Originally Posted by
mitchmu
I don't understand why you think this is new.
First, CO eliminated RN availability when they took over. R=RN, which means there is no advantage to having status.
Second, I have been monitoring R space regularly since the takeover.
Before 3/3, what I found was that R space did not exist on any flight I checked if it was an sCO flight, but R space was normal on sUA flights.
Soon after 3/3, R space dropped a bit on sUA flights, and remained at zero for sCO flights.
About 2-3 months after 3/3, R space completely disappeared from sUA flights.
Comments above pertain to specific routes that I monitor, which include various flights from SFO to Europe and Asia.
This is nothing new. People are just starting to figure this out now?
I think you are correct. If this is part of UA's new business model, it will not work. They need to loosen up the R/RN availability.
And, to answer your question more directly, here is why I thought this was a new UA policy: back in July 2012 I booked four rt tkts to SYD with plenty of R/RN availability for the entire family. I was surprised to see so much availability given my experience with PMCO. Somehow, I thought that this was a "new UA" policy, a change I would like, but I understand now that it was the last vestige of PMUA policy that had not been yet taken away by the CO management. In fact, there is no more R/RN availability to Sydney now. I was able to buy the tkts before they shut the door!
Again, I believe this is a flawed business model.
Sadly, I am beginning to agree with others here who have argued that the new UA incorporated some of the worst aspects of each airline.
Originally Posted by
mitchmu
This is very helpful. I'm going to look at his newsletter.
I'd ignored it in the past because I was 100% loyal to UA, so I didn't need to learn about premium travel opportunities on other carriers.
$mi$ek has broken that habit for me.
Thanks for sharing it.
One of the things I've realized through this process is that I spent more money than necessary to stick with UA and retain 1K status. By giving up on that, I can use the savings to fly a bit less, but pay more when I fly. And, if I can consistently get these $2000-3000 fares for long haul flights, I'll end up spending less overall that I spent to maintain 1K status with UA.
But, for this to work, I'll have to get up to speed on how to find these deals with other carriers.
I am in complete agreement. It took me a while to get educated on the premium travel market on other airlines, but now I find it liberating to not have to be loyal. Matt's newsletter should be of assistance to anyone who is willing to embrace the "free agent" philosophy when travelling in the premium cabins.
Speaking of "free agents," here is the BEST search engine I was able to find in order to uncover the best business class fares for international travel
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/. It works very well, and I was amazed to see what type of bargains it uncovers.