United Airlines Ends Flight-Segment Path to Elite Status, Raises Top-Tier Threshold

07:50 PM EDT, 10/13/2026 (MT Newswires) -- United Airlines Holdings (UAL) is removing the flight-segment route to elite status for 2027, the company said on its website. Starting Jan. 1, status will be based only on Premier qualifying points earned from eligible flight spending, award travel and United credit card spending, according to the website. Premier 1K will require 32,000 qualifying points, up from 28,000 in 2026. United also said cardholders with Premier status will automatically receive 5% of the points needed to reach the status level they earned the previous year.