Programs: UA Silver, TG *S, HA, Hertz #1 Gold PC, SBUX Gold
Posts: 358
Gem of a rant about UA from PMCO passenger at LAX
This was a good one. While waiting in the gold/silver premiere secuity line at LAX today the passenger in front of me turned and asked is he was indeed in the proper elite line and what the other shorter plat/1k/GS line next to us was for. I explained that it was for 1k etc. and he then asked what is 1k and I explained that it was one of UA's upper tiere elite levels. Then without a notion of provocation the guy went into a huge rant about how horrible UA is and that CO used to be such an amazing airline.
I'm guessing he 's had some bad experiences post merger. I did notice his ID which he was holding to show the TSA screener said TX, but I just let him rant and didn't really talk with him anymore. I didn't dare suggest any notion of COdbaUA, I'm sure that would have really set the guy off.
I fully concur. CO was a great airline. Current UA is not. But the problem is not where management came from, the problem is that management now controlls too large a share of the market. They go about doing what they were hired to do - maximize profit at the expense of customers and labor. Nothing unusal nor unexpected here. What is unusual is that management thinking seems to be rather short sighted with little to no consideration as to the declining value of the company's good will. But with seats filled; no real prospects of significant new entries to the market place; and further industry consolidation on the horizon, perhaps good will is not as important as it used to be.
Last edited by Indelaware; Nov 25, 12 at 1:31 pm..
Reason: typo
Programs: UA 1K 1MM; DL Plat; SPG Gold; Hilton Silver; Marriott Silver; Hertz 5-Star; Avis Pres Club
Posts: 29,281
One thing that CO did really well was to create a perception that it was better than what it was. You hear this sort of thing a lot from legacy CO staff and legacy CO customers.
__________________ The world's leading airline should have the world's leading change fee.
I'm going to start holding a copy of the Chron article where Smisek candidly doubts the future viability of his airline (geographically limited operation & inability to draw HVFs) without a merger with United. UAL Corp. saved the Wall street and cult darling Continental? true true true, right from the horse's mouth.
If phrased as a statement that a substantial majority of the present policies came from PMUA that would be a very un-true statement.
The website came from pmCO.
The upgrade process came from pmCO.
The boarding process came from pmCO.
The coffee came from pmCO.
The method for taking food orders in GF, BF, and domestic F came from pmCO.
The way food is served in GF, BF, and domestic F came from pmCO.
The food choices in the UC came from pmCO.
The website came from pmCO.
The upgrade process came from pmCO.
The boarding process came from pmCO.
The coffee came from pmCO.
The method for taking food orders in GF, BF, and domestic F came from pmCO.
The way food is served in GF, BF, and domestic F came from pmCO.
The food choices in the UC came from pmCO.
Other than the name and E+, what came from pmUA?
That's all I can think of - that and 1K, GS status itself. I guess it was beneath pmCO to reward anyone in any way who chooses to fly 100K miles or more in a calendar year and that angered the flyer base.
When you have a bigger airline, you're going to have more elite passengers -- had UA chosen to make 75K the highest status one could attain, upgrades and benefits would be more improbable than they are now & folks would flock to the competition.
Heck, I don't even think 1K means much anymore. I sure don't feel it differentiates me from anyone else in the flock
One thing that CO did really well was to create a perception that it was better than what it was. You hear this sort of thing a lot from legacy CO staff and legacy CO customers.
There can be no objective measure of this. Different people put different weight into what makes an airline good. Many of the reasons which I always liked CO may be just the reasons that others dislike it.
As a customer, I always felt welcomed by CO. Their staff was friendly and competent (UA staff, while competent, seemed a bit stiff). I felt at home on CO birds; they seemed always clean and modern. Accross airlines, I have never liked Airbus equipment. CO's seats were supportive (UA seats always seemed too soft). I preferred that CO thought it better to invest in the Y product than invest in F/C; I would never purchase anything but the lowest fare, upgrades were nice but I've never really thought them important, and CO knew that for those that cared about F/C service the European and Asian airlines would always be a step ahead. I enjoyed having meals long after other airlines (including UA) eliminated them. From my early days as a Bronze through Platinum, I was always treated with respect. I enjoyed the egalitarian feel of CO -- everyone was respected -- there was no silly boarding by status. I would never want to be signaled out as being a better or more important customer than the next fellow. Yet, they showed their appreciation through OnePass, often even offering me excellent bonus mile oppurtunities in what I considered the best FF plan in the industry; I thought UA, with its *blocking was useless. Prior to CO membership in *A, if I had to fly UA then I would earn US miles; at least those could be used. I apprecaite their website which I felt much better than UA's aptly nick-named .bomb. I preferred having dozens of TATL destinations rather than having to connect in FRA. I much preferred CLE over ORD and EWR over IAD.
Of, course, once CO made the mistake of hiring Smisek things started to go down hill.
You, or others, may disagree with what I thought made CO a great airline. And I have no qualms with others thinking differently. However, because we each put different values on things one cannot objectively conclude, as you did, that CO made itself seem better than it was. It simply found customers and staff who agreed with its understanding of what was good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by halls120
Other than the name and E+, what came from pmUA?
Chanel 9.
An aging fleet.
Airbus equipment.
ORD, DEN, IAD, SFO hubs.
Give me pay offs mentality among customers.
Unimatic.
I have a right to an upgrade mentality.
Few route bonuses.
Star Blocking... Oh, that's right that was with pmUA and now no longer exists.
Last edited by Indelaware; Nov 27, 12 at 7:58 pm..
Chanel 9.
An aging fleet.
Airbus equipment.
ORD, DEN, IAD, SFO hubs.
Give me pay offs mentality among customers.
Unimatic.
I have a right to an upgrade mentality.
Few route bonuses.
Star Blocking... Oh, that's right that was with pmUA and now no longer exists.
Other than the name, Channel 9 (not even on sCO aircraft yet) and E+, what pmUA policies and processes survived the merger?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sulley
This again?
Given the constant "thanks for flying with this proud Continental crew" nonsense, are you surprised?
The website came from pmCO.
...
...
The coffee came from pmCO.
...
The food choices in the UC came from pmCO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by halls120
I guess you don't understand what a policy is
Indeed.
OP - it's hardly shocking that you heard a passenger say this - vast numbers of people would completely agree. I flew both airlines extensively and definitely miss the old CO. This topic has been done to death though.
As a former long-time 1K on the quick route to Silver status, I honestly don't care much at this point. I threw in the towel on UA in July, and have only had three trips since July 1. But, as I've been saying since March, it seems that the merger has been a passenger disaster.
UA business flyers much prefer the old UA. Yeah, we like our upgrades, free and plentiful. We like our skykits when things go wrong on a plane. We like a broad international network. We like our 3.5 classes of service in widebody international flights. We love our E+
So, with the merger, it's become very apparent that the business customers for the two former airlines have very different opinions on what they want in an airline. Continental flyers don't want high-status United flyers crowding them out of their space. We United flyers hate the lack of upgrades and the overall service in business and first, both domestic and international. Both groups are unhappy at this point.
Delta and Northwest were fairly similar in their operations and policies, so they had less issues in merging, although it was still rough. United and Continental had nothing in common, and it shows.
My advice - just don't care anymore. Don't renew your Red Carpet Club memberships. If all you have to look forward to is coach, then just pick whatever airline gets you there the fastest. If that's Conited, then I"ll take it. If it's American or Delta, I'll take it. Continuing to long for the pre-March United is like longing for a girlfriend for years after she dumped you and moved away. It's pointless.
__________________
"March 3, 2012, a date that will live in infamy...."
"I was an over-entitled 1K. Now I'm an ambivalent Gold"
