After 10+ years as SE or E I'm changing to MP because:
1. Fuel surcharges on AP tickets. (a reward ticket to LHR costs $600+ and 60k miles)
2. Website issues. Too many "something went wrong" screens after entering a bunch of data. Happens only rarely on US airlines sites.
3. Availability of reward seats. I use United for their availability/low fees anyway so why not be in their program.
4. Competence of AP/AC phone agents. I've had to phone back too many times to find someone who knew how to do what I needed. In the meantime the other agents seemed to imply I had no idea what I was talking about.
5. I flew to LHR a couple weeks ago to get to 50k Elite for next year. Return flights posted but outbound didn't. I phoned and was told that clearly it was a mistake and I could expect a correction by AC within 6 WEEKS. That's not acceptable turn around time, especially at year end. I'm sure I'll end up on the phone to get the SM bonuses and correct status level.
6. AC doesn't fill the front with their best customers (SE, E) like the US airlines do.
I'll try MP for a year and report back on how it went. Sad that AC/AP can't at least solve the basic service issues.
I'm also an AP defect and now with UA MP. I agree with you on most of your points. Just to play devil's advocate though:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Agent 86
5. I flew to LHR a couple weeks ago to get to 50k Elite for next year. Return flights posted but outbound didn't. I phoned and was told that clearly it was a mistake and I could expect a correction by AC within 6 WEEKS. That's not acceptable turn around time, especially at year end. I'm sure I'll end up on the phone to get the SM bonuses and correct status level.
YMMV - but I've been calling UA on a missing LH segment that I flew back in September. First, the online form didn't work (and they don't tell you that it has been rejected). Then, getting an agent to submit the form also didn't work. Third, they suggested I fax in the boarding pass so they can manually force in the flight credit. A few days after the fax, I get an email saying that they need LH approval and it may take another 60 DAYS for that to happen (it has already been 2 months since the flight at this point in time). I called UA MP again and the nice agent tells me just to call in every 14 days to check the status.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Agent 86
6. AC doesn't fill the front with their best customers (SE, E) like the US airlines do.
Even at 1K, your spot on the complimentary upgrade list can often be outrageous. Especially on trunk routes into major hubs (SFO, IAD, ORD etc...), the upgrade list can be as long as 80 pax on a Friday afternoon, trying to get one of 8 free F seats on a baby A319. So while the complimentary upgrades are nice, you will still see grumpy 1Ks seated in Economy (at least hopefully in E+), especially if you travel at peak times. And of course, a lot of 1Ks need to "burn" their regional upgrades before they expire and even those upgrade instruments are hard to use on prime time flights.
4. Competence of AP/AC phone agents. I've had to phone back too many times to find someone who knew how to do what I needed. In the meantime the other agents seemed to imply I had no idea what I was talking about.
5. I flew to LHR a couple weeks ago to get to 50k Elite for next year. Return flights posted but outbound didn't. I phoned and was told that clearly it was a mistake and I could expect a correction by AC within 6 WEEKS. That's not acceptable turn around time, especially at year end. I'm sure I'll end up on the phone to get the SM bonuses and correct status level.
Agree with all of them, but the two quoted above are particularly frustrating to me.
I am confident in 1 of 4 AC/AE phone agents, while other airline phone experiences I could put at 1 of 2.
I don't understand why flights with Aeroplan numbers on AC metal often have trouble posting in the most regular circumstances (number entered at booking, flights on-time as scheduled). I've had nearly a half dozen that have required manual credit requests. These manual credit requests are put on hold for 2 weeks before they are processed to give them a chance to post automatically. Fortunately, they usually post after 2 weeks + 2 days rather than the full 6 weeks. Still, that has been enough delay to miss threshold eUpgrade credits and, in my wife's case, to miss the unpublished extended date for early recognition of SE-lite. Frustrating.
That said, I'm sticking with AC for 2013. My experiences are generally positive, and living in YYT does not afford me any better options/schedules for my typical destinations.
Of course, I respect your decision to change programs. Best of luck!
Programs: AC E75K HH:G National:E Fairmont:P SPG:G Amex:P
Posts: 1,220
I just did a 1 and 1/2 weeks of UA flying and have to say
#1. Their iPhone app is a great, systems in general top notch
#2. +E and J upgrading is reasonably priced
#3. UA has way way too many MP members. In MSY J was full and there was 46 people wait listed for upgrades When we priority boarded 1/2 of the people had a 1 or 2. It was funny but painful
#4. Other than MSY experience, 1 to 7 priority boarding works well. ( 2 as *A allowed me to get overhead space without issues)
#5. They have a lot of older, grumpy FA just like AC
#6. Only 1 wine choice in J, and she had to bring me the bottle as she did not know what it was, (decent Malbec) but they did keep pouring
#7. Lounge front entrance staff friendly and helpful.
#8. Lounge house wine/booze is pretty bad and premium stuff is over priced, lack of a latte/cappuccino machine sucks. Snack dispenser,crackers & cheese is weak.
All in all if my flying was not +50% Canada I would switch to UA as well
If UA had a co-branded MP credit card in Canada, I would jump ship in a heartbeat. Unfortunately the SPG conversion of 2:1 is not a very good value. So the only option to earn UA miles is by flying, which is not that attractive for me.
__________________ I flew over the cuckoo's nest...
don't care about flight redemption so it is a status/on board related decision for me. As UA only offers RJ to either Denver or ORD from YWG, I am not mad enough to commit to torture tubes by choice. Until AC messes with the mainline plane services to/from YWG, I am not looking for another *A carrier.
Programs: UA*G, A3*G, BA Silver, PClub Gold, Choice Gold
Posts: 11,808
The only reasons to stay with AE
1) most of your flight is domestic and/or you are captive in some godforsaken small town in Canada with only AC/Porter/Westjet service.
2) you are not an out-of-pocket flyer with a Tango Plus policy
3) you dont care about value of awards
OP, you will never look back.
As for upgrades, it is nearly impossible to upgrade on hub-to-hub routes via complimentary upgrades,. but thats what Regional Upgrades and even Systemwide Upgrades are for. These get priority, and most importantly at booking, you can see if the upgrade will clear.
There is no need to pay extra for Tango Plus just to have a hope for an upgrade. You just check to see if R space is availble, book the lowest fare, and upgrade using your instruments immediately
Of course you are not going to use your instruments RPU/GPU on YYZ-ORD, where its almost guaranteed you ll get a complimentary upgrade. But something like SFO-EWR flat bed service, all seats sell out in advance, and your only hope is using an instrument.
The funny thing is that most people are more or less okay with AC (compared to UA etc) but are leaving because of AE.
MP is way better than AE and is causing many FF to jump ship.
If only they hire some competent agents, get rid of scamcharges, fix their online search engine and allow accumulation on lower fare classes then most people would probably stay.
Here is hoping Altitude is a step in the right direction (experience tells me otherwise though)
I just did a 1 and 1/2 weeks of UA flying and have to say
...
#3. UA has way way too many MP members. In MSY J was full and there was 46 people wait listed for upgrades When we priority boarded 1/2 of the people had a 1 or 2. It was funny but painful
...
Did a MR with UA a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't agree more with you on the priority boarding: almost half the people were either from group 1 or group 2! It was basically a mess. Same applied at EWR, IAH, IAD and SFO.
I've been flying UA pretty regularly over the last two years, last year with as Prestige and this year as Elite.
To echo some of the earlier replies, MP is *stacked* with members; priority boarding and security are commonly just as much of a sh*t show as regular, and upgrade waitlists are huge.
The other thing to consider is lounge access. My understanding is that MP status will only grant you United Club access when traveling on an international itinerary. Access during domestic travel requires a United Club membership that will set you back a pretty penny, even if booked in J.
In contrast, my *G status with AE gets me into all the United Club lounges regardless of itinerary, and the same boarding/security/baggage benefits.
Considering how often I've been stuck with delays at ORD/CLE/SFO/DEN/EWR this year, the lounge access is pretty nice.
One bummer is that UA appears to have tightened up on complimentary E+ upgrades for *G members. It still happens from time to time with a friendly and un-harried GA, but not as often as it used to.
Programs: UA*G, A3*G, BA Silver, PClub Gold, Choice Gold
Posts: 11,808
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrDogger
The other thing to consider is lounge access. My understanding is that MP status will only grant you United Club access when traveling on an international itinerary. Access during domestic travel requires a United Club membership that will set you back a pretty penny, even if booked in J.
Your understanding is simply wrong, but it is a common misconception, as well as a futile argument often brought out by AC apologists.
Indeed UA restricts lounge access to domestic itineraries (as they should, can you imagine if every joe domestic sales had access??) However, this does not affect 99% of people in this forum, as we fly to/from Canada, and any time your journey is to/from Canada - you get full lounge access throughout your journey, even on the connecting domestics.
Count me in with the deserters. My first flight credited to MP program leaves the 28th. I was relatively happy with AC service and hard product but can't justify the outrageous Tango+ expenses, and the Scam charges any more.
The funny thing is that most people are more or less okay with AC (compared to UA etc) but are leaving because of AE.
MP is way better than AE and is causing many FF to jump ship.
If only they hire some competent agents, get rid of scamcharges, fix their online search engine and allow accumulation on lower fare classes then most people would probably stay.
Here is hoping Altitude is a step in the right direction (experience tells me otherwise though)
I used to think like mendy7511 . I've been saying for years that I love AC, and hate AE. Unfortunately, I don't think we can blame the introduction of Tango fares world wide on AE.
I have SE for next year as well as 1K with UA. I am 40K miles short of MM with AC. For next year, so far I have booked 27K miles with AC and 77K miles with UA. I would much rather stay with AC, but will now hold my nose as I gradually move over to UA.
__________________
The biggest problem with AC is they don't have a loyalty program.
When we priority boarded 1/2 of the people had a 1 or 2. It was funny but painful
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