Mileage runs for status on United have gotten more complicated, though, because you have to work towards both your mileage total and your spending total, and wh

Mileage runs for status on United have gotten more complicated, though, because you have to work towards both your mileage total and your spending total, and while partner trips count towards both, only trips on United planes or United tickets count towards the latter. This means you either have a much more restricted set of possible mileage run flights, or the average CPM of your non-mileage-run flights has to be higher.