Originally Posted by
Legend717
That's exactly what I caught Continental doing in their last days pre-merger. I would be on the waitlist, as a Gold, for DFW-IAH, and at the check in kiosk, I'd be offered the upgrade on that short flight for $40 or so. I'd decline. And ride in coach. Every. Time.
Go figure, it's a "revenue management" culture that survived the merger!
What made it worse was when we started complaining, so CO made the computers NOT offer the buy up to elites. At that point, the Kettles in 59F were paying $40 to fly in first, while we Golds were never given the opportunity at all. THAT was a slap in the face.
I support their right to run their business however they see fit.
And I support my right to take my business elsewhere!
This is still happening, and besides an annoying insult to GS and 1Ks who give thousands of dollars in revenue each year, it's actually rather stupid from a business standpoint. Since the upgrade offer is, in one form or another, offered to everyone, savvy Kettles are able to figure out that spending $100 for a F seat with endless booze and free food along with free checked bags, is a better deal than paying $80+ dollars to check bags and another $20 for food and drinks in the terminal or onboard during the flight.
The idiot "consultants" at CO/UA figured out a way to simultaneously annoy the airline's best customers, while short-changing their own ancillary revenue. Pure genius, if you're another MBA consultant idiot who thinks this is a good idea.
Now, offering the
"true and fair" difference in pricing between a customer's coach ticket and the lowest available
"published" front cabin fare, or offering a cheap segment fee upgrade at the gate (after bags are checked) when the # of available F seats exceeds the upgrade list - those are fine, and I've taken advantage of it myself back when I flew reimbursable work tickets, but we all know that's not exactly what they are doing.