It’s time once again for a marathon travel day with a long-haul flight. This time, we’re leaving Denver and flying back to the Philippines by way of Los Angeles and San Francisco. So, 2 short flights, followed by a 14-hour+ leg across the Pacific.

Our family has been part of United Airlines' MileagePlus program and held Premier 1K status for 3 years, but the airline has made some less-than-ideal changes over that time. In this episode, we give a complete look at the 2024 status experience, from miles upgrades for the United Premium Plus cabin, to complimentary upgrades for United First Class, to how often we get Plus Points upgrades for United Polaris Business Class.

We’re heading out on a marathon journey that starts in Denver, Colorado and takes us back to the capital of the Philippines — but over the course of two full days of airports, lounges, hotels, and taxis.

The next leg of our journey is from Tokyo to San Francisco and we're really hoping that we're gonna get upgraded to the United Polaris business class. If you're not familiar with Polaris, think the private pods with lie-flat seats.

As we wrap up our 3-week, 11-flight trip in Southeast Asia, we’re beginning ending through Singapore. Heading home, we’re flying Singapore Airlines into Changi and flying United back out. Obviously, we’re curious to see just how these two airlines stack up. As Premier 1k flyers, United definitely has our loyalty, but everything we’ve heard about Singapore’s flight experience has us wondering if there’s a better way to travel into and out of Asia.

This week, Reagan is staying with her mom in Denver for school while the rest of us head out on our longest, farthest, and most adventurous trip so far. We’re about to spend 3 weeks exploring Singapore and the islands of the Philippines. This trip will mark the 12th and 13th countries and the 3rd continent we’ve hit since 2020.