
