Originally Posted by
joshc40
It wouldn't surprise me that a majority of FFs tend to travel alone for business. But when on liesure travel, they probably frequently travel with family members who are non-status. I too see both sides of the argument. And maybe I'm in the minority, but it's the fact that I get these upgrade perks for my non-status family members that I can use on liesure travel that actually drives a lot of my business to United. I routinely am able to get UDUs flying to Hawaii with either my wife or a child clearing based on my status. And that's more valuable to me than having a marginally higher chance of getting a UDU on a business trip when the alternative of sitting in an exit aisle is often available. Again, maybe my situation is unique, but UNTD's unique policy in this regard is a big factor in earning UNTD my business travel.
Well said . ^
But CO's "What are you doing for me RIGHT NOW" mentality, they don't see it that way.
I pay a premium to fly UA. DL, the only other option out of my airport has MUCH better flight times (9 flights/day to 2 hubs versus UA's 3 flights/day to ORD only), and is cheaper nearly 100% of the time. I fly UA for the upgrade...If I know my chances are diminished because I have someone traveling with me, I'm going to go for price/convenience every time. My formula for booking tickets is:
upgrade chances > price > convenience
Throw out the chance of an upgrade, and UA suddenly becomes a LOT less attractive.