flykinetic

New to this forum and was hoping if someone could help.
Been flying with aircanada for a number of years and has been a SE for the last 4 years.
Since the start of 2015, i have realized that the ability to get upgraded to business class using the upgrade credits has been very expensive. I can only afford it like 20% of my flights these days flying from YYC to YYZ using the upgrade credits points and i have like 100+ a year. The year before, i was able to upgrade almost every flight flying from YYC to Houston.

A few friends are with United Air and they get upgraded ALL THE TIME because of their status which is equivalent to mine with AC. Has anyone switch from Aircanada to United?
What's the experience like? I'm seriously sick of AC with the stunt they pull and treating SE like any economy class customers.

Admiral Ackbar

<Grabs popcorn>

Transpacificflyer

Seriously? I'm sorry, but you need your noggin examined if you really believe that UA and AC are comparable. At best, Business class on UA is the equivalent of premium economy on AC. My experience has been that a seat at the back of the AC plane next to the stinky lav is still better than a domestic J class seat on UA. UA business class is not a good value proposition. The lounges are depressing, the service makes AC seem efficient. The UA FAs need anger management and depression counseling. I was in shock the first time I was on the "new" UA int'l business class B777. 4 seats abreast? Seriously? I expect that the people sitting in them were upgrades as no one would pay money to be crammed in like that.

I don't dispute your assessment of AC. You are right, but UA isn't going to be any better. UA and AA have to be 2 of the worst international legacy airlines in the world. Do you really want to fly on the PIA or Royal Air Maroc of North America? Have you considered Delta or West Jet?

Mozzarella

First of all, welcome to FT!

You'll find that there will be a solid split here of AC haters and UA haters. Regular posters on this board know who fit in to each camp.

I think it comes down to personal preference and your own flying pattern. Do you homework though on the UA program. It may well work for you if you do a lot of transborder or international travel, not so much if you're mainly domestic.

AC works for me right now but I should get my million mile status within 18 months which will be a great time to stop and reassess.

pewpew

This is a bit more nuanced than you like to make it sound. With respect to pitch alone, UA J beats out AC Y. Heck, UA E+ beats out AC Y.

Might you be an AC captive?

gcashin

I feel your pain. This is my first time as a SE after many years as Elite, and with the upgrade cutbacks, I think I've spent more time in economy than I did as an Elite. My spouse is a former SE who switched from AC to UA and is now 1K on UA, so I've seen both sides.

Advantages of UA:
- 100% status miles on all fares
- Complimentary upgrade eligibility; upgrade certificates can be applied at time of booking
- Easier to get upgrades due to higher ratio of premium seats
- More reasonably priced Business Class fares (UA P fares are sometimes similar to AC Flex)
- UA E+ is better than AC's Preferred seats (better pitch, more seats)
- Better aircraft on the YYC-IAH route (738/320 vs. AC's CRA)
- UA staff seem generally more empowered to make things right
- 500 mile minimum for status miles on short flights

AC Advantages:
- Generally better product (IFE, food), but UA has been improving
- International biz class has all aisle access
- Concierge service
- IKK Priority reward availability
- Better lounges

In short, I'd say AC has a better product, but UA has a better value proposition for the self-funded or value conscious traveler. Probably comes down to which airline you're traveling more. If you'd be doing more US travel to IAH, for example, UA would be a better fit. If most of your trips are YYC-YYZ, then it may be best to stick with AC for preferred seats and the very occasional upgrade.

canadiancow

Maybe I'm missing something, but how do you go from "I can only upgrade 20% of YYC to YYZ" to "I'll get upgraded all the time in United." ??

Last I checked, United doesn't fly YYC-YYZ.

gglave

I made the switch last January. I'd agree with most of the above.

RE -

There are no 'certificates' for North American flights. UA just upgrades their elites into the First Class cabin based on availability. A UA plane rarely departs with empty seats in Business.

As a lowly silver even I've been upgraded - No "eUpgrades" or any of that business.

Other advantages -

- The upgrade list is transparent, and posted. You know exactly where you stand.

- Standby on an earlier flight is free and easy, just by asking. Standby list is also published and there's none of this "Sorry, you're on Tango."

- The UA app is excellent. Seat maps, upgrade lists, standby lists...

- No $$ spend requirements for non US-residents.

- (As a Vancouver-based flyer): Service to almost all of United's hubs, with no need to fly "Rouge" or transit YYZ mid-trip.

- Hundreds of streaming movies and TV shows on their onboard WiFi entertainment system. Free for now.

yyzgigi

I will try to provide a balanced perspective as someone that is 1K and SE. Each airline has good and bad points.

If you are flying in J, AC is generally better for hard product and many elements of soft product. Crews and services are variable on both. AC does more to recognize me on board as a SE than I get as a 1K on UA, but the differences are small. Direct aisle access is important to me on long haul flights and that is a real challenge many of the UA configurations and still cannot be believe that many of their 777 are 2x4x2. I hear they are working on a new seat, so if they get right that will be a big improvement.

If you are in the back, I will give UA the push because of E+ which is great and can make even long fligths in Y tollerable. UA gives free drink chits and is also now giving free drinks to 1K so that's all good. For international flights, UA has upped the catering and has brought back free drinks so some of the differentiators are disappearing there. Same variableness on crews. If you are doing domestic flights (not part of an internation trip) within the US you won't have lounge access (unless you buy a membership or have *G on another carrier.) The preferred seats on AC are OK, but not as consistently good as E+ on UA and there are much fewer. However, I would certainly miss access to them if I were flying AC.

For the MP program, free upgrades are nice and if you are just flying YYC-IAH you will likely get upgraded all the time. However, when I fly most places from IAH (at peak times) unless I use my RPU's I'm usually so far down the list it is commical. I would say that I'm about 30% for free upgrades on my flights this year, where with AC I'm closer to 100% when I can afford to buy an upgradable fare. The 6 GPUs are nice for international upgrades, but if you are traveling with someone that is only 1.5 trips.

If you're buying cheap fares miles don't accumulate as quickly in MP with the revenue based accumulation, but it is much easier to reach the 100k as qualifying miles are not discounted.

For using points, I really value IKK with SE even at it's reducated value as I find it very hard to find saver seats out of IAH to anywhere, but you'll likely be fine out of YYC.

If all you care about is sitting in the front and you mostly do non-stop flights from UA with an F cabin, then MP is probably right for you. If you want to fly within Canada or Internationally I think it is a tougher call and you need to decide what's most important to you.

Also remember unless you can get a successful challenge those first 25k without free E+ and no upgrades are going to be painful.

gcashin

For the upgrade "certificates" I'd meant RPU's, but figured I'd stay away from acronyms. Agreed, you can get upgrades on any fare, but the RPU's are great to apply at the time of booking for longer flights within North America/Caribbean (e.g. Hawaii).

And yes, agreed with the other points.

gcashin

Good assessment. The one point that I highlighted and don't think is realistic is always being upgraded YYC-IAH. From what I've seen, there are a lot of 1K's in the back on many of these flights. A few of the flights I've done recently, it looks like almost all of the J cabin was not on the upgrade list (i.e. only showing 1-2 cleared upgrades on a 20 seat J cabin). Lots of paid J traffic and high status members on this route, so YYZ-IAH is typically a very different upgrade experience from YYC-IAH. That being said, DEN, ORD, and SFO are typically easier upgrades out of YYC on UA, and if you avoid the heavy business travel times, the chances are good.

flykinetic

From canadiancow
"Maybe I'm missing something, but how do you go from "I can only upgrade 20% of YYC to YYZ" to "I'll get upgraded all the time in United." ??

Last I checked, United doesn't fly YYC-YYZ."

I was referring to my friends on UA who got upgraded all the time but they are flying from States to the final destination. Not from YYC to YYZ.

flykinetic

Thanks for all the replies.
I'm flying mostly to the States these days...hard to find jobs in canada.
So my path is normally from YYC -> YYZ then another flight from YYZ to States.
Hopefully AC will change the way they upgrades the seats. For now, I'll look into the UA status match program and see what i hv to do to get it.

SparseFlyer

Are you sure they are getting free upgrades to J, and not upgrades to PE with rear facing seats?

gglave

You'll likely see a few immediate replies saying that UA won't status match *A, but if you search up some Altitude / Mileage Plus status match threads you'll find people who've successfully done it and who map out the steps.