Grandma's Golden!

The other week, I told you that it was my grandmother's birthday and she was spending the month in South Korea where we got her 3 nights in a suite at the Park Hyatt Busan.

Well, on her flight over to Seoul, she passed the 50,000 miles needed to hit United (Star Alliance) Gold Status for 2015! This year was the first time she qualified for any status whatsoever, so hitting mid-tier Gold is quite an achievement. In fact, she's reached Gold even before my father did this year.

As United frequent flyers know, to earn elite status, a US based passenger has to hit a few qualifications: (A) miles flown, (B) segments flown and (C) dollars spent. I won't go into all the specific qualification details and exceptions - as that's been overly discussed elsewhere - but my mother earned her United Gold status the hard way.

Here's how she reached 50,000 Premier Qualifying Miles (PQM) in just 4.5 trips:

1. Seoul, South Korea (January) for 18,869 PQM
2. Phoenix (January) for 2,153 PQM (one way)
3. Sydney, Australia (April) for 19,944 PQM
4. San Jose (May) for 4,402 PQM
5. Seoul, South Korea (September) for 7,497 PQM (one way)

Now, with United MileagePlus Gold status, she will get:

• Complimentary access to Economy Plus® at booking for you and a companion, when available. 
• Complimentary Premier Upgrade confirmation as early as 48 hours before departure. 
• Complimentary bag check Check three standard-size bags at no charge, up to 70 pounds each. 
• 50% Premier bonus award miles on United flights 
• Star Alliance Gold benefits, including access to nearly 1,000 participating lounges worldwide with a boarding pass for same-day travel on any of our 25 member airlines

Well done, Grandma! Can I tag along on your next trip?