Questions and Answers

Hi everyone! I signed up for the United Status Match Challenge 2020 and would have completed it except at least 2 business trips (4 flights) have been cancelled due to the coronavirus. (I’ve already completed 7 flights so far.) I wrote to United imploring them to take this into consideration, and received this reply:

[I]Thanks for participating in the MileagePlus program!

In order to qualify for the status match you would need to meet all requirements. We are sorry there would not be any exceptions due to current virus.

Regards,
Angel Smits
MileagePlus® Lead Representative
[/I]
This is really frustrating, given that these are global events outside anyone’s control, and we are also not allowed to participate in future challenges for 5 years. Does anyone have thoughts on how to advocate with United about this?

It’s not clear to me if the trips have been canceled because of UA cancellations or because you have decided to cancel. If it’s the former I’d reach higher using the contact list at elliot.org. If you decided to cancel you could still try but I don’t think you’d get very far. Might have better luck asking for a challenge extension rather than a waiver of miles flown. Good luck!

Technically, if you cancel business flights because the meeting/event… is cancelled, it is not UA fault. If they cancel your flights, you can ask them. You can eventually to be eligible for another status match next year (instead of 5 years)