S.Bling

And when CO cuts its ties with Amex, it remains to be seen whether the Elite tie-in with Centurion will also cease...

Already they were considering dropping elite for one of the US carriers - looks like this will solve that dilemma for them without having to make the choice of which one...

I would say they could solidify the DL status and make it platinum (like what happened when US added a fourth tier) to compensate for the devalued gold status - but the focus is on reducing (or at best maintaining) US product benefits, not enhancing them (e.g. the HHonors Cent upgrade worldwide, with the noteable and conscious exclusion of USA)...

S.Bling

Seeing as both UA and CO have increasingly close ties to Chase, I'm expecting the announcement sometime this year that from 2011 there will be no more Elite Status for Cent members with the new merged Continental/United Airlines...

The knock-on effect would probably be that there will never be an upgrade of DL's gold (after adding the 4th tier) since DL wouldn't have to compete with CO's benefits offering anymore...

b8b

I hope we'll get MORE benefits soon, not less... starting to look like we're going to get less.

sirikit

Where did you hear that AMEX was considering dropping one airline for centurion folks? Although perhaps I don't get it but what is the benefit of the Virgin membership? Just accelerated points earning? No automatic upgrades = not really interested.

I truly hope they can keep the arrangement with CO/UA...to drop any of the domestic airlines means saying goodbye to a large chunk of direct routes that keeping CO and the recent UA addition for CO upgrades means to me...dropping a US airline without a sufficient replacement or drop in membership fee will likely see me going Platinum.

super-mileage-fan

This is surely one of the top issues on the mind's of the CEO's of the respective companies -- probably one of the top 3 issues related to the merger.

I will be very disappointed if they strip CO Gold status from Centurion; of course, it would be easy for me not to fly CO and UA and to fly other airlines instead.

However I would gladly give up CO Gold if they bring back SPG Platinum, that is the benefit I miss the most.

mia

Agreed, this isn't just about credit cards. This Wall Street Journal article confirms the depth of UA's relationship with Chase:

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP once again represented United, having previously worked on an aborted transaction in 2008.

They ran into a number of old faces. Lazard Ltd. and law firm Jones Day LLP worked on the transaction, reprising their 2008 roles. Continental also brought in bankers from Morgan Stanley and law firms Vinson & Elkins LLP and Freshfields, Bruckhaus, Deringer LLP.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...641113920.html

PlatHunter

Since continental status is most likely gone I wonder what centurion will give us? If I had to bet probrably nothing or maybe elite status on JetBlue based on their relationship and jetblue announcing their will be an elite status by the end of this year. While I wouldn't mind elite status (if elite status gets free extra legroom) on Jetblue since I fly them often from NYC because they have alot of direct flights to the carribean. I think most centurion cardholders would hate this and probably complain more about it then if they got nothing at all.

S.Bling

+1

And as my reply to the baited question began, the intent was "not to initiate a philosophical discussion".

Let's stick to the topic of the thread, rather than irrelevant aguments whose "curiosity is sincere"...

Mia properly pointed out the depth of UA and CO's relationship with Chase and its parent company JPM.

One would assume that the new UA will not offer Cent elite status next year, (although you can always hope this doesn't become the case) but *A gold can still be had with US Airways Platinum status. Which leads to two interesting questions:

1. Will *A Gold (via USAir) enable free checked baggage on the new UA, or will they insist that you have an elite card from CO or UA for this?

2. Will Cent (and Plat for that matter) still maintain the arrangement with CO PC Lounge access - seeing as to do so will mean broadening the arrangement and expanding access to include UA RCC Lounges?
To drop it would be dramatic (and leave only DL and AA with Plat/Cent lounges) but to keep it will be surprising too (seeing as how Amex and UA don't even cooperate on anything at all, no matter how small).
Plat membership is a very large segment of the travelling population, and it would be interesting to note whether ticketing and loyalty will be influenced by lounge access (or lack thereof).

mia

I hadn't even thought about the checked bag implications. Is US (or other Star Alliance) status recognized by either CO or UA for upgrade purposes?

We separated the lounge access topic into its own thread because it also affects Platinum cardholders:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ge-access.html

S.Bling

No, US (or any other *A) status is not recognized by CO or UA for upgrade purposes.

Curious as to why US was the party in advanced merger discussions with UA, and yet no such reciprocal arrangement existed... Yet CO and UA announced months ago (before any consideration was given to even inititate merger talks) that in 2010 there will be reciprocal upgrade benefits for CO and UA Elites on each other's flights respectively.

*A Gold status (e.g. with US) should still give you priority check in with UA and CO - but I do not believe that it gives anything that even a *A Silver would receive (as a member of CO or UA) e.g. checked luggage, priority lane screening, zone 1 or 2 boarding, etc.

I tried this recently with a short flight on US. There was no reason for me to use my US Plat number - as there was no point to be upgraded and I preferred to collect the CO miles (I will never have any US miles to redeem for anything anyway). So the booking was made with a CO number, and (properly) identified me as *A Gold... but they wouldn't let me on the priority screening lane, nor allow a free bag to be checked. I decided to take out my US Plat and ask to change the FQTV number to that - and suddenly the world was friendly again :-)
So one may assume the reverse may be true as well...

If so, DL would probably pick up a significant percentage of Cent traffic who will avoid CO/UA if they no longer receive upgrades, access, priority lane, and even have to pay $35 to check their bags in... All things that have never been the case until now with is a lot to digest in one fell swoop.

mia

When UA proposed to merge with in 2008, CO reportedly declined due to UA's financial condition, but agreed to move from Skyteam to Star Alliance. I take this to mean that reciprocal status and lounge benefits were nogotiated in 2008 in lieu of a merger, but were not implemented until CO completed the transition into Star Alliance.

sbm12

I'm not so convinced that the CO Gold status is doomed even if CO is no longer an MR transfer partner. After all, you still get US status, right?

jgsx

I assure you CO Gold status will be eliminated if the UA/CO merger gets approved. The whole CO will go away, so all status levels will too.

mia

[Moderator action ...]

Posts discussing the broader issue of Centurion's value proposition have been relocated to this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...l#post13892867

We aim to keep this thread narrowly focused on the direct effects of the CO/UA merger.

mia

What is the basis of your assurance? I don't disagree, but I'm more interested in the reasons than the conclusion.