Originally Posted by
LarkSFO
63,000 posts and then this?
Please, you are doing a disservice to the FT community and the random few others who may stumble in here.
If YOUR experience is worse than last year, I'll buy that and continue to hope it gets better for you.
But please don't take your experience and try and extrapolate that to the experience of all UA elites.
FWIW, I agree with the OP - 1K just isn't as valuable a perk as it was pre-merger. There is no longer a dedicated 1K call center, the 1K only lines at the check in counter are gone, 1K's no longer get meal selection priority in F and C, and the GPU gets routinely trumped by whatever process is being operated behind the curtain. Yes, after 10 months they have finally fixed the boarding process, but when you look at 1K as it was and as it is, I don't see how you can say it hasn't been degraded.
Yes, United needs to be profitable. Apparently, they have decided that selling upgrades and shoving frequent travelers to the side is the way to get there. I disagree.
Originally Posted by
njcommodore
TLikewise, kettles and other price conscious leisure travelers are picking based on price because they can buy all the ancillary products (elite checkin/security/boarding and premium seats) without being elite. The game has changed. The loyalty programs of the 90s are GONE.
I agree. I would prefer that UA just come out and admit it, and start auctioning off upgrades. For example, I'm sitting on the fence with regard to a TPAC I'll be taking in June. Do I go with UA and use one of my increasingly useless GPU's, or try and secure an UG with miles and money? And the end of the day, I may just say forget it and go to the competition. At least on AA, I can secure an UG at time of purchase if I'm willing to pay for it. With UA, it's currently a carnival midway game of chance.