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United Airlines Premier status is popular with many TPG readers, so it’s no surprise several TPG staffers are also striving for status in the United MileagePlus program this year. Whether you’re already working toward qualifying or requalifying for a United Premier status tier or considering whether doing so is right for you, this story is for you. I’ll start by giving an overview of United elite status — including its perks and the requirements for each tier — before discussing what TPG staffers shared about their approach to United elite status this year. United Premier status overview I highly recommend checking out our guide to United Premier status for all the details about benefits and the best ways to earn United status. But, especially since many of the TPG staffers highlighted in this story discuss their progress toward earning United Premier status, here’s an overview of the requirements you must reach within each calendar year. Note that for each tier, you can qualify either on a combination of Premier qualifying flights and Premier qualifying points, or solely via PQPs, as follows: Premier Silver: 15 PQFs and 5,000 PQPs, or 6,000 PQPs Premier Gold: 30 PQFs and 10,000 PQPs, or 12,000

Marriott Bonvoy has rolled out a new automatic room upgrade system, which should provide a smoother check-in process and take some of the guesswork out of complimentary room upgrades for elite members. Here’s how the new process works and what it means for you. How Marriott room upgrades work MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL Marriott Gold Elite members and above are eligible for complimentary room upgrades upon arrival, giving them access to rooms on higher floors or with better views, for example. Until recently, elite members usually had to hope for — or even request — an upgrade upon arrival, and their chances of getting one seemed to partially depend on their powers of persuasion and the staff member working the front desk at the time. The new technology will upgrade elite guests automatically before they get to the property, in theory taking some of the guesswork out of the process. The system will first approve Nightly Upgrade Awards, starting five days before check-in for most brands and three days before for Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis and Edition properties. Then it will assign complimentary room upgrades to elite members starting at 3 p.m. on the day before check-in. The process isn’t completely automated. After

Capital One offers a popular suite cards that earn valuable Capital One miles, which can be redeemed at a fixed value for travel. However, to truly maximize the value of these miles, you will want to utilize the issuer’s transfer partners. Capital One has an impressive roster of 15-plus transfer partners, both airlines and hotels, most of which transfer at a 1:1 ratio. By utilizing transfer partners, you can get higher value per mile, often beating TPG’s July 2025 valuation of Capital One miles at 1.85 cents apiece. You may be ready to transfer miles to a partner and are wondering how long it takes to transfer Capital One miles. Several TPG staffers performed test transfers and recorded the time each transfer took. Let’s dive into the results. Capital One miles transfer times For each of the program’s transfer partners, TPG staffers transferred 1,000 miles from our Capital One accounts to see how long it would take for them to show up in our loyalty program accounts. One thousand miles is the minimum requirement to make a transfer, and after that, you can transfer points in increments of 100, which is perfect for those redemptions that don’t end on a round