United suspending upgrade requests ahead of PlusPoints launch
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Come Wednesday, United’s long-standing Global Premier Upgrades (GPUs) and Regional Premier Upgrades (RPUs) will be no more, with the airline rolling out a new system called PlusPoints, instead.
As a result of the upcoming change, United will be suspending the ability to make a new upgrade request from 11 p.m. ET tonight (Dec. 3) until 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 4. It may also take longer to change or redeposit upgrades during this period, though there shouldn’t be any impact to upgrade requests made before the 11 p.m. cutoff.
Overnight, any GPUs in your account will be converted into 40 PlusPoints, while RPUs will become 20 PlusPoints Then, as of Wednesday, United Premier Platinum, 1K and Global Services (GS) members will all earn PlusPoints as follows:
- 40 upon reaching Platinum
- 280 upon reaching 1K or GS
- 20 for each subsequent 3,000 PQPs (1K and GS only)
You’ll then redeem PlusPoints as follows:
- Economy to domestic first/regional business: 20 PlusPoints
- Economy to Premium Plus: 20 PlusPoints
- Premium Plus to Polaris: 30 PlusPoints
- Economy to Polaris (Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W): 40 PlusPoints
- Economy to ANA business (G, E, Y, B): 40 PlusPoints
- Business to ANA first (J, C, D): 40 PlusPoints
- Economy to Copa business: 40 PlusPoints
- Economy to Lufthansa business (G, E, Y, B, M, U, H, Q): 40 PlusPoints
- Business to Lufthansa first (J, C, D): 40 PlusPoints
- Economy to Polaris (S, T, L, K, G): 80 PlusPoints
- Economy to Polaris (“skip waitlist”): TBD PlusPoints
While we won’t have some answers until the new program is live — how many PlusPoints you’ll need for United’s new “skip waitlist” option, for example — you can get a better feel for how the new system will work right here.
WELCOME OFFER: 30,000 Points
TPG'S BONUS VALUATION*: $600
CARD HIGHLIGHTS: up to $100 annual CLEAR statement credit, up to $100 annual LoungeBuddy statement credit, 3x points on travel and transit, 3x points on restaurants worldwide
*Bonus value is an estimated value calculated by TPG and not the card issuer. View our latest valuations here.
- Earn 30,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $2,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on all eligible travel, from subway swipes and window seats to hotel stays and city tours.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points at restaurants worldwide.
- Receive up to $100 per year in statement credits when you use the American Express® Green Card to pay for your CLEAR® membership at select airports and stadiums across the U.S. and Permissible Biometric Scanning Technology terms: eye scanning, irises scanning and fingerprints scanning.
- Use the American Express® Green Card to purchase lounge access through LoungeBuddy to any of the lounges in the LoungeBuddy network – no memberships, elite statuses, or first class tickets required. Earn up to $100 in statement credits per calendar year on your LoungeBuddy purchases.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- $150 Annual Fee.
- Terms Apply.
- See Rates & Fees
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