Action Items For United Elites – Including Saving $100!

With the end of the United elite program year upon us (January 31), there are some action items that you should take care of, if you have not already done so.

Action Items For United Elites

Unfortunately, United does not bestow either of these benefits on the United Premier Silver so these items will not be of help to you. But, if you are a GS, Premier 1K, or Premier Platinum, you can take advantage of both of these items. If you are a Premier Gold, you can take advantage of one of them.

Match Your United Status For Marriott Gold Status

Marriott and United have a partnership that allows you to use your United Airlines status to receive mid-tier Marriott hotel status – the Marriott Gold level. Now, the Marriott program year is ending as well for elite status, but, I have found that hotel status sticks around much longer than airline elite status does. With airline elite status, you drop the day after the last program year ends. With hotels, I have had the status continue for up to three years after I no longer qualified. Such has been the case with Marriott status as well. So, if you are losing your United status, you may end up losing your Marriott Gold as well, but it is worth taking a few moments to link them just in case.

Now, if you have requalified for United Gold, Platinum, 1K, or GS for this year, you will not have to worry about losing out on the Marriott status and you can match it whenever. But, if you are losing your status this weekend due to not requalifying, go ahead and match it now.

Here are the benefits of Marriott Gold:

• Guaranteed lounge access/breakfast for members and one guest (excludes resorts)
• Complimentary room upgrade
• Complimentary enhanced internet service
• Guaranteed room type
• Hertz #1 Gold membership
• Late check-out

To Match To Marriott Gold

To match your United status over to Marriott, go here. It says that it could take 7 – 10 business days but my Marriott status updated overnight. You may or may not lose the status if you are retaining your United elite status, but it is worth a shot!

Global Entry Compensation

This is the last chance to get United to pay your $100 fee for Global Entry! Effective February 1, 2015, they are stopping this benefit so you only have this weekend to register for your Global Entry compensation.

Read more: Guide To International Travel – Global Entry

Only United Global Service members, 1K, and Platinum members are eligible for this perk. To sign-up to get your code (which is basically a credit card number that you will put in when paying for your application), head over to – here. Once you request the code, it should issued within 24 hours and you will receive an e-mail to that effect. You can also return to this page (when signed in to your United account) to view the information you will need.

The United Global Entry code page for payment

Unlike the American Express Platinum perk where you pay with the Amex and get the fee taken off, you must use the payment information provided by United to have the fee taken care of. You do not put your credit card information in at all – that is what the United code is for.

If you do not yet have Global Entry, this is the time to get it if you are a United elite (Platinum or above)! For just a few minutes of your time on the application, you can get the ball rolling and then work on scheduling your interview later. But, at least it will not cost you anything to pay for the application!

If you already have Global Entry, you can renew up to 1 year before your current period (which lasts 5 years) expires. Your United code will have an expiration date on it (mine is for the end of May) so just make sure you renew and pay before that expiration date. You must request the code before February 1 to get the free $100 code for Global Entry!

Thanks to Rapid Travel Chai for the reminder of this at the beginning of the month.