Originally Posted by
findark
I can't imagine there were many profitable United.com club customers, either. I sure am not
I couldn't for the life of me really understand how this program was beneficial for United, so not terribly surprised to see it go.
The point was never for the $25/year to be profitable. They knew it wouldn't be. The point was twofold: 1 - to move some bookings to United that would otherwise go to other carriers, and, more importantly, 2 - to get people to book on the United.com (née Continetnal.com -- this is an
old program) website.
When it was first instituted, I believe Continental was paying commission on all airfares above $400. Since a standard commission was 10% of the base fare, a flat $5 on all tickets seemed like a better deal.
UA has probably decided that their commission costs are low enough now that the program no longer makes financial sense.