Originally Posted by
lainys
Not exactly nothing. Taking into account that the changes wont happen until 2012 will definitely change my 2011/2012 travel bookings.
I'm currently at 860k BIS UA lifetime miles and 500k AA lifetimes miles. A preference for UA over AA is mainly due 100% crediting of miles on all fares during my early business travel years (AA challenge only applied to more expensive fares when I asked to do it many years ago).
Post UA/CO merger and with the recent announcement to add in an additional level at 75,000 for UDU listings, I'm no longer interested in aiming for MM/lifetime PE status. For me a major benefit of being further up on the UDU queue just got taken away so PE lifetime is of little value to me from 2012 onwards. Airlines need to do whatever it takes to stay profitable so I don't harbor ill-feelings about the devaluation.
E+ for us is "nice to have" but not a "must" so if I ever drop to no UA status we won't be paying for E+. Most of our SFO-Canada-SFO trips are personal (to attend various family events) so without the old PE lifetime or 1K UDU chances (once my business travel slows) we will switch to Air Canada for those trips (usually the same routes price out about the same). We think Air Canada in Y is more comfortable than UA E- plus Air Canada has had 110v power ports in Y on the few flights we've taken to keep the DVD player going for Lainys Jnr.
Starting in 2011, I'm considering only booking SFO-JFK-SFO trips on UA if they have confirmable NC space at time of booking. If not it may make sense to take my chances with AA's UDU system and put those miles towards EXP qualification for 2012. Doing the AA challenge will help make it less painful. The bonus + for switching to AA would be that I would not need to do 100k BIS miles as I heard that credit card spending (on AA citicard) would count towards EXP. For me (with the ability to easily fly out of SFO or SJC) it's time to think about switching to the dAAkside (debated on another FT thread).
Again as other FT posts have pointed out, it's not just losing CR1s that pushed me to AA, it's a combination of past changes plus the recent devaluation of the benefits that apply to my own travel situation that tipped the scales in AA's favour. Of course it can easily tip back to UA if AA changes their program so we shall see.....
lainy - One of the more rational posts / responses so far! If UA has changed their incentives in such a way that they no longer have as much value as UA's competitors' incentives, then by all means switch to a new airline!
Airlines are going to behave in a way that #1) Satisfies their sharholders. When making their loyal elites mad causes potential shareholder dissatisfaction (through reduced revenue / profit), then UA will adjust their behaviour as they did in this case. Pleasing their elites was the secondary goal though. The real issue here was they saw that a proposed policy change could affect their bottom line by causing elites to seriously consider their alternatives. At the end of the day, UA decided that it was not worth the risk and changed the policy.
For many people in this thread and others, who have provided detailed descriptions of their flying patterns, I can not help but think that they would be better off on another airline! Or at least taking an open minded look at the alternatives. 1K is great and all (or so I have heard, I have not felt it yet), but other airlines out there are offering incentives that their loyal elites appreciate too!
As I have stated elsewhere, I am hedging my bets. I have 1K for 2011, but plan to only fly 75,001 miles (not 90 segments!
)on UA in 2011. The new 0P level looks pretty good to me as it has all of the benefits I really value.
I'm signing up for the AA Platinum Challenge and by Feb or March of 2011 I'll have Plat AA status too.
The remainder of 2011 will be a trial period for me to determine which company best serves my flying needs and wants. In spite of giving AA a try in '11, I still think I'll end up back on UA for 2012 (SFO is just a UA city...). But you never know - and if I never give AA a try I won't know. goldengate tells me I'll like AA and be able to easily get wherever I wish to go. We'll see about that.
See you around SFO sometime (I rarely travel via SJC) - I'll be the guy in the UA 1K line or the AA Plat line!