Newsstand - Delay-Ridden United to Award Mileage to Elite Fliers

UA, reeling from "unprecedented and embarrassing" numbers of delayed and canceled flights, is expected to announce Thursday that it will apologize to its elite-status frequent fliers by awarding them bonus miles for the rest of the year.
http://public.wsj.com/news/personalEmail/SB966465849404994234-SB966465849404994234.html

Hey .. this even beats Latin Pass methinks! WHAT an offer! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/002730.html

The big question is whether any of the other airlines will feel compelled to match this offer (ah - memories of the days of triple mileage with 1,000 mile minimums per segments...)

Due to all the cancelled/switched flights, we had/are experiencing....

It would be nice if this 100% bonus counts towards flight miles/elite status!

Chix hopes: It would be nice if this 100% bonus counts towards flight miles/elite status!

Personally, I hope not. Could you imagine how many (Millions?) of Premier Executives would automatically become 1K's. Talk about elite level benefit dilution!!

Besides, even if you were cancelled off United and rebooked on another airline, you still got your original United flights posted with all the related status and bonus miles.


[This message has been edited by PremEx (edited 08-17-2000).]

Surprisingly, I think US did actually count their bonus promo toward status miles earlier this year. Unless I'm mistaken! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

PremEx makes a good point. Imagine 12 million PremEx's and 3 million 1ks! fighting for 8 first class seats on a shuttle flight?

No thanks.

A one time bonus of 5K miles towards status, that's fine. But imagine someone for example taking a 30K mileage earning trip and earning instant 1K status with the bonsues (120K miles!)

It's a very good gesture by United and I'll say it again: I"m so glad I stuck by United in this rough time.

with all those extra UA miles out there, it might be very difficult to actually use them, don't you think?

It's like a bankrupt country printing more money to pay its bills. Hyperinflation ensues.

[This message has been edited by opus17 (edited 08-17-2000).]

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I felt this was inevitable. It was only a matter of how long it took for UAL to work out the details.

From Biztravel:

"Dear Fellow Traveler...

It seems that everyone has been affected by United's most recent
flight delays and cancellations. Recognizing how frustrating the
situation has become, United is taking action. They are:

- Increasing the number of designated "spare" aircraft.
- Reducing their flight schedule by three percent, representing a
reduction of approximately 6,600 flights by the end of September.
October's schedule is currently under review.
- Continuing to hire and train new pilots as quickly as possible
while continuing to negotiate with pilot, mechanic and other
employee labor groups on new contracts.
- Installing new baggage scanners to expedite the flow during peak
times or during disrupted operations.
- Contacting top tier clients by phone and mail to resolve issues
as quickly as possible.
- Protecting customers on delayed/cancelled flights with alternate
airlines. This way, you can take your ticket directly to the other
carrier, without having to see a United representative to endorse
the ticket. Currently, endorsement agreements are set-up with the
following carriers: Alaska, Horizon, Delta, TWA and ATA. United
is also working on agreements with American, Northwest, Midwest Express,
and US Airways.
- If you prefer, you may be able to obtain a full refund without
penalty if you can show:
- Ticket, completely unused
- Travel was originally scheduled on or before
September 30, 2000
- Ticket is on 016 Ticket Stock
- Ticketed flight was delayed minimum of five hours or
cancelled
- Affected flight was a true United flight

Now, you may say "too little too late." Who can argue? But we need
to travel and United is a major player in the air travel game.
So, if you do have a United reservation, here are some suggestions to
assist you while en route:

- United has the capability of electronically contacting Internet
enabled pagers, cell phones, hand-held devices and PC's to advise a
customer of an operational disruption. Through United's Web site,
you can be proactively informed of any changes in flight status.
- When traveling on non-refundable tickets, you have the maximum
flexibility with paper tickets. This may cost a small service
fee when having your tickets issue but could be worth it since
United currently only has one e-ticket interline agreement with
Air Canada.
- And, most importantly, if you booked through biztravel.com, you
can contact our customer service associates by calling
1-800-835-6483 or 1-701-227-7036. We're here to help you!

Good luck getting wherever you're going! I hope this information helps!


AND:

AA IS CONSIDERING MATCHING THE OFFER!
AMR's AA, UA's archrival, said it was evaluating UA's bonus mileage offer, which was reported yesterday.
http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/081800air-cancel.html

[This message has been edited by doc (edited 08-18-2000).]

After hearing about UA's gesture towards it FF'ers,I have come to this conclusion.Both Goodwin and Donato don't have a clue about the deep wounds caused by UA's failure to fly the last 4 months.

To the FFers who will get a bigger Mileage bonus ,the extra miles are a large price to pay for misses meetings ,lost business and botched vacation plans.
To the non UA FFers, the elite miles plan is a slap in the face by UA management, who don't have any consideration for the messed plans caused by non flying UA planes.
UA's mess will take a lot longer time to fix than most estimates.
The only solution is for Goodwin to go, and place some professional managers in charge who care about their customers.

Why is this man (http://www.corporate-ir.net/media_files/nys/ual/images/goodwin.jpg) smiling?

It's not a slap in the face; it's a whack on the nose.

Now, the big question....

Will other carriers match UA, with the offer of bonus miles, to retain their own frequent flyers? Imagine it's being discussed over the weekend at some carriers.

Tom

Again:

AA IS CONSIDERING MATCHING THE OFFER!
AMR's AA, UA's archrival, said it was evaluating UA's bonus mileage offer, which was reported yesterday.
http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/081800air-cancel.html

The BEST part of the UA deal to me is that:

It covers all MP members, even outside USA http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

It Covers ALL flights we make until 2001

It covers ALL flights taken since May 1

It covers ALL flghts even in discount class

I personally will make 60,000 EXTRA points, and I say "THANK YOU" United! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

------------------
~ Glen ~



[This message has been edited by ozstamps (edited 08-20-2000).]

Partial correction. The United "True Flyer Bonus" does not cover all Mileage Plus members. Just Premier, Premier Executive, and 1K members.

... even less: only those flights that those eligible for the bonus (see PremEx) did credit to their Mileage Plus account (0 if credited to their other StarAlliance ff-account).

To save repeating the Bonus info ad nauseum my post assumed readers here had in fact bothered to READ the link DOC posted above which of course spelt out the exact rules about member levels eligible:

http://public.wsj.com/news/personalEmail/SB966465849404994234-SB966465849404994234.html


And my post below that, to the UA thread link where the fine details, such as no partner mileage counted, simply UNITED metal, UA flights:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/002730.html


I still am pleased to say "THANK YOU" United once again for my 60,000 EXTRA and totally unexpected miles! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif


------------------
~ Glen ~

And advance ticket sales are not likely very strong either, since they now have a seeming systemwide fare sale as well! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Book soon if you so choose! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

FWIW, total scheduled revenue passenger miles (RPMs) decreased 1.9 percent in September.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001004/il_united_.html

"UA spent most of the spring and the summer denying it had any problems. Then it thought it could buy off travelers with a smarmy apology and some bonus miles. But now the airline is inheriting the wind for its service collapse and deceptions. Domestic traffic plummeted more than 10 percent in September following a 12 percent decline in August. The airline admits it lost money in the third quarter as travelers booked away. Moreover, it is warning it may suffer a fourth-quarter loss as well. "We're getting hammered," one glum United executive told me this week. "We've had very little success convincing corporate travelers to return."

-Joe B
biztravel.com