I am considering switching to US from UA. As a newbie to US, it appears that US Preferred status benefits are superior to UA Elite status. As a Preferred silver, you earn 50% flight bonus, but only 25% with United Premier. Also, does the unlimited upgrades given to Preferred status mean you never have to buy the 500 mile upgrade with a coach fare? Any other thoughts about the two programs would be appreciated.

I am considering switching to US from UA. As a newbie to US, it appears that US Preferred status benefits are superior to UA Elite status. As a Preferred silver, you earn 50% flight bonus, but only 25% with United Premier. Also, does the unlimited upgrades given to Preferred status mean you never have to buy the 500 mile upgrade with a coach fare? Any other thoughts about the two programs would be appreciated.

The 50% bonus will be lowered to 25% on February 28th. You never have to buy 500s on US flights, you get upgraded based on your status. However, if you fly on UA flights, you need to buy 500s.

I am considering switching to US from UA. As a newbie to US, it appears that US Preferred status benefits are superior to UA Elite status. As a Preferred silver, you earn 50% flight bonus, but only 25% with United Premier. Also, does the unlimited upgrades given to Preferred status mean you never have to buy the 500 mile upgrade with a coach fare? Any other thoughts about the two programs would be appreciated.

US Airways offers unlimited, complimentary upgrades to all Preferred members. The tradeoff is that US Airways First Class is nothing like UnitedFirst, there is just no comparison. Effective March 1 of this year, Silver Preferred members will only earn a 25% bonus for all flights. On the positive side, Silver Preferred members do get upgraded on US Airways, whereas United Premiers, on average, do not.

See the thread titled Fake Class & Recent DM Changes for more information.

I am considering switching to US from UA. As a newbie to US, it appears that US Preferred status benefits are superior to UA Elite status. As a Preferred silver, you earn 50% flight bonus, but only 25% with United Premier. Also, does the unlimited upgrades given to Preferred status mean you never have to buy the 500 mile upgrade with a coach fare? Any other thoughts about the two programs would be appreciated.

Why would you consider going from UA to US? (50% reduction in bonuses and 90% reduction in service)

United First is the best domestic FC in the industry

E+ Seating (You can still get E+ seats booking UA flights on US)

UA is investing additional money in enhancing its elite program. It seams US is degrading the program weekly.

The new US management team are not very bright. They think they have this great LCC concept when UA and all the other airlines have identical pricing.

The UA staff is much more friendly than US staff. Each time I call the MP desk they thank me for my loyalty.

You wont find table cloths, hot towels or warmed nuts on US.

I am getting some great advice on this very subject in this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=527248&page=2&pp=15

Why would you consider going from UA to US? (50% reduction in bonuses and 90% reduction in service)

United First is the best domestic FC in the industry

E+ Seating (You can still get E+ seats booking UA flights on US)

UA is investing additional money in enhancing its elite program. It seams US is degrading the program weekly.

The new US management team are not very bright. They think they have this great LCC concept when UA and all the other airlines have identical pricing.

The UA staff is much more friendly than US staff. Each time I call the MP desk they thank me for my loyalty.

You wont find table cloths, hot towels or warmed nuts on US.

Yep. I couldn't agree more. Further, UA's p.s. services are second-to-none in the US.

I still have not flown the P.S.. Everyone tells me it is incredible. I dont think any domestic US airline can compare to P.S.

I am considering switching to US from UA. As a newbie to US, it appears that US Preferred status benefits are superior to UA Elite status. As a Preferred silver, you earn 50% flight bonus, but only 25% with United Premier.

certainly, a 25% vs 50% bonus should not be the determining factor in which airline and its elite system one should choose. your home location, airport coverage, routes (nonstop vs connection), flight pricing/selection weigh much heavier. so much depends on how you fly.
assuming those factors were equal (they rarely are), decide what features of a flying experience are important to you: meals, airport clubs, ease of upgrade process, probability of scoring upgrades, mileage bonuses, etc.
when you have a list of personal determining factors, post again, but be advised there are different kinds of flyers giving you feedback: those who chase miles, others who chase status, even some who go gonzo over things like glassware-silverware/candybars/radio-channels/powerports.
there's a link in the first post you might find useful here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=517655)

No one has pointed out that as a US Silver you are unlikely to get upgraded all that often, whereas as a UA Premier/2P you have a shot at upgrading precisely because upgrades are not complimentary. Further, US has removed some first class seats from its planes, e.g., ,757, whereas UA has not.

As a UA 2P, you aren't likely to clear using 500 milers on popular routes, but you will clear on less popular routes and you can uses miles or trade for CR-1s or SWUs to upgrade.

Just my 2 cents.

No one has pointed out that as a US Silver you are unlikely to get upgraded all that often, whereas as a UA Premier/2P you have a shot at upgrading precisely because upgrades are not complimentary. Further, US has removed some first class seats from its planes, e.g., ,757, whereas UA has not.

As a UA 2P, you aren't likely to clear using 500 milers on popular routes, but you will clear on less popular routes and you can uses miles or trade for CR-1s or SWUs to upgrade.

Just my 2 cents.

Not really. US Airways Silver Preferred members stand a higher change of getting upgraded on a complimentary basis than United Premiers, i.e., even when the latter group is willing to pay for the upgrades, most of the time the upgrade goes to a PremEx or a 1K (remember that UA does not have many F seats on A319/A320 and B737 aircraft). United is a bigger airline and has by far more Premiers in comparison to the number of Silver Preferred members on US Airways. I have been on some UA flights that had over 20 Premiers.

As a Premier Exec and US Chairman's Preferred, I prefer US. I know the service stinks and the planes and seats are getting dated, but I have only been complimentary upgraded 1 time on over 30 recent UA segments, including 7 last week and 2 so far this week. Many flights even had empty seats up front. The one time I was upgraded was due to a volunteer bump and I had to ask for it. Note that I refuse to pay anything for an upgrade. Prior to bankruptcy, US upgraded me 95% of the time. As a CP, it is almost a given I will be upgraded if I'm flying US metal. My problem is that my Corporate travel agent doesn't see the impact of LCC fares...UA always seem to my fate. So I've got the worst of both worlds, flying as a US1 in coach on UA metal. Only positive is that I usually can usually get E+ rows or exit row in UA coach.

Outoftown

That's pretty much why I'm with US despite living out on a far-flung spoke of the HP/US system, fly747first. I've seen United's "elite preboarding" lines with 50 people in them at OAK. Forget First, if you're a Premier you might not even get E+ on some heavily-trafficked routes. There are a metric crapload of United elites.

I value FC more for the extra space, legroom, preboarding and drinks than for linens or fine cuisine, so as long as I'm up front a lot (and I am) and the food is at least tolerable, I'm happy with US F.

No one has pointed out that as a US Silver you are unlikely to get upgraded all that often, whereas as a UA Premier/2P you have a shot at upgrading precisely because upgrades are not complimentary. Further, US has removed some first class seats from its planes, e.g., ,757, whereas UA has not.

As a UA 2P, you aren't likely to clear using 500 milers on popular routes, but you will clear on less popular routes and you can uses miles or trade for CR-1s or SWUs to upgrade.

Just my 2 cents.
It takes 10000 miles of flying to upgrade a UA transcon if there is space available which is hit & miss. To upgrade a US/HP transcon, all it takes is luck and any status.

When I was HP silver, I got upgraded 50% of the time on my LAS based travel. In my 50k of EQM on UA last year, I got upgraded 4 times total (Hawaii trips) using CR1s and paper certificates. These were all gate-dance upgrades. In comparison, my 50K of US/HP yeilded about 50% upgrades. Sure the difference between UA vs US F product is profound. What the OP needs to decide is what features they value more in their FF program. I flew r/t to MEX on US LAS-CLT-MEX-CLT in F, CLT-LAS bulkhead. I could not ever earn enough 500 milers to do this on UA. For me, US is the way to go. I fly UA when necessary and still sit in E+.

So my basic questions for the OP are what is important to you? What will your future flying patterns be? What is your home airport? Would you rather connect in LAX, SFO, IAD, DEN, ORD via UA or LAS, PHX, CLT, PIT, PHL on US?

With this information, we can then all put our biases aside and recommend the program that is best for you.

I second the stated 2P upgrade chances...If you fly 30K with 2P status on UA with MP then you've earned 6K miles worth of upgrades with comp. 500 milers, that is a couple of trans-cons a year + maybe 2 upgrades using miles if you want to burn'em that way. No comp. upgrades and op ups are few and far between. If any, a 1K or UGS will snag it.And- 2Ps never clear on busy days, unless you're getting lucky on a 777, 767 or 757 with more C seats. You have far more potential ug opportunities on US IMO.....but UA first over 3 hrs during dinner hours = pricesless!

Thank you for all the comments. They are valuable to a newbie such as myself. Since it appears both programs have good and not so good features, I will fly with the airline that offers better schedule, connections and fare. I will join US DM to give it a try. I am fortunate that my hometown has access to 2 major airports (SFO, SJC), which will give me greater flexibility to choose between UA and US/AW. :)

That's pretty much why I'm with US despite living out on a far-flung spoke of the HP/US system, fly747first. I've seen United's "elite preboarding" lines with 50 people in them at OAK. Forget First, if you're a Premier you might not even get E+ on some heavily-trafficked routes. There are a metric crapload of United elites.

I value FC more for the extra space, legroom, preboarding and drinks than for linens or fine cuisine, so as long as I'm up front a lot (and I am) and the food is at least tolerable, I'm happy with US F.

I completely agree. What I value most is convenience (which I get with US as a PHL-based flyer) and space. And while E+ is nice, it's only more space in front of you and not to the sides of you. I like the space found in FC for my drinks, for both of us to have full armrest access, and the width available for stuffing papers, my iPod, and my laptop around me.