Man flies every day for a week to see how often his $60,000 status will get him upgraded
Published on Jan 21, 2026 at 2:25 AM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Jan 20, 2026 at 8:26 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
A YouTuber flew every day for a week with United Airlines, hoping that his $60,000 status would get him upgraded on one of his flights.
YouTuber Noel Philips regularly travels by air for his channel, and this video saw him in the air every day for a week, just to see if he could get an upgrade.
Philips had spent $60,000 on United Airlines and decided to fly with them for a whole week to see if he got any kind of upgrade.
This was aimed at seeing if the $60,000 he’d spent actually moved the airline into doing something nice for a valued customer…
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What $60,000 with an airline earns you
Spending that much money with the airline got Philips into Premier 1K status, United’s top tier.
In theory, that should earn an upgrade at some point during his week-long test.
The first flight, no luxury upgrade, and he was in a middle seat on the aircraft.
On the next flight, it was the same story, no upgrade, and it was straight to economy plus.
On one of his next flights to San Francisco, he was upgraded to first class on a Boeing 777.
With a flatbed and a four-hour flight, it was a lovely upgrade for Philips.
All of which proved that if space was available, upgrades were available for passengers on the aircraft.
And it also proved that the Premier 1K status does get you perks.
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Would more upgraded flights follow?
There were, however, more flights to come for the YouTuber.
He wanted to see just how many upgrades he could get during this week of flying.
On the next flight, there were no upgrades available, so that was another markdown.
His next flight saw Philips at the top of the upgrade list, and he was indeed upgraded on this flight at the last minute.
Sadly, the cabin on this particular aircraft was a bit tired, but it was still first class.
While it was hit and miss sometimes, Philips did learn one thing.
If space is available, the Premier status with United Airlines does earn you an upgrade.
You just have to be lucky enough to be top of the list!
Henry joined the Supercar Blondie team in February 2025, and since then has covered a wide array of topics ranging from EVs, American barn finds, and the odd Cold War jet. He’s combined his passion for cars with his keen interest in motorsport and his side hustle as a volunteer steam locomotive fireman at a leading heritage steam railway in England.
