I suppose I missed this in the "fine print" of the new and improved Dividend Miles program...

The bonus miles for Gold Prefered membership decreased this past month from the standard double (100%) to half bonus (50%).

:confused:

Yep!! More reasons to complain...not that it will do anything.

Just use whatever miles you have now, and then move over to United. From reading recent threads, they will match what you have with US, and I could be wrong but their Gold level still gets 100% miles?

Hope this helps.

Cheers

According to the web site 'premier executive' is 100%

I suppose I missed this in the "fine print" of the new and improved Dividend Miles program...

The bonus miles for Gold Prefered membership decreased this past month from the standard double (100%) to half bonus (50%).

:confused:

This supports my theory that there are FFs out there that have no clue about the reduction in benefits and will only see the change when it hits their accounts. I still think we FTers and every one else paying attention are a minority, and US has not yet begun to feel the full effects of the "new and improved" DM program. This is probably wishful thinking, that there is still some chance US will feel strong negative effects and will reconsider, but a girl can dream, can't she?

JGill, sorry you've just found this new rude reality, it has been available on the US website for some time that it's been coming. Are you also aware there is a new Platinum level above you, effectively dropping you to Silver status? At least we (I'm in the same boat) still have *Gold priviledges :(

Are you also aware there is a new Platinum level above you, effectively dropping you to Silver status? At least we (I'm in the same boat) still have *Gold priviledges :(
Only sort of. The total number of upgrade grabbing people above Gold has not changed. Those with minimum Platinum have less clout but they always beat out us Golds. I say sort of because of the reduction in Gold benefits like double miles.

Well it all depends......
My main reason for FF on HP (now US) is for free upgrades with no certs, bonuses etc. I am 6'4" with long legs and in addition I like to work on the plane. So F gives me both. Plastic wine cups etc don't bother me a bit. Funny enough the people that whine about F make me laugh as they probably hang out with our tennis court cleaning friends and are ticked because they aren't "getting the service they deserve" for free while their employer is paying for the coach ticket. :D

As for free flights, we never have used them for American domestic travel. I've always carried so many miles even pre-no expiration days that we use them to fly F or J to Asia or Europe. Given the impossible state of getting 3 J or F awards to any of these locations on the same flights, FF miles have become toilet paper for me.

What are you looking for? I need the F space, hence US is currently the best choice for me. If you want the free travel, then figure it out. IMHO US is at the mid to low point of the bottom quartile of American airlines in this respect.

Only sort of. The total number of upgrade grabbing people above Gold has not changed. Those with minimum Platinum have less clout but they always beat out us Golds. I say sort of because of the reduction in Gold benefits like double miles.

Are you saying that 75-100K Golds used to get upgrades ahead of 50-75K Golds? I don't think that's true. And now they do move ahead, effectively moving Golds down a bit.

Am I missing something? Are you referring to a legacy AW program?

Are you saying that 75-100K Golds used to get upgrades ahead of 50-75K Golds? I don't think that's true. And now they do move ahead, effectively moving Golds down a bit.

Am I missing something? Are you referring to a legacy AW program?

Yes. I can't speak about the old US program, but the old HP and the new US programs both prioritize within each level by flight activity. I believe it is flight activity over the previous 12 months, not last year's final total.

http://www2.usairways.com/awa/content/dividendmiles/preferred/upgrades.aspx#auto

I suppose I missed this in the "fine print" of the new and improved Dividend Miles program...

The bonus miles for Gold Prefered membership decreased this past month from the standard double (100%) to half bonus (50%).

:confused:
I didn't realize that it had already started. For some reason I thought the 50% kicked in for travel after June 30.

Also, does that mean that if my account shows gold as of 6/19/06, I will be gold for this year. I thought I was going to get dumped down to silver and have to reearn gold this year. However, my account still reads gold. The website reads, "We determined your Preferred status based on your combined 2005 and 2006 qualifying activity." I'm not sure exactly what they used to determine status. Did they use all of my 2005 and 2006 activity? Has this been discussed and I missed it?

Below is a portion of my UA statement. The 50% does make a difference. UA offers a lot of opportunities for bonuses. The first column is actual/second is bonus and third is total:

9-Feb-06 UA 1204 F Class ORD to PIT 500 1,250 1,750
9-Feb-06 UA 0302 V Class SAN to ORD 1,723 2,473 4,196

13-Feb-06 UA 0447 F Class DEN to SAN 853 1,603 2,456
13-Feb-06 UA 0447 F Class PIT to DEN 1,290 2,040 3,330

11-Mar-06 UA 0424 F Class SAN to SFO 500 2,000 2,500
11-Mar-06 UA 0216 S Class SFO to IAD 2,419 3,919 6,338
13-Mar-06 UA 1164 F Class SFO to SAN 500 1,500 2,000
13-Mar-06 UA 0951 S Class IAD to SFO 2,419 3,419 5,838

6-May-06 UA 0370 F Class SAN to DEN 853 2,353 3,206
6-May-06 UA 0342 F Class DEN to PIT 1,290 1,790 3,080

10-May-06 UA 0561 F Class DEN to SAN 853 1,353 2,206
10-May-06 UA 0211 F Class PIT to DEN 1,290 1,290 2,580

This is the one cut that made me switch to UA. Miles are soft dollars and to cut them by 50% didnt make sense.

Hmm. Switch to UA ??

Certainly a thought. I have the opportunity to fly UA metal around 1/2 of the time, and even so, I would get Star Alliance credit for my travel on US. I think UA is harder to upgrade, and not automatic, so it my come down to the benefit of upgrades v. more mileage.

:rolleyes: