Originally Posted by
UA-NYC
UA 1Ks haven't had to use mileage upgrades due to the great benefit that are CR-1s (regionals). However, what once could be done for 40K miles (8 regionals earned) will now take 150K flown.
Good summary, and why a lot of the UA folk are pissed (and not in the UK way of being pissed
).
Originally Posted by
MBS PremExec
1. SWUs: You hardly have to purchase 'very expensive coach tickets' to use SWUs. ...I just returned from Asia. Flew in and out of Seoul. Cheapest available fare was $900 roundtrip. My upgradable fare was $1025. Last month, I booked another r/t to Asia for April--Into PEK and out of PVG, my fare was $1250.00--upgradable, and the lowest fare available. SWUs are a VERY valuable instrument. Fares to Germany, for example, might be $200 more for an upgradable fare...Sure beats paying a $500 EACH WAY co-pay AND using your miles.
2. CR-1s: No need to play the upgrade lottery when those times come where you definitely want to ride in F. I'm going to LAX in a few weeks, booked on a A320 with 12 F seats. I'm already booked in F. I didn't want to sweat the upgrade.
You CO people don't seem to understand how good we UA 1Ks had it. It was a great program. We are the ones, as expected, that lost today. We gained nothing...I just can't wait to hear how bad they're going to mess up the Million Miler program.
* Again, well said & why the UA folk aren't happy re: CR1s and SWUs. Also I go to Europe a lot & usually the delta between a non-SWU fare & a SWU-fare is minimal, sometimes as little as $50 & sometimes $200. But at least Europe bound rarely above that. So SWUs aren't 'worthless'.
I'm not that familiar w/ CO, but IIRC you folk didn't even have SWUs until the UA/CO merger was a thought in either Jeff or Glenn's eye and you still got less of them than UA 1Ks did, so while I get your pain on now there being a W requirement still sounds like it beats what you had??
Originally Posted by
TWA Fan 1
I have no doubt the elites would be p.o.'d but why would they leave UA for other airlines that also don't have E+?
What would that accomplish?
* Because some of those other airlines have better upgrade policies in place. Top tier on AA gets you more eVIPs for int'l as well as good domestic upgrades for top tier. So if one has to be in E-, better to be w/ an airline that offers more. Or so the thinking goes. Most of the folk on the UA forum, if they jump, will probably jump to AA. That's my guess anyway.
Originally Posted by
CPMaverick
The 120 segments IS a devaluation plain and simple.
RE: E+; Leaving UA if E+ goes would not 'fix' the loss of E+, but other programs have benefits or services that are superior to UA (like call centers, routing, or even pricing), you might give them a try if E+ was your main 'retainer.'
* Agree w/ the above. Not everyone is a mileage runner, & for those who do short hops on bizness domestically & no int'l travel, they're definitely screwed. And agree w/ the 2nd point as well.
There are other things UA folk aren't thrilled about.
Obviously the UA MMers want to know where they stand. As one who did her MM the hard way - 1,000,000 BIS domestically - no int'l, no cc spend - I'm very interested in whether the new United still gives me 1P status for life, as the old UA did - and which I reward by continuing to fly them vs jumping ship, or whether I'll get demoted to Silver because CO counts everything (flying, CC spend, etc) & thus MM doesn't mean as much to CO. CO's 2MM is more equivalent to UA's 1MM. Let me say that if I get dropped to Silver, it will have me thinking about jumping ship.
Us MMers also received 2 CR-1s every Jan; no idea if that will continue, although I seriously doubt it. And w/ the new 'benefits', for those who not only don't make 1K but might not make 75K (hey, some years travel is off), they now have a 'new' category when it comes to upgrades: "1P-".
Another hot button for UA folk is w/ the new program SWUs automatically being given when you reach 100,000 & expiring 12 mths from that moment. A definate big step back from UA's current policy.
And of course the big thing that everyone wants to know (and I agree, it's a separate topic than FF program bennies) is the E+ issue. That would probably be the final straw for me personally.
OVMV on all the points above, but just a perspective from a UA person.
Cheers.