Originally Posted by
Beerman92
Have you determined at what point things tilt away from United for you? If ontime performance drops to 50% will that make you reconsider? Or are you willing to stay with United no matter what since you can fly nonstop? Just curious.
I'm a huge fan of the best schedule winning out. Its why I fly WN frequently if I have to go up and down the west coast.
Lastly, have you thought about getting 50k status on 2 carriers? Seems to me like top tier means less on United than in the past. I don't have enough experience with AA to know if EXP is far superior to PLT. But its another thing to consider.
That's a really good question. Soon, I need to decide if I take AA's Exp offer or stick with UA to re-qualify for 1K. I fly enough to do one, but not both.
I'm likely going to stick with UA this year and see what my experience is. If I don't face any of the nightmares and I get upgrades when I should, then I will deal with the general misery and lack of reliability. If I end up facing the nightmares that others are posting here or I can't get upgraded anywhere on GPUs, then I'm definitely done. I've given up on domestic upgrades but I've still got a pile of GPUs and those are important to me.
So, the tipping point is most likely going to be determined by what I actually experience the rest of this year, as distinct from the horrors that I read about on here every day.
And, this summer, I've enjoyed staying home, very little travel. I plan to ramp it up again in Fall/Winter, hoping that the "Summer of Hell" will be finished.
I know it's a 50% delay rate, but what I don't know is how many of those delays are severe.
I'm with you on WN for short hop west coast. That's an easy choice.
But, for most long-haul domestic or international, UA does have a great schedule.
Gold status on two airlines is an interesting idea. If we conclude that GPUs are in fact worthless, then that would be a valid strategy. If GPUs can still be used, then, they really are quite valuable.