FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - [Unconfirmed] UA Preparing to Sell E+ at Booking as Separate Cabin (like DL C+)
Old Nov 9, 2019, 3:00 pm
  #123  
jsloan
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
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Originally Posted by bmw303
Disagree. Take DL for example. The hard product and the soft product (service) I believe is considerably better. United has tried to improve, but is still a bit below Delta's standard, and far below that of many foreign carriers. United however has had (in my opinion) the stronger rewards program (relative to Delta) which mitigates the worse product. Once E+ goes the way of DL however, there really is very little reason for you to be a UA Gold vs. Star Gold vs. Gold anywhere else.
That’s a fair point, although plenty of DL flyers will disagree. I’ve flown DL a few times over the last couple of years and never really came across impressed. (My favorite was the FAs who didn’t even bother to do a cabin check prior to landing at MSP, so the guy next to me in the exit row kept using his laptop, on his open tray table, until touchdown).

If DL works better for any particular person, by all means, they should switch. And I can see a definite reason for someone to value UA Silver or Gold status over DL Silver or Gold due to the E+ policy — if I have to start paying to guarantee E+ on UA, I’ll compare the all-in price with DL’s all-in price, and there will be less of a built-in advantage for people.

But for many people on this board, flying anyone other than DL means either spreading their flying out to several airlines or spending a lot more time in transit. There’s a reason the upgrade list on SFO-ORD is often over 100 names long. Few people are flying SFO-MSP-ORD on DL instead of SFO-ORD on UA.
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