Maybe not. If I were AA and saw the reaction I would be sending letters to UA frequent flyers telling them about AAdvantage and keeping the 500 mile minimum. If I were AA and UA and US merged I would be sending a great email
The question is just how much defection has occurred from getting rid of the 500 mile minimum, which I'm guessing from UAs following suit to US is it's not very much. FFs can whine about the policy, but it's likely they aren't losing much from it as it hasn't been rescinded, not even on the Shuttle.
The biggest losers from this policy are regional flyers who fly short routes into bigger hubs, but those tend to be fairly price insensitive routes that don't have a large number of alternatives anyway. US and now UA realize this is a way to nickel everyone without losing them, and the rest of the industry will follow suit when they can't sway many FFs over.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GadgetFreak
Maybe not. If I were AA and saw the reaction I would be sending letters to UA frequent flyers telling them about AAdvantage and keeping the 500 mile minimum. If I were AA and UA and US merged I would be sending a great email
I agree. The customers who will feel this impact the most are the high rev customers who do a ton of short-haul flying. The other airlines will be circling like buzzards for these customers.
Don't forget that this is a double-whammy for the UA folks: Not only will they not get the extra EQM's and RDM's.....they also will get less miles to count toward their upgrade banks. Or maybe I should say "our upgrade banks," because once Tempe combines the programs we can kiss our free upgrades goodbye.
I really empathize with our compatriots at UA if this merger happens. The higher you fly, the harder you fall!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rzsionak
The question is just how much defection has occurred from getting rid of the 500 mile minimum, which I'm guessing from UAs following suit to US is it's not very much. FFs can whine about the policy, but it's likely they aren't losing much from it as it hasn't been rescinded, not even on the Shuttle.
The biggest losers from this policy are regional flyers who fly short routes into bigger hubs, but those tend to be fairly price insensitive routes that don't have a large number of alternatives anyway. US and now UA realize this is a way to nickel everyone without losing them, and the rest of the industry will follow suit when they can't sway many FFs over.
Implicit in this is an assumption that both UA and US management know how to maximize long term financial results for their companies. History would argue against this assumption.
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Southwest Airlines' Rapid Rewards program only counts trips, and therefore has always been highly favorable to the short-haul customers who butter Southwest's bread. But there are strong hints of a 2009 change to a points accrual scheme much less favorable to short-haul and discounted fare customers.
Enjoy Southwest's generosity to short-haul customers while it lasts. That's what I'm doing, spending $900 to earn each free RT ticket. Just don't be too surprised if they move your cheese a year from now.
The question is just how much defection has occurred from getting rid of the 500 mile minimum, which I'm guessing from UAs following suit to US is it's not very much. FFs can whine about the policy, but it's likely they aren't losing much from it as it hasn't been rescinded, not even on the Shuttle.
Admittedly, FT is not necessarily representative of US FFers in general, however, I can assure you that US has lost business over this, certainly mine:
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Some people have stated here that the impact is minimal because US still allows qualification on segments for status. While the status may not be affected to a short haul flyer, the number of miles earned will. Say someone flies PIT-IAD on a weekly basis. The number of segments will still get them top tier, but the amount of miles that person flies to get an award ticket will increase. So segment flyers are really hurt since they won't earn as many miles. It may not be a big deal to some people, but if you have to fly say 40 trips to earn an award ticket (no math done just an observation) as opposed to 25 with the minimum, then it does add up.
Some people have stated here that the impact is minimal because US still allows qualification on segments for status.
I think those statements have already been refuted as an oversimplification of most people's travel patterns. But the rest of your post is exactly the rationale that US has used for the change.
chicaloca453,
What you say sounds true, but do you think your average flyer (even regular business type commuter) is savvy enough to know and understand it? Maybe next time on the US Shuttle, I will ask my seat mate if they even know that they no longer earn 500 miles on the short flights. I would imagine the BOS/LGA and LGA/DCA shuttles are most seriously hit, and to a lesser extent the BOS/DCA shuttle.
If I were Delta, American, Southwest, AirTran, or Amtrak I'd run a mega promotion around short sub 500 mile segments. I'd offer loyalty program bonuses, fare sales, contests for large and small prizes, some free drinks, and I'd hold events in key cities and airports where I offer the short segments. I'd specifically mention how my program was better than US/UA, and I would directly advertise (and have even tables and web sites set up) where US/UA elites could get immediate top level status in my program. I'd even offer an extra carrot to a US/UA elite coming over to my program, and I'd heavily advertise this. These carriers could get some free advertising through quotes in the media, corporate blogs, and by courting internet brand evangelists to spread positive word of mouth WOM about them.
Why are these other companies not taking advantage of this US/UA blunder, and running with it?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photog72
Because they are planning to do the same thing as well. Watch.
I'm not so sure about this. Right now the other airlines have a competitive advantage by offering a 500 mile minimum. US/UA elites are ripe for the picking.
It's not to say that the other airlines will not eventually follow suit once the dust settles, but this is probably one of the easiest areas where the other airlines can make concessions, considering they set their own award inventory. All they have to do is make it (even) harder to redeem mileage awards.
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After 23 years as an exclusively US customer, and MOST of those as GOLD or better, and watching the quality of the carrier decline, and elite benefits disappear and further service since the US/HP merger, I stayed through it all, putting up with it. Through all of that US cheated me a couple of times, and went back on customer service promises for service failures, and I even put up with that! The last straw was elimination of the 500 mile minimum. To me, I would just be wasting my money by staying with US. Instead, I have status matched to DL, and with DL first class sections being larger, there has never been a question of being in first class on any flight that I have been on since my switch to DL. My guess is that US pushed hundreds of elites out the door and into the open arms of DL, CO, AA, etc. with this 500 mile minimum elimination. But don't worry, Dougie likes it!
__________________ Hey Dougie! I go all the way back with US Air to 1985, they don't get any more loyal than me, so play nice!
If they're want to give us "actual" miles and not the 500 mile minimum, then they should give us the actual extra miles when we have to go into a 30 minute holding pattern for a scheduled 35 minute flight. This happens all the time on the DCA-LGA Shuttle.
