Originally Posted by
spin88
I would just observe again that what delta did (be only on very lowest advanced purchase fares, and then you basically just lose an upgrade shot) is both less of a take away, and less likely to impact business travelers.
The only additional take-away for a UA Premier member vs a DL Premier member is Premier qualifying credit. If I were a DL premier, I'd hate BE just as much as I do as a UA premier. I care about what I spend on business travel, but I care more about what I spend on personal travel. And I
definitely care about sitting in E+ / C+ at a minimum, which is one of the reasons that I fly UA instead of DL.
And, you know what? I don't live in a hub city. I could easily fly DL instead of UA -- both are approved travel options for my company. UA has more flights in and out of AUS, but DL is expanding and I could make them work. The flight costs are typically about the same.
I choose UA because they're a better fit for my personal travel.
We often talk about "business travelers" and "leisure travelers" as though they're completely different sets of people, but most business travelers also have some personal travel too. (Otherwise, what's the point of frequent flyer miles?). All of the major airlines need to be careful about treating "leisure travelers" too harshly lest they lose the "business travelers" that are actually the same people wearing different hats.