dgcpaphd

What an excellent point you and oz made in connection with failure of the new UA management to advise customers that their previously promised “lifetime” benefits have been breached.

Although it is true that one can find the “new” benefits currently shown on united.com, no reasonable person would expect that the announcements shown on united.com would RETROACTIVELY apply to those who reached million-mile status prior to the merging of the two programs.

It is obvious to most of us that the new UA management has presently established, among other things, a pattern of behavior that includes a failure to properly communicate with customers. This behavior is atypical to what is generally accepted in business entities interacting with their client base. Case studies show this type of behavior, on a long-term basis, reduces the goodwill of a company and causes customer defection.

The new UA management, somewhere along the way, forgot that those customers who are being ignored and abused via rescission of promised “lifetime” benefits, are the same customers that keep UA in money which allows UA to pay its day-to-day activities.
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Fredd

No kidding! For example, the information UA Insider provides in this thread's first post is no longer accurate regarding one significant point:

Yet it took me, a UA outsider, to discover and post that UA has at some point surreptitiously modified this on its website page:

IMO when one party changes the "fine print" without announcement while warning the other party that the "fine print" is the final authority, it's not conducive to a positive business relationship, to say the least.

The old saying - That's no way to run a railroad - does come to mind.

Fredd

When they've lost Baze...

Good comment. ^

entropy

The card doesn't offer the same benefits as MM, I don't know where he's getting that.

You get "Premier Access" and 2 free bags.

flyer215

I'm in the same boat as your spouse. Still nada. Was told card was requested from vendor on March 13. Am starting to have serious doubts...

Pat89339

No. I received an email from United MileagePlus in May 2008:
Notice the last sentence? It does sound like an incentive to fly more with them, doesn't it? In reality it should have read continue to fly UA and earn even LESS rewards.

entropy

I'm sorry, you have no idea what you're talking about. You can only upgrade award tickets if you're elite AND you have one of the credit cards (either Exploder or this). Kettle on Y award ticket with the card = Y.

the 50% "bonus" is 1.5 miles per dollar spent, not 50% bonus on flown mileage.

The card gets you a president's club membership, the ability to upgrade X class tickets via EUA if it ever works based on your current elite status and 1.5 miles per dollar spent on the card.

Baze

Never mind. Not worth it. My main point is CC holders benefits go up while loyal flyers benefits go down. THAT is my point.

And what is a Presidents Club?

uastarflyer

And that is a good point

Not only are MMer and high elite privileges being watered down or removed, we are seeing encroachment from the bottom up

joel67

+1

I'm close to 2MM and had been looking forward to the lifetime club membership, but now this benefit is reserved for credit card holders. Everywhere I turn, from security lines to boarding lines and even some check-in lines, there seem to be swarms of credit card holders. Guess it's lucky at least for heavy flyers that they're backing away from the FEQM system.

Edit: To further clarify the point, my big complaint is that $395 buys a set of services that as recently as a year ago would have cost more than $1100 per year to purchase from United or else a whole lot of flying. Having earned the services the hard way, I didn't mind if others paid $500 for club membership, $349 for Premier Baggage, or $399 (IIRC) for Priority Line, because the high prices discouraged casual flyers and validated my own benefits. Now that they're selling these benefits at bargain-basement prices, not only are my own flying efforts greatly devalued, but the general overcrowding has greatly dimished the benefits themselves.

ozstamps

I just found this promise below I saved after I reached 1 Million Miles only a couple of years back.

It is a clear written promise to give me and others who had qualified at that time, 2 x CR1 upgrades at the end of every year. (Their exact wording.)

"To show how much we appreciate your remarkable loyalty" ..... "With your new Million Mile status comes some well-earned perks ...... "





All existing Million Milers were also emailed late 2011 assuring us those benefits still remained in place after the merge, and the UA website further clearly assured all existing Million Milers those 2 x CR1 would still be an earned benefit to us "EVERY year".

Until all existing Million Milers are advised in writing those written promises have been been deliberately broken by the new Management despite our "remarkable loyalty", I and all others can and do, expect to receive them.

End of story.

When and if Mr Foland and Crew do write to those once "remarkably loyal" customers, to break the news a valuable written benefit has been removed, he can expect the 200,000+ page views of this thread to be the least of his worries.

Corporations cannot LIE in writing to their very best customers re earned benefits. No industry tolerates that. No company survives that does that.

The real cost of keeping their promise on these CR1s - NIL - as they control upgrade inventory at all times.
.

dgcpaphd

In two earlier posts I briefly explained how airlines recognize expense for miles issued to passengers and others.

The airlines receive a tax deduction for miles ISSUED.

I explained that the computation of the expense (for miles issued) is based on a formula that changes from time-to-time, depending on circumstances. I also stated that on the books of each airline, there is a liability shown for unused miles.

Regressing to the post of ozstamps (shown above) it should be noted that ozstamps discussed the knowingly and intentionally breached two annual regional upgrades that were promised to million-miler’s as a “lifetime” benefit.

United does NOT record an expense for regional upgrade instruments. The only related expense the airlines would have, if it continued to issue the promised upgrades, would be if and when a million-miler actually used the upgrade and used space that the airline MIGHT have been able to sell. In other words, if the seat was not sold to another person, the airline would not be out any money.

Given the above facts, it boggles the mind to realize that the new UA management knowingly and intentionally breached those promised "lifetime" regional upgrades. The resultant negative goodwill created by such an act is immeasurable.

In view of the breach of written “lifetime” promises made to million-mile flyers, UA’s Board of Directors has to wonder why the new UA management made such damaging decisions. Those decisions are not in the best interest in the long-term survival of UA.
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UrbaneGent

I wanted to show you ladies and gents this, from a NYTimes article of long ago... This was about a class action brought about to American Airlines.

"....So in 1988, American imposed "capacity controls," which limited the number of seats available on each flight for award coupons. Subsequently, it increased the number of miles required for a round-trip domestic ticket from 20,000 to 25,000. Both steps significantly devalued the miles already accumulated.

At the time, I wondered whether they could do that. After all, they had laid out the rules, induced people to fly American and accumulate miles and then unilaterally changed the rules."

Just interesting reading...that's all

(I posted part of this on the MMU board too)

UG

Global321

+1

Once again UrbaneGent excellent commentary.

It is like wearing spandex if you are a very large person.... legally you can (probably) do it, but should you?

Fredd

Interesting. Thanks for posting it. ^