Please excuse me if this is to long or gets off topic. .I am trying to give a good sampling of what was discussed plus the background....Sorry this took so long but he called very late last night and I've had a crazy day
for those of you that have been reading this since my first post, you know that this started when I had finally had enough and pulled one large chunk of business from UA. .I had sent copies of the refunded tkts w a letter to the Sales Managers in Dubai and NY as well as Jeff Smisek. .Whoever screens Jeff's emails was at smart enough to pass this up to Sr Management in sales. . .
I finally had my meeting with the Area Sales Manager here yesterday which I reported on .and then waited for my call from Chicago that finally came at 12:30AM (3:30pm in Chicago)
It was a very good conversation in the fact I thought he was very candid with me. .So much so I was kinda shocked at some of what he said (or admitted)
So that I don't end up writing a book here, I think the best way to lay this out is simply point by point. .Please note that with all I have read on FT in the last few weeks, I added a few questions/complaints as if they were my own but that really don't affect / bother me .however, I know they are important to many of you . A good example is TOD buy ups which I have not personally experienced or lost an upgrade to but it seems important
He called prepared for me as besides having my MP/Customer info, he also had my companies, my business partners and those of the employees who were on the cancelled tkts (all of whom range from Gold - 1K (our sales manager is a GS (thru pass plus) but he didn't have his info since he was not part of those returned tickets). We are not some large corp customer like the Disney co so I was surprised and heartened that he took this time with me (I was also surprised as he knew to the dollar what we have spent in the last 10 years which was a lot more then I thought. (thanks again to Pass Plus which we did not re fill this year)
On w the synopsis of my call
He let me do the talking at first and I went right into why I refunded those tickets. I explained that while I was not as loyal to UA as many, I still used UA as my airline of choice for my domestic flights and most of the international flights for my partner and employees. .While I don't usually buy full F / C tickets w UA, I have used pass plus for those purchases w a 25% discount on international F (I should not have said this as you will see below)
**the reason we chose UA was the MP program and tie in with LH. .The way UA treated its Elites BEFORE..3/3 was in my opinion better then any other American carriers, the 1K upgrades saved us allot of money and made the employees happy. (the more we flew, the more we earned and they were easy to use. .Even before UDU's those 500 mile upgrades were great as some used them and others like me turned them in for miles. .UA "HAD" some of the nicest / most dedicated CS agents around who were always willing to bend over backwards for us. The MM program was fantastic as it was truly fair and you knew where you stood know matter what (and what to expect)
I told him that my BIGGEST 2 complaints were the new computer system and how I could not trust it to keep my reservations straight. I asked him how i could be expected to run a business that way, not being able to trust an airline to get my people from A-B, with tkts that issue on time, and reservations that were not lost/cancelled (when more then one carrier is involved)
I also told him that while I know everybody has a bad day sometimes, and while it's true I have dealt with some great CS agents since 3/3, there seems to be a new policy that says its ok to be rude to passengers, it's ok to ignore them and even lie to them. .I'm a friendly guy and always have a smile on when I deal w an agent or f/a in person or on the phone but I have had more instances of employees be down right rude to me in the last 3 months then the last 3 years and while this may sound petty to some, it's not to me. . I told him that the old HNL 1K desk was very important to me and while I can't complain as some can about hold times, I can complain that the difference in agents I talk to now as opposed to then is like night and day
I talked about these TOD's and while I have no problem losing an upgrade to a full fare passenger or even a buy up to full fare, what is going on with allowing GM's to buy an upgrade out from under "us" for pennies on the dollar was bad enough but to not even give me the same opportunity was enough to make me fly ANYONE else as it really shows what UA thinks of my business (I phrased this complaint as if it was mine). It is a big complaint from the people I work with
I brought up the million miler program but while I've posted away about how angry it's made me, and important this complaint was, I decided it was kind of petty while I was talking to him so I just said that I didn't feel the new program was fare to PMUA passengers and explained why (you all know the reasons)
HIS RESPONSE....
He gave me the standard "your business is important" stuff and actually promised to have someone here in Dubai monitor our business and help deal w problems.........but then he went into details about SHARES and acknowledged its a bigger problem then they originally thought and in some things we should see improvements soon and others may take a while. .Training is a problem but within a year, as everyone is trained the same they hope to bring back some form of the 1K line
HERE IS WHERE THINGS GOT INTERESTING
He went on to tell me how UA and CO management had 2 completely different schools of thought and while it was UA's policy to award Elites with "give always" worth in many cases tens of thousands of dollars , it never has been.
CO's policy and one of the first thing top management looked at we're how to spend less money on "perks". HUHH.??? .Did he say that. .
He came right out and said that while "some" mistakes were made, many things I think of as mistakes were/are not. He said some tough decisions had to be made and if they could, they would run this airline like CO, as CO made money and UA Did not ( I am paraphrasing of course). . He turned the whole "discussion" around and asked me how I liked the Pass Plus Program (which he says will be fine tuned and fixed). I told him it was great till this year and he asked me if the 25% savings was important. . Most corp customers have a deal like this he said, thru PP for small companies like mine or Direct w the airline like Disney, etc. . he asked me what was more important to me as a business. A 25% savings on tickets or upgrades (assuming I can't have both). .Now what can I say to that. .When I pointed out that I did not see why I could not have both, that I could and have for years with PMUA or AA, he chuckled and said I made his point for him. (I asked if he was saying we would no longer get upgrades snd he said of course not, but it may never be the same as what it was at UA . He knew most of my full F business goes to EK and SQ and asked when the last time either of them gave me an upgrade? . .We agreed UA and SQ are two different animals but he scored a point. . .As I had actually anticipated, he told me the reason why less confirmed upgrades are being given is they know some of us are willing to pay for them and even if it's a small minority, it was a decision they felt was a good one
OK. This is getting to long..........what's the bottom line
- .Agreed problems w SHARES are bad and need to be fixed
- .No excuse for employees to be rude and they do know this is a problem (although not as bad as I say it is) and it is being addressed
-TOD's are here to stay but should be offered to all and they are working on fixing that (it's part of the SHARES problem)
-Ease of upgrades will never be what it was, they need to maximize profits but it will get better as the computer system evolves
-GS and Corp customers are the most lucrative and things will improve for "those 2 groups" but ALL customers are important and there is no way to treat 6 sub groups differently on board or in airports the way UA used to
-MM benefits were a strategic decision and he did not delve into it but it is what it is.
. (as my partner was within 100,000 miles of being a PMUA 2mm they will give him the UCLUB for life (and have done that for many others who were close) (great, I do all the work and UA gives him a gift
What it really comes down to is they needed a way to make the airline as much CO as psbl but without angering UA customers (an impossible task). Again I am paraphrasing
Not sure what I forgot but while not exactly what I wanted to hear, at least I felt he was honest and MUCH more candid then I thought he would be
I know I am forgetting a bunch and if I remember anything important, I'll post it
This was a GREAT call. Instead of just apologizing he actually talked to me which really blows me away
Whydid he talk to me for so long? He knew something that I don't ever discuss here on FT or on any plane. My uncle (who shall remain nameless) was one of those not very popular (HATED) C.E.O.s of a Legacy carrier in the 80's (no, I'm not Italian) and he knew this and knows him. That is why he said he was being "candid" with me.