United Airlines Silver Wings

I did join (paid for it) the life-long Silver Wings program in the early 90ies. Last year I wasinformed that the program is not offered anymore (for newcomers and for those with annual subscriptions):

Starting July 1, 2007, Silver Wings Plus will no longer offer annual memberships. And, effective immediately, Silver Wings Plus will no longer activate, renew or extend annual memberships

When I inquired about my life long privileges (that I paid for) I was told: If you joined Silver Wings before September 2005, you will retain access to special Zone Fares. You may book a Zone Fare with no booking fee online at united.com

But contrary to when I joined, the rules for these Zone Fares changed already some years ago and became uninteresting for me (only travel originating in the USA now qualify).
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Ripped off. That's what we were, Rudi. Ripped. I am in the same boat. The zone fares were NEVER good. The only thing I got was some massive number of points to join. Period.

That said, sometimes when the moon is full, I get a senior rate from United when flying to Europe. Never have I seen it for Asia. We got about $100 off each last fall. Southwest really has some good rates for seniors but no status, etc which we all love.

I get a senior rate from United

where/how do you find such senior rates? (and probably only for journeys starting in the USA?).

I often check the "65+" box on booking sites, then compare the regular adult fares. I have yet to see any difference, within the U.S. or internationally. Perhaps there might be one on full or near-full fares, though - I try to avoid those!

I have found only one European airline with Senior fares: Air France. But they display only on their French website and are difficult to purchase on-line from the U.S.

Fortunately AF still has a CTO in NYC; so I go there to be ticketed. I explain the situation to avoid the additional charge.

I have had pretty much the same experience, Efrem.

Hunki and I are also both lifetime members of UA's Silverwings. Does anybody have any idea who we are supposed to contact to get the senior zone fares?

from the Silver Wings home page

Zone Fares are now available at www.united.com at no charge. You can take advantage of these discounted fares at united.com. Zone Fares can also be purchased by calling 1-800-720-1765. The standard United Reservations Fee of $15 will apply.

but I can't find the link for such bookings at united.com

a search on UA for zone fares only brings up the following, and a click there for more information leads me back to the above (a circulus virtuosis):

1. United Airlines - Senior programs
members of Silver Wings Plus enjoy unlimited access to USA CollectionSM and International Zone Fares on United®, United Express® or TedSM flights. For more benefit...

perhaps someone of my american friends can just dial 1-800-720-1765: only asking for advice how these silver wing zone fares can be booked online?

@:-)

How do I book Zone Fares online at united.com?

To book online, you must be a registered united.com user, and complete these simple steps:

1. Log into your Mileage Plus account from the united.com Home page

2. Enter your Mileage Plus Number, password and select 'Shop for flights' from the drop down menu on the top right hand side of the page and click 'Log in'

3. The 'Shop for flights' page is displayed. Please enter 'silverwings' in the 'Electronic certificate or promotion code' field. Please enter information in the From, To, Departing, Returning and Passenger fields and choose your search by price, schedule or flexible dates, and then click Search

4. The Search Results page is displayed. If there are Silver Wings Zone fare flights available, you will see a star that indicates they are promotion-eligible. If there are no flights available that meet the criteria of the promotion you will see a message stating, "You have entered a valid promotion, but there are no eligible flights available. Please try selecting other dates."

it works (some times)

I tried SEA-ZRH return (for zone fares trips now have to start in North America, when I joined in late 90ies zone fares were also valid for trips starting in Europe) and got, for most of the dates I entered:

You have entered a valid promotion, but there are no eligible flights available. Please try selecting other dates.

and for dates that qualified I got a return fare (every thing included) in eco SEA-IAD-ZRH return of US $ 1'554 (no upgrades possible with zone-fares) which is in no way competitive with prices I would have to pay for direct flights with LH ZRH-FRA-SEA return (for the same dates) I just got a LH offer of US$1'099 in upgradable eco (tax included).

It looks like I will have to change programs from UA to LH after I get my 1,000,000 miles done. Maybe we'll be able to find less expensive seats to fly to ski destinations. :D

Cathay Pacific has "Worry-Free Fares (http://www.cathayusa.com/55plus/subdefault.asp)" for travelers 55 and older. Worry free, because you can change travel dates without charge or cancel with 100% refund. 3 US gateway cities, 13 destination cities via Hong Kong (stopover permitted). Economy only, Asia Miles accumulation but no AAdvantage miles.

I haven't compared these fares to any regular fares.

I have found only one European airline with Senior fares: Air France. But they display only on their French website and are difficult to purchase on-line from the U.S.

Fortunately AF still has a CTO in NYC; so I go there to be ticketed. I explain the situation to avoid the additional charge.I have bought them a number of times on the website with no trouble at all. It seems to me that they are only offered on intra-France flights and range from substantial savings to some very minor discounteds that allow some flexibility. I have always been able to cancel them when my plans change or when I finally land an award to the my real final destination.

When flying on a foreign airline point-to-point, it always pays to check out the local website. This is now becoming more important as the ability to land awards shrink. Sometimes you just need to take a seat to a different destination just to get across the ocean. At that stage, buying a ticket to where you really want to go comes into play.

I have bought them a number of times on the website with no trouble at all. It seems to me that they are only offered on intra-France flights.....

Perhaps my "difficulty" in purchasing them for intra-France travel is due to my lack of French language translation skills. The only times I have purchased them have been to connect with AA, L'Avion and other non-AF/SkyTeam TATL flights; and the savings were significant.

it works (some times)

I tried SEA-ZRH return (for zone fares trips now have to start in North America, when I joined in late 90ies zone fares were also valid for trips starting in Europe) and got, for most of the dates I entered:

You have entered a valid promotion, but there are no eligible flights available. Please try selecting other dates.

and for dates that qualified I got a return fare (every thing included) in eco SEA-IAD-ZRH return of US $ 1'554 (no upgrades possible with zone-fares) which is in no way competitive with prices I would have to pay for direct flights with LH ZRH-FRA-SEA return (for the same dates) I just got a LH offer of US$1'099 in upgradable eco (tax included).

Rudi,

In the past I always UGed using SWUs on Sliverwings fares. They were all W or above. That is why I used them. They were always less costly than the corresponding W fare on UA.

But I haven't used them in a while since they have almost always been more costly than the regular UGable fare of late (when I could find them). The problem now is that you must search by fauxbooking each possible flight instead of looking at a table that shows you possibilities. Since I fly for pleasure not business, a specific destination is not as important and a good fare.

UA was not interested in providing the tables any more. Probably because they would show very expensive fares and most destinations would not have any fares. I'd be curious if UA still provides SW fares to the same cities as before. I suspect that's one of the reasons the tables aren't printed any more.

It is also one of the reasons why I think SW lifetime members are being cheated. My agreement with them was based on the product in place when I paid them. They have substantially altered it with no ability to check this or willingness by UA to compensate us. Grrrrrr.

For those of you who are lifetime SW members and get a message that you have entered an invalid promotion when you type "silverwings" into the promo line: call ua.com on the phone. It took me many calls but finally somebody figured out how to transfer my lifetime SW membership into another file that is used to permit SW fares. Apparently some of us were simply not transferred into the new file when SW evanesced (well sort of).

Rudi was the LH flight UGable with UA SWUs or only LH documents/miles? I'm always a bit leery of using paper SWU to UG on LH since they don't confirm ahead of time (not to mention the hassle of getting the paper cert).

was the LH flight UGable with UA SWUs or only LH documents/miles?

I have done upgrades on LH flights only with LH coupons (rareley with LH = miles&more miles), never with UA SWU.

I stopped even trying to book any flights with UA using zone fares now - it is just not worth the hassel anymore for me. I will soon have spent all Mileage Plus miles (I am now down to some 40'000 miles with them, from formerly > 1/2 Million) and will probably give up that program afterwards and concentrate only on miles&more.

Not only the end of reasonable perks from my life-long Silver Wings status makes me giving up flying UA, it is also that in many respects I try to only fly UA on short inner US segments (UA's longhaule flight-service level is just not competitive anymore with my preferred european or asian carriers) as an extension of a miles&more transatlantic LH or LX or AC award flight (paid with miles form miles&more). I still have > 3 Million miles in miles&more left, and have also already secured life-long Senator level (StarGold) with them.

southwest has fully refundable senior tickets. i have found this very useful for booking travel to age group squash tournaments. the decision to have my age group is usually not made until about 3 days before the tournament.

the price of the senior ticket is usually not the very lowest price ticket, but is still at a very favorable price.

I stopped even trying to book any flights with UA using zone fares now - it is just not worth the hassel anymore for me. I will soon have spent all Mileage Plus miles (I am now down to some 40'000 miles with them, from formerly > 1/2 Million) and will probably give up that program afterwards and concentrate only on miles&more.

I don't blame you a bit. I recently tried bumping up this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=683851) but got no response. It's as defunct as Silverwings itself. I hope that UA isn't far behind in its expiration date but I'm not making any bets.

I was always annoyed with United's zone fares, whether SW or credit card, because they did not make sense. CA is next to Oregon, just as much as it is next to AZ and NV but OR is not in the zone so, if I want to visit my son, I have to pay to another zone. Too pricey. Too pricey anyway, as a matter of fact, to Bend, where he lives, so I always use awards. I think the zones should be by miles. The credit card zone chart, if possible, is more of a rip even than the SW chart.

dangge (swiss german) = danke (german) = thank you

to all posters here.

This forum hopefully will become a good Vademecum to look up senior benefits later.

While there are not many posts on the Senior forum, one of the reasons seems to be, that senior discounts and senior travel rules, once posted, seem to be pretty stable.

I still hope, that after more time, the senior forum might have more information and then serve me as a good and easy to find base to look up for world-wide senior benefits.

so far, while only 20 posts now, we had nevertheless 1,622 hits to look it up (and hopefully to profit from).

I'm not sure of all the details but UA has senior fares for those over 62 at least on some international fares and routes. Its 10% off for both the person over 62 and for a companion of any age.

Senior Passengers and Fares (http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/seniors.html)

Travelers 65 years of age or over may get details on fares, limitations, and any restrictions via Reservations on southwest.com, from a Southwest Airlines Reservations Sales Agent or a travel agent. Fares are subject to change until tickets are purchased, but Senior Fare tickets are fully refundable. Please see details below for tips on how to make your travel experience on Southwest Airlines even easier.

Reservations for Senior Fares are now available online. You may also make reservations by calling a Southwest Airlines Reservation Agent, or your local travel agent. Be sure to request the the Senior Fare if you are 65 years or older.

Senior Fares apply only to those in the traveling party who are age 65 or over. Southwest Airlines has other discounted fares for those not meeting the above age requirements. Some restrictions and seating limitations may apply.

If you are traveling during a holiday period or weekend, be sure to make your reservations as far in advance as possible.

If it is convenient to your travel plans, mid-day and mid-week travel times are less crowded and afford more personal service at the same price for Seniors who are traveling on Southwest's Senior Fares.

Southwest offers reservations and information services for hearing impaired Customers who have access to a TDD machine. Just call 1-800-533-1305 and a Southwest Airlines TDD Agent will assist you - 24 hours a day.

If your plans change, please visit the Travel Center on southwest.com, or contact Reservations to cancel your reservations so others may reserve the seats.

Los Angeles metro Senior fares

All Seniores (even Swiss ^ ) qualify: age 62 and over. Senior fares can bouth at any self-service ticketing machine or from the cashier (I never had to show my passport for proof of age so far). Seniors also qualify for off peak fares of 25 cents.

I'm not sure of all the details but UA has senior fares for those over 62 at least on some international fares and routes. Its 10% off for both the person over 62 and for a companion of any age.

Based on your post, sheepherder, I took a closer look at .bomb since I turn 62 in a few days. Seems like the age for Seniors is now 65+.
Copied from the search results page:

Passenger(s)
1 Senior (65+)

Also, the particular International route I am always booking was not a full 10 percent off, only about 8 percent. But I guess it will be 3 more years before I can qualify! :(