United has an interesting way of dealing with elite status these days... sure you still have silver, gold, platinum but then you have the real elite flyers. Yo

United has an interesting way of dealing with elite status these days... sure you still have silver, gold, platinum but then you have the real elite flyers. You might be the first person in boarding group one, but you'll still be eclipsed by the 1K / Global Services / Polaris flyers who are the true elite both in status and in total dollar spend. They don't even bother to wait in line - they just show up when boarding starts and are shuffled to the front of the queue (along with a friend if they want), no questions asked. Based on those layers it wouldn't particularly surprise me if one day as a mere Gold flyer I get bumped for higher tier elite. United has made it clear total dollar spend is how they judge the true status of flyers.