Originally Posted by DrBeeper
The goal of UA is to get passengers to buy more expensive seats rather than the cheap seats. So, they give extra credit toward status by purchasing seats that are refundable. All refundable tickets qualify, I believe. I can't find a ticket that is refunable that doesn't qualify. This is great for me since I travel for business and need to be able to switch at the last minute.
I fully sympathize with UAL for this policy. Frankly, UA should go to the Delta/AA model of 0.5 for cheap seats and 1.5 or 2 for full fare or business class. Just a thought.
I totally disagree! The one thing that UA can really boast about is at least 1 mile for every mile flown. It's a great PR tool and one of the reasons I'm switching from AA to UA. If you take that away, you have no incentive for loyalty to UA.
And if you want to see angry people, go over to the DL board and ask them how they feel about the LUT snub. It's cost Delta a lot of business. The only reason it may not have had the same outcome at AA is because all miles earned (not just BIS miles) count towards million miler status (and lifetime gold).
If UA goes to the LUT snub pattern, I think it would seriously hurt them. I'd rather see them give incentive for higher fares (like this $50 challenge thing) and leave things alone for people who still want to fly in the LUT bucket. I know it's not LUT at UA, but it still emphasizes what I'm saying.