Looking to Oct. 25th, what's going to be more valuable, UA 1K or CO Plat? Or should we spread it out-base level AA, UA & CO? Or shoot for the mid-level on two? Which two? Any ideas?
I wonder how much impact this will really have - travel budget freezes are causing a lot of people to stop traveling, and extra EQM's won't change that. Similarly, leisure travel is dropping because people have less money to spend on it. So will this promo really flood the elite ranks? I have my doubts. I think CO is expecting a drop in elites either way, and this may only lessen the impact.
I wonder if there will be any advertising of this promo offline - there are a lot of non-savvy frequent flyers out there that will likely miss this promo and keep flying without signing up. That helps, too.
__________________ My FlightMemory (perpetually incomplete) | CO Upgrades 2009 - 14 of 19, 74%
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This totally sucks. I was hoping CO wouldn't do this and that we'd actually thin out the elite ranks this year. Seems like that won't happen and we'll have a glut of elites as usual. Joy.
Business must be really bad if they decided to do this.
S oexcited that CO is offering this right now. I have Trips planned from Ewr to LAS, HKG, HNL, SFO and HAM during the time of the offer.... Should be great!!!!
In reality this promotion won't have much impact because it is spread out among several airlines and, most importantly, no one is traveling right now. So take a deep breath and relax.
I wonder if there will be any advertising of this promo offline - there are a lot of non-savvy frequent flyers out there that will likely miss this promo and keep flying without signing up. That helps, too.
This totally sucks. I was hoping CO wouldn't do this and that we'd actually thin out the elite ranks this year. Seems like that won't happen and we'll have a glut of elites as usual. Joy.
Business must be really bad if they decided to do this.
Programs: La Ministreuse de Surréalisme, CO Plat, MR Plat, SPG Plat
Posts: 6,781
Quote:
Originally Posted by fozz
This totally sucks. I was hoping CO wouldn't do this and that we'd actually thin out the elite ranks this year. Seems like that won't happen and we'll have a glut of elites as usual. Joy.
Business must be really bad if they decided to do this.
Completely agree. If they do double platinum or similar higher level, maybe I'll be happy. Right now, I'm looking at AA; something I wouldn't have even thought about doing before these promos (it won't hurt my CO biz, but still)
Programs: CO Platinum, SPG Platinum, HH Gold - whatever that's worth now :(
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I wonder if CO mgmt is scratching its head after reading our posts here. It seems most of us are steadfast against this promo, especially after seeing the effect that EQM-type promos had on DL last year. Maybe they thought we would be jumping for joy, but we're not.
It's too late to undo things now - but I hope CO learns that many of it's long time Elites prefer thinner Elite numbers to reduce benefit dilution and for other Elite members to gain status by earning it properly.
Things were bad enough with CO marketing handing out Silver, Gold and even Plat status to anyone with a pulse from certain corporate customers.
I think CO is underestimating the effect on loyalty. By getting people into Elite ranks earlier this year, they are just opening the door for newly minted Elites to stop flying CO and start flying a competitor in order to split status.
Business is bad, sure - but I don't see how this promo really attracts loyal business. It doesn't generate higher spend (all fare buckets are eligible), and it gives customers the chance to fly someone else without fear of losing or downgrading their CO status.
__________________ Rich and 50 is the same as middle-class and 30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bocastephen
I wonder if CO mgmt is scratching its head after reading our posts here. It seems most of us are steadfast against this promo, especially after seeing the effect that EQM-type promos had on DL last year. Maybe they thought we would be jumping for joy, but we're not.
It's too late to undo things now - but I hope CO learns that many of it's long time Elites prefer thinner Elite numbers to reduce benefit dilution and for other Elite members to gain status by earning it properly.
Things were bad enough with CO marketing handing out Silver, Gold and even Plat status to anyone with a pulse from certain corporate customers.
I think CO is underestimating the effect on loyalty. By getting people into Elite ranks earlier this year, they are just opening the door for newly minted Elites to stop flying CO and start flying a competitor in order to split status.
Business is bad, sure - but I don't see how this promo really attracts loyal business. It doesn't generate higher spend (all fare buckets are eligible), and it gives customers the chance to fly someone else without fear of losing or downgrading their CO status.
Here is the business case as I see it. I will use my own particular parochial logic, although my guess is that some variant of the same story can be told often enough to make it worth it.
I fly out of Midland, and my two choices are Continental and American. I like flying at the front of the bus. If AA offers this promotion and Continental does not, I will fly on AA to get status there to enhance my chances of flying coach (after the RJ trip to DFW or IAH) less often. If Continental also offers this promotion, I will fly on them more and possibly get Gold rather than Silver.
It actually works out as a fairly good deal for Continental in my case. I buy more expensive fares because I like the flexibility and, on CO, that helps me fly in the big seats with the free alcohol. I still want status for the free miles, the queue-jumping number to call in the event of trouble, the extra miles, and, may peace be on me, I like the shiny wallet candy. Final story: Continental matching this offer causes me to fly them rather than AA. That actually works out to CO's advantage since I but a fairly small number of fairly expensive tickets. Minimal payout to me, and a couple of additional big tickets.
S oexcited that CO is offering this right now. I have Trips planned from Ewr to LAS, HKG, HNL, SFO and HAM during the time of the offer.... Should be great!!!!
