Originally Posted by
belynch
Sent an email.
It's their right to make changes to the services and benefits provided with the club membership but this is a step too far. They owe all members the right to cancel their membership for a pro-rated refund who don't want to accept these changes. What they've done is ethically reprehensible (I wouldn't be saying that if they were charging fair market value or below for the drinks).
Idiots.
+1. I've opened an inquiry with AMEX (mine was purchased via my corporate AMEX) since my renewal was within the last 3 weeks (unfortunately just prior to this rumor being more or less confirmed on Labor Day). Unlikely to accomplish anything but seems to be the only potential recourse since UA doesn't appear poised to refund my membership.
This is a bad miscalculation by UA IMHO because I consider Club access part of my overall travel experience and this significant downgrade, as I mentioned earlier, may push me away from UA with my travel, which will cost them a lot more than a couple comp Jim Beam/Seagram's 7 and Cokes a week.
EDIT: if they were giving us free club access like Delta does to DMs that would be a different story but the fact that I had to pay $400 for the privilege of paying $9 for a Bacardi is an insult