. Outside of FT, only one friend has mentioned this. And he agreed it was very petty of US, and half jokingly said why don't they just gut the DM program and elliminate it. I think in the t&c it says they can elliminate it. I would respect the management more if they just elliminated it rather than keep watering it down. And its insulting that they put these changes in positive euphimisms. They should just announce that they are making an unpopular negative change that pax will not welcome or enjoy, and one which will probably cause some pax to leave the carrier. At least they would have some integrity if they told it like it is.
I wonder if they have the guts to eliminate it. If all of their research says it doesn't add to the bottom line, then make a bold move and get rid of it altogether. We are after profits, after all, aren't we?
Disagree with the new low comment, agree with the ingenuity. As a 1K, I get E+ for free, and can check two bags for free. Ma and Pa Kettle pay for the 2nd bag and E+ if they want it. UA knows how to treat their best customers with respect, AND extract additional revenue from their marginal customers. Unlike this POS airline which treats everyone like sh!t.
Programs: USAirways (once CP, then Gold, now Silver - what next?), Hilton Diamond, Hertz 5*, Avis Presidents
Posts: 416
they may have finally kicked me once too often . . .
I think the ridiculous wording of the original announcement and replies to complaints has been well characterized as so much corporate-speak blather (CB4 put it best I think), so I decided to see how it really would affect me. I went back over my account for the past 36 months. I flew 198 segments on US in that time, and 165 of them qualified for the 500 mile minimum (83%). I am RDU based and go to DCA, PHL, ALB, LGA, BOS, CLT, and ATL the most. I did a rough calculation of the the miles I would have lost if the minimum had not been in effect. It's a little tricky because some of the flights were as CP and some as Gold. To simplify it, I just assumed the Gold bonus of 50% and used an average of the typical distances I fly. I calculate I would have earned a minimum of 58k miles less in the past 36 months under the new system and actually a little more since the CP bonus wasn't figured. So about enough for 2 to 3 domestic awards or one TA or PA. That's a significant hit to me, since awards are the reason I still fly USAirways (upgrades are gravy).
What really burns me is that I go out of the way to steer my corporate travel to USAirways, for example, my recent trip to Nashville went USAirways via CLT instead of direct on Southwest. I am seriously leaning toward crediting USAirways toward United or switching to Southwest (the lack of international awards makes the latter undesireable). I have a flight to Vancouver coming up in March - I'll have to decide who to credit my miles to.
I don't think you are out there at all. It appears US is staking out their new strategic direction, and are looking to have a program that competes with WN and B6. Compared to WN, US will be better for long haulers, and WN for short hauls. They've given lip service to this LCC strategy before and their execution was half-arsed, but maybe now this, combined with the glassware decision, is an indication they are for real. It would just be nice if they made all the changes at once, were clear about it, so their customers make the decisions they need to make without all the complaining. Hopefully US is finally picking their competitive starategy and going for it.
This makes sense up to a point -- and is consistent with the idea that US is preparing for a world post-mergers and maybe post-*A -- but I fail to see how they can make money encouraging long-haul flying. Even if per-mile costs are lower, per-mile revenue is much lower, too, and it's not as if US can gain a revenue premium on any of its transcontinental routes. If you can earn more miles from $60 of flowers or whatever than a $500 PHL-BOS BloFare, something is screwy with their incentives. Shouldn't they be trying to encourage short-haul flying? Didn't WN abandon its transcon routes because they were less profitable than their short-haul operation? And if they are trying to reposition themselves as a down-market carrier, how do they expect to make any money on their international operation?
Programs: US Chairman, SWA, United, AA, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11
Miliage changes
Quote:
Originally Posted by findingneema
This is ####ing retarded. This does it for me, I'm going to UA.
You got that right, they just sent me a United Premier Card and it does not take too many brains to figure out USAir is shooting themselves, they also wanted $300 from me since I only flew 117 segements vs the 120 needed to reach Chariman and have been chariman for the last 5 years and spent $15k+ last year with them and gave up several possible segements when they could not get me to the destination on time.
Programs: US Chairman, SWA, United, AA, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11
Miliage changes
Quote:
Originally Posted by rgruenwald
That makes perfect sense to me! USAir just invented the first new Airline Un-Frequent Flyer program. Congrats guys, my business is headed elsewhere...
I sugggest all contact United or your other preferred airline and I am sure they will like your business and if you send them a copy of your recent statement and status most will match it for the first year and you will get more miles quicker.
Will AA match top tier CP? Or only up so far? I'm at almost 40,000 pref miles so far this year. And, I'm being lazy...I realize I could look for my FFOCUS username and password and find the answer there, but if anyone knows off the top of his or her head, your reply would be appreciated.
UA is my other option but I mostly despise IAD and its people movers.
Programs: CO Platinum, SPG Platinum, HH Gold - whatever that's worth now :(
Posts: 12,499
If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny how US, probably the worst airline in the western world, continually slaps its best customers around. After 9/11, it was 'pay Y or no Elite for you!!'...a few other slaps here and there, and now this.
Always racing for the bottom, eh US?
I'm eagerly waiting to hear how this policy actually modifies customer behavior or adds revenue - other than forcing many customers to either credit to UA (for as long as they can do that), do a couple el-cheapo mileage runs, or just tell US to stuff it and find another carrier altogether.
Doug Parker & Co. is really just plain dumb.
I guess this will bring out the roaches again.
__________________ Rich and 50 is the same as middle-class and 30
Location: Stuck Between the Moon and PHL or EWR, Riding the Rail from ZFV, Your local Taco Bell
Programs: AA EXP, CO Plat, SPG Plat, Marriott Silver
Posts: 2,812
Quote:
Originally Posted by dirkman
Will AA match top tier CP? Or only up so far? I'm at almost 40,000 pref miles so far this year. And, I'm being lazy...I realize I could look for my FFOCUS username and password and find the answer there, but if anyone knows off the top of his or her head, your reply would be appreciated.
UA is my other option but I mostly despise IAD and its people movers.
It is exceedingly rare for AA to match status. Generally, the thought is that it only happens for those who control large travel budgets and/or have quite high individual spend (YMMV - see the AA board).
For the rest of us, AA offers challenges - 5,000 EQP gets you gold, 10,000 gets you plat. There is an EXP challenge as well, but they have to offer it to you - you can't ask for it. Note that these are EQPoints not EQMiles. All fares earn 1 EQM, but depending on the bucket they earn either 0.5, 1.0, or 1.5 EQP/mile. If you complete the challenge in the first half of the year, status is good until the following Feb, after July (june?) it's good until the end of the following year.
It's a complex, byzantine system - but it works as advertised and is generally superior to DM in every way at the top tier, especially after the "enhancements" this week.
airways, rgruenwald!
Miliage changes
