Originally Posted by
zombietooth
^You are absolutely correct.
I'll give UA a free idea that will absolutely increase their revenue:
1. Make 1 out of every 2 GPUs you earn book into open Z inventory.
This would mean half of your GPU flights would be guaranteed upgrades, except in the case of no Z avail.
Business travelers would flock to UA under such a scenario.
I can't see them ever doing this - if we assume a rough guess of 20,000 1K and GS members worldwide, and yes I'm just making that number up as it might be higher, we're talking 60,000 Polaris seats gone systemwide because Z will have more inventory than P, so everyone will book W+ and clear into Z, thus requiring both Z and P to be under strict revenue control similar to PN and PZ.
Originally Posted by
ryman554
At the expense of P (and Z) fares and TOD that they can sell.
I'm not sure I want a flock of el-cheapos heading toward my business for the freebies. What happens to them when I have to cut them off? Take a look at the Mariott RewardsPlus status reduction / lounge access removal for a hint.
The Marriott situation is a catastrophe with a massive number of defections given the removal of key benefits that Platinum members from both prior companies received as a normal expectation - however I don't think there is travel and hospitality industry leader as absolutely clueless and intellectually dumb as Arne Sorenson - however it still sits as yet another case study for what not to do when you feed loyal customers a specific dish for years, then suddenly yank it away and the previously crappy looking alternatives suddenly don't look so bad.