Originally Posted by
helraiser
Andrew,
There's a few things that either the decision makers fail to see or just refuse to acknowledge which's why people are pissed!
- People go for status each year under the assumption that any changes wouldn't impact them greatly
- Changes being made do not bring the 2011 anywhere near to being par with 2010
- No public consultation was made even via survey of sorts
- With the drastic changes where's the incentive to go for 2012 status?
While we appreciate the 2-way communication that seems to be going on and appreciate the fact that AC is trying to move forward with a new upgrade system, as LOTS of people have stated the new benefits do not come close to matching the old. They don't even have to be exact but in this case they just don't match.
I'm only going to speak for Es as I've little to no knowledge of SEs - was hoping someday but now that's up in the air (no pun intended.)
An E can get 35 points if they forego the tier bonus. In the past they'd get 2 SSWUs and the tier bonus plus 2 SWUs. Okay, you argue that the time of using the SSWUs for long haul upgrades is now gone. We got an awesome deal and now have to pay the piper. Fine. More creds are needed. Let's equate that to needing 2 SSWUs + 1 SWU to get a RT Can-Asia upgrade. More certs you've got to cough up right? This leaves you with one SWU and your tier bonus.
Wait a sec, based on the current model, you can only upgrade ONE WAY and are left with 15 credits and no tier bonus. ONE WAY! You then hit the next threshold and can upgrade for your flight back.
The upgrade credits are designed to be a universal currency. Many feedback tells us that customers can't use the SWUs that are earned throughout the year so our end goal is to make the credits applicable on all T+ fare types if that's how a customer chooses to use them. We had to come up with a balance system that would still permit upgrades from Tango Plus and yet not giving the shop away. If we give all the Elites the equivalent credits vs 2010 using the worst case scenario (which is Asia since that's the furthest and most expensive), then all of a sudden customers would have many credits to upgrade T+ within North America. For example, if we give E say 40 credits to start the year, that would be equivalent to 4 SSWU on NA for a NA customer and that is 2 extra SSWUs for many customers vs 2010. Majority of our customers fly a mix of NA and International itinerary; there are LOTS of NA only customers especially within the Elite tier.