Originally Posted by AZ Travels the World

I would encourage you to read my message again. With all due respect, I did not come close to implying that an elite upgrade is a God given right. In fact, I said that if I were in charge at the airline I would have done something similar long before HP management did. (I just would have structured and handled it quite differently.)

What irritates me are two things:

1) We elite members, especially at the upper mileage levels, make a significant commitment to an airline in exchange for a promise that they will deliver on the benefits they establish to entice our business and loyalty. In this case, when they launched this new push on the sale of deeply discounted first class seats, they sent a very nice letter to us elite members explaining the new program and how what they’re really doing is selling seats that are otherwise going empty in order to make some extra money in tough times. Sounded reasonable. They went out of their way to promise that they will carefully control the sale of these discounted seats in order to preserve the coveted upgrade benefit for elite members.

While they may have intended to do that, if they ever did it, that approach has long sense been abandoned.

Elite upgrades at America West are now a very different benefit than they were before this new strategy was implemented.

2) Rather than simply admit that they're selling all the seats they can in order to offset fuel costs and the ridiculously low fares they must compete with, the "Customer Advocate" reportedly explains that, in fact, nothing has changed and that elite members are not being adversely impacted. If he truly believes that, he is out of touch with reality.

Doug Parker trumpeted in at least one management conference call how much money they are making from their "highly successful" discounted first class program. To think those sales are not happening at the expense of the elite members who used to sit in those seats is either naive or deceitful. Neither is acceptable.

Hp_fa, when you fly 125,000+ miles a year, you make your choices based upon the airline that offers you the best overall service and comfort with the least amount of hassle. Upgrades are a critical component of that mix for many of us. America West used to be the best in this regard, which is the biggest reason we became such loyal customers. Things have changed drastically. And while, yes, it is no doubt a function of the industry’s economic realities, that isn’t our fault. (A few of us are still paying nearly $1000 to fly PHX to DFW or $500 to fly PHX to DEN -- hardly the "cheapest seats available" on the route.) Granted, it is what it is, but we have a right to be irritated.