mdspadeccom

Million mile BIS flyers get 50K status for life. Many such folks have been flying pretty regularly for their work and many have been 100K status (or more). When they retire, however, United's current frequent flyer program does little to keep them loyal. Without the business travel they are unlikely to make 100K again; they may not even make 75K. So staying loyal buys them not much, since they are 50K for life.

What if United let people over a certain age who are million milers or greater earn 100K status with lower thresholds on PQDs and PQMs. I think it would strongly encourage such folks to stick with United. Plus, they are unlikely to compete for the seats that the high-value business flyers want -- their travel schedules are more flexible. Better for United to capture their one overseas vacation a year, say, and four cross-country flights to visit the grandchildren, rather have those flights booked on other carriers.

boss315

I will ask Santa to deliver that...or perhaps the Easter Bunny will put that in our baskets!

GoDucks

All else equal, wouldn't occasional flyers choose United if they have gold status on United and no status with other carriers? I totally get that 1K benefits are better, but I'm not thinking they would increase loyalty in occasional flyers enough to move the needle.

IainC

Not sure about "retired" MMs but those of us MMs that are still actively flying sure could do with more recognition/benefits to keep us loyal to UA..

Boghopper

When I quit the game and turn back into a casual flyer I will likely fly on *A carriers for the lounge access and United almost not at all. The upgrade chances are basically zero, and I will get paltry miles for my flights. There really aren't any other benefits of being Gold. The SDC policy s pretty generous, but I've only needed that on business flights where my plans change, not leisure flights. I'll probably just choose domestic airlines based on price and experience, which will probably lead me to Virgin and JetBlue most of the time, maybe Delta. Ironically flying out of Oakland I have had much better upgrade chances with the starwood crossover rewards than out of SFO as a 1K. Although it's at least a decade out, so who knows how things will look then.

mkr

That being said, I do not think that this management group at UA cares anything about loyalty. They have demonstrated that again and again with their devaluation of the MileagePlus program. I do not see them doing anything for Seniors.. remember the "Silver Wings" program that was ended?

FlytheTail

I disagree with the first sentence but agree with the 2nd & 3rd. UA is actually quite generous awarding 1MMers Gold status, for them and a spouse/partner. Contrast that with Delta, where a 1MMer gets Silver and only for that person. The difference between Silver and Gold is fairly substantial. I can't imagine UA's relative generosity will last long...

JBord

They already offer higher status with additional benefits at 2m, 3m, and 4m miles regardless of age. The longer one lives and travels, the more attainable those become. I don't see any reason for UA to entice seniors any more than they do when flights are near full capacity.

abaheti

As a still active flyer, the loss of Premier Exec equiv status for MM (at least for the pmUA flyers) has pushed a lot of my business to other carriers. But I still do earn a lot of UA credit card miles and I've realized that they probably want that more than my money for flights. :-)

They are very transactional now, so don't appear to value the give and take of loyalty. I don't see them enhancing our MM benefits after getting away with the cuts. I hope I'm wrong and that the numbers show them holding on to MMs is worth the almost zero cost of some added benefits.

travelinmanS

I'm in my 30s and a MM on UA. What it did for me when I hit MM in 2011 was allow me to move all my flying to carriers that are actually good while still having lounge access when I fly the occasional star alliance flight. Last year I flew 100k on AA and CX and 1k on United. The year before I flew not one flight on UA. Basically having MM status has liberated me from ever flying "the friendly skies". Great for me, probably not what UA envisions in their marketing meetings.

notquiteaff

But all things are often not equal.

I am a MM (since late 2013) and in a couple of weeks I will drop to Gold since I didn't feel like spending 10k of my own money on United travel last year.

And tomorrow I am taking a trip on AS that requires a connection, but saves me 1/3 of the cost. In my days when I was aiming for retaining status, you would have found me on UAX' CR2 for that trip.

mduell

Gold is the perk to keep them loyal, compared to no status at other carriers.

cova

Even Lifetime 1K isn't keeping me loyal to UA at this time. I like getting upgraded on domestic flights and like being able to use 8 Systemwides on any fare as AA EXP. Of course I have to fly 100K miles to earn EXP, but I am doing that to earn miles and status and using them to redeem premium travel on OneWorld flights.

One thing that would likely take me go back to UA - would be if AA copied UA and DL's new FF program rules. For now AA is not - and I will keep flying AA. But I suspect eventually I will go back to UA when I don't want to do all the mileage runs. My flying on AA will be 50K EQM miles by end of Feb (and all domestic flights). And while at the 1MM level on AA - that is only the 25K level.

But I agree - if you have UA LT Gold and don't fly often, that was a good deal for only 1MM. And you also benefit with spouse/companion match and also Marriott Gold status which gives lounge access. So UA Gold, Marriott Gold, and Hertz (and a Chase CC) is likely a good combination for a retiree who travels occasionally.

zrs70

I've often thought it would be nice if Lifetime Gold = Lifetime 50K head start each year, so that you would only need 25K additional for plat, 50K for 1K.

Same for 2MM status. Each year, start with a 75K head start.

But I don't think this will fly!

Often1

Loyalty programs are not about rewarding people for the past. They are about looking at past patterns to determine who will spend more in the future.