Originally Posted by
sbm12
So the cheapest fare also earns 100% credit on PQDs, RDMs and PQMs. Great!
Yes. But only if that is a flight I can make work. If it isn't, the other options on the same routing are not nearly a great.
Originally Posted by
sbm12
I never said it did. But the point remains that customers who are focused only on buying the cheapest fares are not the one airlines are goign to focus on, especially when it comes to providing elite status benefits. I'm sorry that you seem to be taking the news personally; I assure you my point is anything but. I also am a low-fare flyer affected by this change. But I'm willing to admit that I'm a customer the company likely loses money on, not a profitable one. I get why they're doing it.
You seem to forget that a single TATL trip or maybe two can have an impact in the overall elite strategy I deploy. I get that my $1400 for a TATL trip isn't going to make LH or UA swoon. But it also isn't exactly a cheap fare. The problem is if it triggers a change in my elite strategy toward a competitor because my work flying is higher yielding than the once or twice a year TATL...so I will hold to my opinion that punishing a customer for 1 lower yielding fare by withholding PQD can have unintended consequences for UA.
Originally Posted by
sbm12
They're also apparently all in different fare buckets...possibly a point of sale issue??
No clue.
Originally Posted by
sbm12
Correct. But since you're trying to save money that shouldn't be too much of a problem; the cheapest fare is available on UA metal. But there are also LH fares which are much less than the $400 premium, albeit routing via IAD, ORD or EWR in some cases. Thank goodness there are so many options to choose from. In fact, I found flights on the dates you wanted issued by UA on LH metal for the TATL bits for $1229. Interestingly, that's the exact same fare ITA says it should be.
I get that I can try to take different routing, more connections etc to get a lower fare etc. That was originally my point and that of another poster...UA is forcing some of it customers to accept different connections to get the price down and still qualify for elite status. It's a battle I don't see working out very well in the long run.