Originally Posted by
Superguy
I deal with this question late in every year. Is loyalty worth it (and if so, do I stay put or switch?), or just go by what schedule works best? If I could fly in paid F all of the time, this would be a good mindset. But having experienced being a Kettle on other airlines due to IRROPS, needing a cheap flight for family, etc, it becomes apparently really quickly that no matter how bad elite status has gotten, it's still infinitely better than being a Kettle.
I think they're all bad these days, it's just they're all "less bad" in certain areas than others.
I don't think there is one answer at this point, but that itself is a problem for UA. When I was GS, there was no comparison. As you noted, UA knew it sucked in many ways (particularly IRROPs, but CS in general) and GS was designed to fix that problem, while also fixing the issue of upgrades not being available. But the problem at that point (I'm talking 2006-2012) was not that the product was necessarily substandard (the hard product was actually leading in some respects, and the soft product if not great, was not sub-par like it is today) it was the service. Now the soft product in particular, but also most of the hard product, sucks as well. As others have noted GS can't fix that.
I guess I am in the enviable position of just paying for F if the flight is over about 3 hours or so (unless F is priced crazy) and I really can't see the benefits - to me at least - of giving UA my business to get GS. But the entire point of GS is to gain/retain the business
of those who can/will pay for more expensive tickets.
As others have noted, given that UA now sells lots of TODs, upgrades from Y are not so hot at this point (and I might add I get upgraded by DL or AS on nearly every short flight I take ex-SFO). Saver space is basically non-existant - particularly for multiple seats as I would need for a family trip. The last four family trips we have taken (SFO-MUC; SFO-KUL-HKG; SFO-ICN-KIX; SFO-MUC) there was no reasonable availability at any time on UA, surprisingly I found workable routing on DL on three of the trips. And on these family trips ( Y on OZ and LH, and in PE on CX and SAS) I have gotten better service just based upon my *A status (or being in PE) than UA had given me at the time I quit UA.
And the final kicker for me is that on the routes that I want to fly, UA's Y product is just horrible. I avoid them to Hawaii (77HD) or due to the new 77W and the tight 787. At this point the hard product takes UA off my radar for family trips (unless they will give me 3-4 J seats, which is not gonna happen) and when I am paying for J or PE why would I chose United?