United MileagePlus (Consolidated) - My Exit Letter to United

This is the letter I wrote to the United 1K desk (assuming such a thing still exists today) announcing my plans to depart the airline.

-----

To whom it may concern,

I'm a lifelong United flyer, currently a 1K, and it looks like I'm going to be leaving United next year. I want you to know why.

Since March 3, there's been a steady drumbeat of changes in United policy which have, to my mind, devalued elite status on the airline.

These include, but are not limited to:

(1) a deceptive "free same day change" policy which ends up making changes difficult logistically and/or financially for people booked in any class besides First, Business or the highest two economy fares;

(2) the elimination of the ability of "expert" fliers to determine how many seats remain in various booking classes;

(3) an opaque and confusing upgrade policy, which, frankly, appears random or mistaken a significant percentage of the time;

(4) the elimination of two GPUs for people getting to million mile status (seriously, how cheap and stupid is that?);

(5) plans to downgrade what I considered the finest American domestic air service available, P.S. between LAX/SFO and JFK;

(6) the consistent inability of United gate, front desk and phone personnel to understand and adequately explain new policies, and the lack of anything but automated responses from 1K customer service e-mails;

(7) elimination of the ability to look at other Star Alliance flights on the website;

(8) also on the website, a much more difficult search engine for fares when travel dates are flexible;

(9) the decision to cause GPUs to expire before Jan. 31 or Dec. 31, as had been the policy on the "old" United;

(10) an app (for iPad and iPhone in my case) which crashes often enough to make it unreliable for boarding passes, and which is essentially useless for all but the simplest travel situations;

(11) unannounced and unexplained equipment changes on several flights; and

(12) flight attendants and pilots who are plainly pissed off at United management and let that disgruntlement play out in their approach to passengers. (This is not to say that I haven't also had gracious and thoughtful FAs, although United manages to make even that experience difficult. I wanted to fill out one of those "attaboy" customer appreciation things and was told I couldn't do it unless I had the employee's full name and ID. In this particular case, the employee was an attractive young woman and I decided NOT going to make her day creepy by asking for that information.)

I'm moving to Beijing, China in November, and I had fully intended to fly United and her Star Alliance partners and maintain my 1K status. I've already booked my first 2013 trips: PEK/SFO roundtrip on United and PEK/HGH on Air China, with many more to follow.

I discovered this morning that United will, for this and all other trips I take on Air China, only credit me for 50% of premier qualifying miles flown unless I fly in First or on the most expensive economy fares.

So that's the final straw. Under those circumstances, qualifying for 1K will be difficult at best and I no longer feel inclined to make the effort. There are other airlines that will value my business enough to give me full credit -- not extra credit, not special treatment, just full credit -- for the flights I make, and treat me with respect and appreciation. I'd rather go with them.

Jeff Beresford-Howe
(FF# redacted)

It's obviously too late now but you should have had it proof-read here first:

- You are factually incorrect on the following items: 1, 2, 5, 7 and 8.

- Air China decides how many miles you will be given for their flights in various classes, not UA.

- Isn't the app significantly better than what existed before? (which was...) - and aren't there other ways of interacting with the airline?

Plenty of room for debate in other areas as well but that's just a quick observation.

Safe travels on whoever you end up on ;)

This is the letter I wrote to the United 1K desk (assuming such a thing still exists today) announcing my plans to depart the airline.

...

Jeff Beresford-Howe
(FF# redacted)

Such a pity that your thoughtful letter will probably not even be read by anyone. You will be lucky to get an automated reply even acknowledging the fact you wrote.

Curious - did they change the earning rate on Air China or did you just happen to discover it?

I think that point takes away a lot of your steam. You're basically saying that you are leaving UA because you can't keep 1K status by flying on airlines other than UA. I doubt that's a segment they care about.

Star World --

1, 2, 5, 7 and 8 are all matters of opinion or personal experience which I could have but chose not to elaborate on. As such, they can not be "factually incorrect." To choose one example, P.S. service, I suppose it's possible that for some fliers, the new P.S. service is better. For me -- few opportunities to upgrade, a more crowded economy section -- it's not.

This is the letter I wrote to the United 1K desk (assuming such a thing still exists today) announcing my plans to depart the airline.

-----

To whom it may concern,

I'm a lifelong United flyer, currently a 1K, and it looks like I'm going to be leaving United next year. I want you to know why.

Since March 3, there's been a steady drumbeat of changes in United policy which have, to my mind, devalued elite status on the airline.

These include, but are not limited to:

(1) a deceptive "free same day change" policy which ends up making changes difficult logistically and/or financially for people booked in any class besides First, Business or the highest two economy fares;

(2) the elimination of the ability of "expert" fliers to determine how many seats remain in various booking classes;

(3) an opaque and confusing upgrade policy, which, frankly, appears random or mistaken a significant percentage of the time;

(4) the elimination of two GPUs for people getting to million mile status (seriously, how cheap and stupid is that?);

(5) plans to downgrade what I considered the finest American domestic air service available, P.S. between LAX/SFO and JFK;

(6) the consistent inability of United gate, front desk and phone personnel to understand and adequately explain new policies, and the lack of anything but automated responses from 1K customer service e-mails;

(7) elimination of the ability to look at other Star Alliance flights on the website;

(8) also on the website, a much more difficult search engine for fares when travel dates are flexible;

(9) the decision to cause GPUs to expire before Jan. 31 or Dec. 31, as had been the policy on the "old" United;

(10) an app (for iPad and iPhone in my case) which crashes often enough to make it unreliable for boarding passes, and which is essentially useless for all but the simplest travel situations;

(11) unannounced and unexplained equipment changes on several flights; and

(12) flight attendants and pilots who are plainly pissed off at United management and let that disgruntlement play out in their approach to passengers. (This is not to say that I haven't also had gracious and thoughtful FAs, although United manages to make even that experience difficult. I wanted to fill out one of those "attaboy" customer appreciation things and was told I couldn't do it unless I had the employee's full name and ID. In this particular case, the employee was an attractive young woman and I decided NOT going to make her day creepy by asking for that information.)

I'm moving to Beijing, China in November, and I had fully intended to fly United and her Star Alliance partners and maintain my 1K status. I've already booked my first 2013 trips: PEK/SFO roundtrip on United and PEK/HGH on Air China, with many more to follow.

I discovered this morning that United will, for this and all other trips I take on Air China, only credit me for 50% of premier qualifying miles flown unless I fly in First or on the most expensive economy fares.

So that's the final straw. Under those circumstances, qualifying for 1K will be difficult at best and I no longer feel inclined to make the effort. There are other airlines that will value my business enough to give me full credit -- not extra credit, not special treatment, just full credit -- for the flights I make, and treat me with respect and appreciation. I'd rather go with them.

Jeff Beresford-Howe
(FF# redacted)

To be fair, I think the mileage credit issue is a decision by Air China, not UA. And for the record, the partner award credit for Asian carriers is generally pretty bad. Oneworld is about as bad as *A on that score.

Our future lies in valuing loyalty as much as the carriers do (i.e., incidentally and accidentally) and just booking the cheapest ticket. If you want free bags and priority boarding, get a credit card. If you want to get through security more quickly, sign up for PreCheck and Clear (overseas you're SOL in almost all cases no matter what you do, but security in the better airports is actually fine and no elite stuff is needed).

mitchmu --

As someone who rarely took Air China domestic (that is, in China), I don't know what the earning rate on United was before. I just know that as an incoming resident of Beijing, it suddenly matters to me now and I don't like it.

And no, I don't think they changed the policy after I booked; I think I just didn't notice it.

So many incorrect statements in this letter that I doubt it will be read by some assistant to an assistant & filed away for ever. Just a few observations. E flyer is back online & we can now see upgrade able space again, As someone else pointed out, Air China decides how many miles you get, not UA. You say you fly on the cheapest fares (or else you'd get full credit w Air China) & complain about upgrades. I find it curious why anyone who flys on just the cheapest fares would think UA cares about how hard an upgrade is to get.

Star World --

1, 2, 5, 7 and 8 are all matters of opinion or personal experience which I could have but chose not to elaborate on. As such, they can not be "factually incorrect." To choose one example, P.S. service, I suppose it's possible that for some fliers, the new P.S. service is better. For me -- few opportunities to upgrade, a more crowded economy section -- it's not.

No, they are factually incorrect because you restricted scope of them.

1. I have done SDC changes nine times this year. All on G or L fares.

2. One can always do this with R lookups - and this hasn't gone away.

5. Elimination of the relatively unused F class is not a downgrade.

7. I don't even need to defend this one, do I? I booked my honeymoon on
OS and AC all on the website.

8. Let's see - click flexible dates, pick the green shaded dates.

What makes your argument even less compelling is your ranking. To place item 1 first - really? 3 and 6 are "real" and far more distressing.

Star World --

1, 2, 5, 7 and 8 are all matters of opinion or personal experience which I could have but chose not to elaborate on. As such, they can not be "factually incorrect." To choose one example, P.S. service, I suppose it's possible that for some fliers, the new P.S. service is better. For me -- few opportunities to upgrade, a more crowded economy section -- it's not.

They certainly can be factually incorrect if you arrive at the conclusion using false assumptions. I'll give you the P.S. point - to many people, the introduction of modern, flat-bed seats is a major step forward, so it is a matter of personal preference.

The easiest example of where you are factually incorrect is 7.

On 1, I just don't think you know how it works. You absolutely don't have to be on expensive fare classes to take advantage of SDC. In fact, you'll benefit more when you're on those fares because the regular change fees are higher. It is vastly better than any change policy offered by any of UA's competitors anywhere.

On 2 you're just being willfully ignorant of the recent developments there and alternative ways of finding this information.

On 8, again, I think you may not know how to do this, resulting in what you posted.

What makes your argument even less compelling is your ranking. To place item 1 first - really? 3 and 6 are "real" and far more distressing.

:D Absolutely. Pointing out one of the features of the airline that is almost unanimously agreed to be great as the no. 1 reason you're leaving...?

Why post here? This is a guy who has made up his mind. Wait until he sees what happens on DL or US or AA or whatever they're going to call it.

He also ignores the fundamental reality that it's of course harder to change inflexible tickets. That's because people pay a premium for flexibility. Nobody in their right mind would pay for flexibility if they could freeload it.

And finally, OP ignores the ultimate new benefit which, in his case is the M-UP, jumping him ahead of even GS if he books 121+ hours out.

Guess it's the A-line or whatever 2nd grade term WN uses for its kettles.

I am in agreement with most of the responses. I suggest that if you want to leave UA, go for it. Rant on FT? Great. And some of the points you bring up are certainly valid. However several others are at a minimum debatable or just plain wrong. Since this is the case, it is probably better for you to just leave without writing the letter.

In addition to the other responses, my iPhone app crashes very occasionally - id say for the amount I use it, certainly no more often then others.

Other of the complaints on here, you're not going to be doing any better elsewhere.

After your posting, hope you feel better, now.

I would think that UA and each *A partner would mutually negotiate the percentages of RDM and EQM earnings on the different fare classes. Can it really be true that UA merely sends a list of fare classes to each alliance partner, and receives a reply with the partner's unilaterally-determined earnings rates? :confused:

2 and 7 are not matters of opinion.

Unless you are referring specifically to the decision to temporarily remove expert mode, even though it is coming back, then 2 is wrong (or will be by the end of the month).

7 is also wrong, unless you want to rephrase it as a "less than perfectly smooth implementation" of OAL choices, in which case I'd agree. Though I'd point out that sUA avoided this problem nicely by just not offering the option, at least until right before the merger.

mitchmu --

As someone who rarely took Air China domestic (that is, in China), I don't know what the earning rate on United was before. I just know that as an incoming resident of Beijing, it suddenly matters to me now and I don't like it.

And no, I don't think they changed the policy after I booked; I think I just didn't notice it.

So, what you're really saying is that you're leaving UA b/c you're moving to China and UA doesn't make sense for your expected flight patterns ex-China.

Not sure why you think they care about this scenario when they have outright hostility towards their best customers - people who pay good money to fly on UA metal 100% of the time.

#4.. there were 3 GPU's given to people who hit MM status (not 2).. and then 2 RPU's annually after that which were taken away.

The items are not intended to be ranked in any particular order. My apologies if it appeared that way.

If there is in fact a way now to see the number of seats left in any particular booking class, then I guess I'm wrong. The last couple of times I tried to do it, there wasn't. There have been a lot of changes, including the at least temporary inability track availability in booking classes, and I can't keep up with all of them.

I stand by what I said about same day changes. I have quite a bit of experience with this and it's fair to say the process is vastly more complicated than it needs to be. YMMV (literally) -- my route and timing experience are likely different from yours.

In terms of international flights, I take them a lot and it's my experience that the site just doesn't have the same kind of access to other Star Alliance flights that it used to.

In terms of searching for flights on flexible dates, again, the old United system was obviously better. You're entitled to disagree, but boy, I don't understand how.

If he is moving to Beijing how would UA be able to be his first choice?

Personally I think UA has a lot to improve on but paying ~1500+ Business RT to Asia (W+GPU) is extremely valuable to me.

I would think that UA and each *A partner would mutually negotiate the percentages of RDM and EQM earnings on the different fare classes. Can it really be true that UA merely sends a list of fare classes to each alliance partner, and receives a reply with the partner's unilaterally-determined earnings rates? :confused:

I'd guess the way could work is that each *A carrier decides for themselves the price of an EQM for their programs, and then, if a partner wants to offer EQM to a flyer from another carrier, they have to pay that price. Based on that, each partner does their own economic analysis, and decides how many EQMs they want to offer to PAX from partner airlines at each fare class. A carrier might conclude that it's worth offering EQMs because that will produce incremental revenue. Another carrier might decide that EQMs are more expensive than the value of the incremental revenue they produce. In the case of NH and LH, where they have rev-share agreements with UA, there's probably another layer of negotiation where UA gives a discount on the price charged for an EQM since UA is getting part of the revenue.

All above is just a hypothesis. Curious if anyone knows how it really works?

If he is moving to Beijing how would UA be able to be his first choice?

Personally I think UA has a lot to improve on but paying ~1500+ Business RT to Asia (W+GPU) is extremely valuable to me.

UA could be first choice for someone living in China if their job involved more travel to-from and within US than any other destination. Someone working at a Chinese office of a US corporation, for example, might end up with this pattern.

(seriously, how cheap and stupid is that?);


Not the best way to have ones letter taken seriously.


...thoughtful letter...

Really.


No, they are factually incorrect because you restricted scope of them.

1. I have done SDC changes nine times this year. All on G or L fares.

2. One can always do this with R lookups - and this hasn't gone away.

5. Elimination of the relatively unused F class is not a downgrade.

7. I don't even need to defend this one, do I? I booked my honeymoon on
OS and AC all on the website.

8. Let's see - click flexible dates, pick the green shaded dates.

What makes your argument even less compelling is your ranking. To place item 1 first - really? 3 and 6 are "real" and far more distressing.

+ 1 ^. I have done a bunch of SDC's this year on bottom of the barrel economy fares, and also booked an award trip on UA, OZ, SQ, TG on the same Itin!

Way to sum it all up.

I would think that UA and each *A partner would mutually negotiate the percentages of RDM and EQM earnings on the different fare classes. Can it really be true that UA merely sends a list of fare classes to each alliance partner, and receives a reply with the partner's unilaterally-determined earnings rates? :confused:
Can anyone say antitrust? If the carriers colluded on awards by fare class, you can bet that *A would be ancient history. The alliances have carefully negotiated contracts which are presented to competition regulators. I would be shocked if any *A could get what's proposed approved.

Can anyone say antitrust? If the carriers colluded on awards by fare class, you can bet that *A would be ancient history. The alliances have carefully negotiated contracts which are presented to competition regulators. I would be shocked if any *A could get what's proposed approved.

There are some interesting exceptions to antitrust law for airlines.

http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/eag/267513.htm

Guess it's the A-line or whatever 2nd grade term WN uses for its kettles.

I believe that the terms used are "passengers" and "customers."

I stand by what I said about same day changes. I have quite a bit of experience with this and it's fair to say the process is vastly more complicated than it needs to be. YMMV (literally) -- my route and timing experience are likely different from yours.

You have me intrigued now. I know the system very well, and have used it for several years before and after the merger in its various guises.

I honestly don't see how you believe it is complicated:

- At T-24, you can check in. There's a "change flights" button that will list any flight that has availability in your fare class that leaves in the next 24 hours. You can revisit this page as many times as you want between then and when your original flight leaves to see if anything has opened up.

- Unless a flight is completely full, all fare classes will open up approx. 3 hours before it departs, if it hasn't already opened up. I think this may be where you're getting confused. The fact that an L fare requires an advance purchase of x days doesn't mean you can't do an SDC on an L fare. They open up all the buckets specifically for SDC.

- You can call if you want more obscure routings that aren't shown on the website.

- You can standby for a later flight regardless of your fare, if availability doesn't open up in your fare bucket (which means the flight is full or close to full). Go to GA or TA at the airport, ask to be put on standby.

I don't know, but seems to me that once you tell them that you're gone, "YOU'RE GONE", as far as they're concerned. With this new regime, I wouldn't expect any response, especially after you've told them how screwed up they are. A lot of time spent typing a letter that will be sent to the round file.

If it means anything however, there will always be the same folks on FT that will congratulate you for your bravado. Check back in once in a while to see how we're doing, if you would, and please let us know how the change works out for you!

I don't know, but seems to me that once you tell them that you're gone, "YOU'RE GONE", as far as they're concerned. With this new regime, I wouldn't expect any response, especially after you've told them how screwed up they are. A lot of time spent typing a letter that will be sent to the round file.

If it means anything however, there will always be the same folks on FT that will congratulate you for your bravado. Check back in once in a while to see how we're doing, if you would!
+1 - Those who really leave, just leave.

It seems to me that your decision to dump United is mostly because you are moving to China.
And welcome to Air China. In economy class, when they give you fruits (e.g. oranges), you will have to peel the oranges yourself. But hey, it's better than United where you don't even get oranges.

And enjoy that 29" seat pitch.

It seems to me that your decision to dump United is mostly because you are moving to China.
And welcome to Air China. In economy class, when they give you fruits (e.g. oranges), you will have to peel the oranges yourself. But hey, it's better than United where you don't even get oranges.

UA will definitely send the OP a fruit basket for his efforts and sorrows--- filled with sour grapes!:D

Since he's already moving to China, what's the point of a US-airline status? [Unduly personal remarks deleted by Moderator.]

This is the letter I wrote to the United 1K desk (assuming such a thing still exists today) announcing my plans to depart the airline.

-----

To whom it may concern,

I'm a lifelong United flyer, currently a 1K, and it looks like I'm going to be leaving United next year. I want you to know why.

Since March 3, there's been a steady drumbeat of changes in United policy which have, to my mind, devalued elite status on the airline.

These include, but are not limited to:

(1) a deceptive "free same day change" policy which ends up making changes difficult logistically and/or financially for people booked in any class besides First, Business or the highest two economy fares;

(2) the elimination of the ability of "expert" fliers to determine how many seats remain in various booking classes;

(3) an opaque and confusing upgrade policy, which, frankly, appears random or mistaken a significant percentage of the time;

(4) the elimination of two GPUs for people getting to million mile status (seriously, how cheap and stupid is that?);

(5) plans to downgrade what I considered the finest American domestic air service available, P.S. between LAX/SFO and JFK;

(6) the consistent inability of United gate, front desk and phone personnel to understand and adequately explain new policies, and the lack of anything but automated responses from 1K customer service e-mails;

(7) elimination of the ability to look at other Star Alliance flights on the website;

(8) also on the website, a much more difficult search engine for fares when travel dates are flexible;

(9) the decision to cause GPUs to expire before Jan. 31 or Dec. 31, as had been the policy on the "old" United;

(10) an app (for iPad and iPhone in my case) which crashes often enough to make it unreliable for boarding passes, and which is essentially useless for all but the simplest travel situations;

(11) unannounced and unexplained equipment changes on several flights; and

(12) flight attendants and pilots who are plainly pissed off at United management and let that disgruntlement play out in their approach to passengers. (This is not to say that I haven't also had gracious and thoughtful FAs, although United manages to make even that experience difficult. I wanted to fill out one of those "attaboy" customer appreciation things and was told I couldn't do it unless I had the employee's full name and ID. In this particular case, the employee was an attractive young woman and I decided NOT going to make her day creepy by asking for that information.)

I'm moving to Beijing, China in November, and I had fully intended to fly United and her Star Alliance partners and maintain my 1K status. I've already booked my first 2013 trips: PEK/SFO roundtrip on United and PEK/HGH on Air China, with many more to follow.

I discovered this morning that United will, for this and all other trips I take on Air China, only credit me for 50% of premier qualifying miles flown unless I fly in First or on the most expensive economy fares.

So that's the final straw. Under those circumstances, qualifying for 1K will be difficult at best and I no longer feel inclined to make the effort. There are other airlines that will value my business enough to give me full credit -- not extra credit, not special treatment, just full credit -- for the flights I make, and treat me with respect and appreciation. I'd rather go with them.

Jeff Beresford-Howe
(FF# redacted)

1) is a split, you can change your routing now (which was not true on old UA) but it has to be in the same fare bucket (where UA drew out of the H bucket)

2) is straight incorrect

3) maybe true or not but irrelevant as you are moving to china

4) true

5) is interesting, you get better seats but only business service. UA's PS F wasn't that amazing. Plus you are moving china.

6) is true

7) is straight incorrect

8) is straight incorrect

9) is true

10) is not true

11) true, but this happens all the time to all airlines. In fact a PM UA flight I was on went from an A320 to a 744

12) True

4/12 confirmed valid points. Good luck with that.

I'm sorry I posted. I had no idea people were so interested in being so bitter and nasty to someone they don't in fact know, or in judging his experience entirely through their own.

I'm sorry I posted. I had no idea people were so interested in being so bitter and nasty to someone they don't in fact know, or in judging his experience entirely through their own.

You posted it - people are going to comment, and there is a LOT of collective experience here that I wouldn't automatically dismiss as irrelevant to yours. I'm not seeing the bitterness or nastiness to be honest.

What were you expecting?

Better.

Better.

Had you posted: "All - here is a draft of a UA exit letter - anything glaring?" you would've gotten a different tone, but factually incorrect is factually incorrect.

But sure, blame our "bitterness" for your letter's inherent flaws.

I'm sorry I posted. I had no idea people were so interested in being so bitter and nasty to someone they don't in fact know, or in judging his experience entirely through their own.

You need really thick skin to post in here.

Every word in that letter accurately describes my experience.

Every word in that letter accurately describes my experience.

#4 is your accurate experience? How? It was 3 SWU when you crossed 1MM and 2 Regionals every year. When you post something like that, which is 100% not factual in anybody's experience, even yours, you lose a lot of credibility.

You need really thick skin to post in here.

And a factual representation of the situation.

As noted, many of us agree with some of his points. But to start with SDC?

Tell me - as you and I are usually on opposite ends here:

How many of these points do you agree with?

Better.

Yes, unfortunately that has been SOP on this forum.

Just for some fact checking, those claiming #2 is incorrect
- ExpertMode has been removed
- FT (but few in the larger customer community) has been notified that by the end of the month "something" is coming back that will provide "the same level of fare class detail previously displayed to all customers." But until we see it, it is premature to say it has been fully restored.
- Much of the dismay with the removal was concerning the lack of communication (as far as I know there was no general communication) and "message" it sent to some.

So, to claim #2 is flat-out incorrect is equally incorrect. At best it is a changing situation and we yet know how things will play out.
Could the OP have stated things differently, yes ... but to dismiss his experiences based on an uncertain/changing sitaution is not in the spirit of why this forum exists.

While the OP has made a decision to leave, and other posters have made a decision to stay -- each to his own, but this are individual situations, individual experiences.

#4 is your accurate experience? How? It was 3 SWU when you crossed 1MM and 2 Regionals every year. When you post something like that, which is 100% not factual in anybody's experience, even yours, you lose a lot of credibility.so the OP understated the issue and that undermines his credibility ???
In my book that calls for, a BTW, it was 3 SWUs/2 annual CR1 and not a dismissal of the entire statement.

Unless a flight is completely full, all fare classes will open up approx. 3 hours before it departs, if it hasn't already opened up. I think this may be where you're getting confused. The fact that an L fare requires an advance purchase of x days doesn't mean you can't do an SDC on an L fare. They open up all the buckets specifically for SDC.

This is a YMMV situation. I've been on non-full flights where they only left Y space open til the gate. Might be what OP is referring to.

Better.

If you're going to post a bunch of factually incorrect nonsense, then don't be surprised if people aren't sympathetic for your reasons for leaving.

Truth is, there are a lot of things wrong with the current UA, plenty enough reasons to leave. However, no one at UA is going to give your letter a second though with so many errors in it.

The last notification I remember seeing was 2 SUs at reaching 1 million; I could be wrong, because it dates back more than a year, but it's a pretty clear memory. Has the award changed over the years?

The main point -- that it's petty and stupid to take away such a small recognition to someone who's flown a million miles on your airline -- remains valid regardless of whether it's 2 or 3.

How many of these points do you agree with?

(1) I've never done SDC; no opinion.

(2) Technically true; but irrelevant as I use EF anyway and I think anyone who has enough money to fly 1K per year should just pay for EF and enjoy the vastly superior experience.

(3) 100% agree.

(4) Since I'm not MM, not something I've studied.

(5) Agree. Replacing E+ with E- has got to be a downgrade in anyone's mind and replacing standard business with lay flat likely means fewer upgrades; I'd argue that on a simple transcon flight, it's more useful for more people to get more upgrades than for fewer people to have a lay flat bed.

(6) 100% agree. 10x worse with PMCO staff than PMUA staff. 1kvoice? Does it even exist anymore? I can't even get an auto-reply from them.

(7) Nonsense.

(8) 100% agree. I just booked some tickets with a G fare sale and found the site to be IMPOSSIBLE trying to find cheapest flights when my dates were flexible. IMPOSSIBLE. I went back to EF, scanned for G space, then booked on UA.

(9) 100% agree.

(10) Disagree. I've found the app to be quite good. It always shows me nicely that I'm not going to get upgraded.

(11) Hard to judge but the volume of similar complaints on FT has skyrocketed since $mi$ek took control.

(12) 100% agree. I often chat with flight crew and it doesn't take long for them to show me how horribly upset they are. But, then again, it's been this way for more than a decade.

so the OP understated the issue and that undermines his credibility ???
In my book that calls for, a BTW, it was 3 SWUs/2 annual CR1 and not a dismissal of the entire statement.

Which the OP got above but still claims everything is 100% accurate. When someone corrects you and and you still claim you are 100% correct, yes, you lose credibility.

The last notification I remember seeing was 2 SUs at reaching 1 million; I could be wrong, because it dates back more than a year, but it's a pretty clear memory. Has the award changed over the years?
....

Which the OP got above but still claims everything is 100% accurate. When someone corrects you and and you still claim you are 100% correct, yes, you lose credibility.

like when someone mis-characterizes another person's statement.

It's always interesting to see these types of posts. The op seems genuinely surprised that everyone isn't rising up with pitchforks and storming the castle. How long before he requests it to be locked?

UA has some real problems. No UA poster is going to deny it. I do think they are more interested in keeping their FF's happy than DL. Maybe that's not saying that much, though. I know I have an easy time using UA miles for coach and biz award tickets.

(1) I've never done SDC; no opinion.

(2) Technically true; but irrelevant as I use EF anyway and I think anyone who has enough money to fly 1K per year should just pay for EF and enjoy the vastly superior experience.

(3) 100% agree.

(4) Since I'm not MM, not something I've studied.

(5) Agree. Replacing E+ with E- has got to be a downgrade in anyone's mind and replacing standard business with lay flat likely means fewer upgrades; I'd argue that on a simple transcon flight, it's more useful for more people to get more upgrades than for fewer people to have a lay flat bed.

(6) 100% agree. 10x worse with PMCO staff than PMUA staff. 1kvoice? Does it even exist anymore? I can't even get an auto-reply from them.

(7) Nonsense.

(8) 100% agree. I just booked some tickets with a G fare sale and found the site to be IMPOSSIBLE trying to find cheapest flights when my dates were flexible. IMPOSSIBLE. I went back to EF, scanned for G space, then booked on UA.

(9) 100% agree.

(10) Disagree. I've found the app to be quite good. It always shows me nicely that I'm not going to get upgraded.

(11) Hard to judge but the volume of similar complaints on FT has skyrocketed since $mi$ek took control.

(12) 100% agree. I often chat with flight crew and it doesn't take long for them to show me how horribly upset they are. But, then again, it's been this way for more than a decade.

Thanks. I respect your honesty.

Yes, unfortunately that has been SOP on this forum.

Just for some fact checking, those claiming #2 is incorrect
- ExpertMode has been removed
- FT (but few in the larger customer community) has been notified that by the end of the month "something" is coming back that will provide "the same level of fare class detail previously displayed to all customers." But until we see it, it is premature to say it has been fully restored.
- Much of the dismay with the removal was concerning the lack of communication (as far as I know there was no general communication) and "message" it sent to some.

So, to claim #2 is flat-out incorrect is equally incorrect. At best it is a changing situation and we yet know how things will play out.
Could the OP have stated things differently, yes ... but to dismiss his experiences based on an uncertain/changing sitaution is not in the spirit of why this forum exists.

While the OP has made a decision to leave, and other posters have made a decision to stay -- each to his own, but this are individual situations, individual experiences.

so the OP understated the issue and that undermines his credibility ???
In my book that calls for, a BTW, it was 3 SWUs/2 annual CR1 and not a dismissal of the entire statement.

Fair point on #2 - but as you note, it is a changing situation. Not something I'd sent to UA, especially as it's in flux.

As for the 3 versus 2:

As many who work in corporate America know, one incorrect fact on a slide undermines the credibility of the entire presentation. There is no escaping that aspect.

As noted, had the OP addressed FT with "what do you think" - we would have helped him craft a better letter, with less and more salient points and elimination of the snarkiness.

This is a YMMV situation. I've been on non-full flights where they only left Y space open til the gate. Might be what OP is referring to.

Good point - wasn't thinking when I wrote "completely" full - I've seen this happen on flights that are very full - i.e. only Y3 or Y4 and everything else zeroed out. In those situations availability didn't appear until at the gate.

This is the kind of situation I find myself in viz. same day changes:

I'm booked L class BDL-ORD-SFO in the early evening of the 24th. I finish up work on the night of the 23rd, earlier than planned, and I want to fly out in the morning of the 24th.

From BDL options are to fly out around 6 am or 9 am. I call 24 hours before each and discover that L is full, but there are other seats available. However, they won't put me on those flights without recalculating my fare at prohibitive expense.

I get up at 3 am, calling to see if they've released seats on the 6 am flights. The flights are now mysteriously full.

I get up at 6 am to see if they've released seats on the 9 am flights. Again, the flights are mysteriously full.

I end up taking my original flights and arrive very tired.

This not a helpful "same day change" policy and represents a significant degradation from various same day policies in the past. (It's also better than some other same day politicies in the past, I recognize.)

This is the kind of situation I find myself in viz. same day changes:

I'm booked L class BDL-ORD-SFO in the early evening of the 24th. I finish up work on the night of the 23rd, earlier than planned, and I want to fly out in the morning of the 24th.

From BDL options are to fly out around 6 am or 9 am. I call 24 hours before each and discover that L is full, but there are other seats available. However, they won't put me on those flights without recalculating my fare at prohibitive expense.

I get up at 3 am, calling to see if they've released seats on the 6 am flights. The flights are now mysteriously full.

I get up at 6 am to see if they've released seats on the 9 am flights. Again, the flights are mysteriously full.

I end up taking my original flights and arrive very tired.

This not a helpful "same day change" policy and represents a significant degradation from various same day policies in the past. (It's also better than some other same day politicies in the past, I recognize.)

These flights are obviously quite full to begin with. Your best option here by far is to find out which one has more space, go to the airport, get on standby for it and hope to clear at the gate.

There's usually no calling needed - you can check in a few seconds on the website if you can do a confirmed SDC to a flight you want - by going back into OLCI.

This is the kind of situation I find myself in viz. same day changes:

I'm booked L class BDL-ORD-SFO in the early evening of the 24th. I finish up work on the night of the 23rd, earlier than planned, and I want to fly out in the morning of the 24th.

From BDL options are to fly out around 6 am or 9 am. I call 24 hours before each and discover that L is full, but there are other seats available. However, they won't put me on those flights without recalculating my fare at prohibitive expense.

I get up at 3 am, calling to see if they've released seats on the 6 am flights. The flights are now mysteriously full.

I get up at 6 am to see if they've released seats on the 9 am flights. Again, the flights are mysteriously full.

I end up taking my original flights and arrive very tired.

This not a helpful "same day change" policy and represents a significant degradation from various same day policies in the past. (It's also better than some other same day politicies in the past, I recognize.)

I agree, the fare bucket thing ticks me off.

+ 1 ^. I have done a bunch of SDC's this year on bottom of the barrel economy fares, and also booked an award trip on UA, OZ, SQ, TG on the same Itin!


SDC policy and awards are the main reasons why I am sticking with UA for now... even as some things are going in the crapper, it's not as bad as it is on DL and while AA is nice, they just don't have the network.

What you are asking for is essentially a changeable ticket with no fee. UA offers those. They are more expensive than what you bought. That's a decision for you to make. Why would anybody in their right mind buy the more expensive ticket if they could buy your ticket and get the same flexibility?

This not a helpful "same day change" policy and represents a significant degradation from various same day policies in the past. (It's also better than some other same day politicies in the past, I recognize.)

No it doesn't. The old UA policy was you could SDC within 3 hours of the flight and only if it had H bucket availability. If the flight zeros out of all buckets before 3 hours, you'd be out of luck.

If there are any seats left to be sold, current UA generally (not always, but usually) opens up all fare buckets at 3 hours. There may be a few cases where it is marginally worse, but that is more than made up for by the fact that:

1) the time limit is now 24 hours not 3 hours, and you can pick a flight later than your current flight (on the old UA, you could only get an earlier flight, not a later one)

2) the SDC applies to all flights, domestic and international. On the old UA, you could only SDC if your itinerary was domestic only

3) You can change your routing. On the old UA, no changes to routing were permitted

I agree that it is currently a bit of a pain dealing with agents that are not fully aware of the rules now, but as it stands SDC policy on current UA is vastly superior in almost all cases to SDC from pmUA.

This is the kind of situation I find myself in viz. same day changes:

I get up at 3 am, calling to see if they've released seats on the 6 am flights. The flights are now mysteriously full.

I get up at 6 am to see if they've released seats on the 9 am flights. Again, the flights are mysteriously full.

I end up taking my original flights and arrive very tired.


I guess the solution for next time is to book earlier flights, and what's so mysterious about full flights. If there really is a major conspiracy by UA to deprive their passengers from getting on airplanes, that they apparently can fill, man, I'd switch to China Air in a New York minute. No way would I want to arrive at my destination tired!!!:mad:

Members of alliances must respect the integrity of the alliance or they must be booted out.

Since United is by far the largest Star Alliance member, the other airlines should to tow the line and respect United's mileage earning schedule with respect to Mileage Plus members. @:-)

Members of alliances must respect the integrity of the alliance or they must be booted out.

Since United is by far the largest Star Alliance member, the other airlines should to tow the line and respect United's mileage earning schedule with respect to Mileage Plus members. @:-)

If only you were the one making the rules!

Just read the OP and not the entire thread but I've never had the app crash on me, once. I think it's great. Best of any airline current.

3) You can change your routing. On the old UA, no changes to routing were permitted

i'll add to that - they only permit changing the connection routing, but O and D must remain the same.

Once I was on SFO-EWR but they refused to SDC me onto SFO-JFK.

FWIW, I have found some of the mileage credit and even EQM credit info on the UA site to be inaccurate w.r.t. Air Canada. Specifically, UA stated NO EQM credit (whatever it's now called) for AC codeshare and only mileage flown yet I got the typical 500 m AC minimum and full credit.

Please, no one bark that we are talking Air China not Air Canada. Just pointing out that what you see does not always reflect what you get IME (this year, post merger and post demise of .bomb)

You're right, mum, gotta have thick skin sometimes to post here. On balance, however, I think FTers are some of the most helpful (and experienced) people flying over earth...

You need really thick skin to post in here.

+1

Yes indeed .

I would think that UA and each *A partner would mutually negotiate the percentages of RDM and EQM earnings on the different fare classes. Can it really be true that UA merely sends a list of fare classes to each alliance partner, and receives a reply with the partner's unilaterally-determined earnings rates? :confused:

What's to negotiate? Many partners don't give ANY mileage credit to even their own FFers on the cheapest fares. No alliance gives 100% credit to all members in all fares. The fact is you get what you pay for & in Europe, Asia & even Canada, they have decided to no longer give full or any mileage credit for some fares. Why would UA care? It has nothing to do with them & they could care a less if we are happy flying Air China or not

FWIW, I have found some of the mileage credit and even EQM credit info on the UA site to be inaccurate w.r.t. Air Canada. Specifically, UA stated NO EQM credit (whatever it's now called) for AC codeshare and only mileage flown yet I got the typical 500 m AC minimum and full credit.

What are you talking about? AC codeshares with UA, or AC codeshares with another airline? Where does it say no PQM for codeshares?

What are you talking about? AC codeshares with UA, or AC codeshares with another airline? Where does it say no PQM for codeshares?see the end of http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileage-plus-pre-merger/958686-consolidated-does-flying-air-canada-get-me-ua-eqms-thread-merged.html to see the poster was confused by the long exisiting bogus data in itins concerning mileage earning for partners.

My applause to you for exercising your freedom of choice. ^ We all need to vote with our choices for the things that work for us, and against the things that don't.

This is very important: Send your letter out again this week addressed directly to the CEO, Jeffery Smisek. You can be assured that someone will read the letter and likely respond to you personally, probably by phone. It is also likely that Smisek or someone relevant will hear of your concerns. One letter is very representative of customer sentiment, and the executives know it.

It is very important that you not waste your efforts on a "to whom it may concern" letter, though.

It's just as important that OP has his facts straight about the reasons he states he is leaving or the letter will be ignored. It does not matter who he sends it to. When he states that he can no longer find R availability, that he's angry that AIR CHINA won't give him full credit or that SDC does not work, ANYINE reading this would say "huh"

see the end of http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileage-plus-pre-merger/958686-consolidated-does-flying-air-canada-get-me-ua-eqms-thread-merged.html to see the poster was confused by the long exisiting bogus data in itins concerning mileage earning for partners.

Ah, the infamous inability of the website to show the correct EQM on the reservation page ;)

OP, FYI - one of my friends works in the Greater China. Despite frequent travel, she is still a Silver (2P).

AC PhoenixMiles Platinum is simply too rare (due to earning rate).