Originally Posted by
IAH-OIL-TRASH
I think my upgrade percentage would be far higher if there was only one 1K (me). There are, unfortunately, too many 1Ks IMHO.
For sure there are too many. But this has been the case for at least the last decade (maybe dating back to the merger), especially for those of us flying from UA hubs. Combine with CPU and you have more people chasing fewer seats. A few more 1Ks is like a few more drops in a barrel.
UA is not going to be eating anyone else's lunch, especially Delta, with a much lower credit for FF spend
The easy money for airlines is money from CC companies; DL gets it directly from Amex for DL card spend as well as MR transfers
I suspect but cannot prove that the number of Chase UR to UA transfers is more than Amex MR to DL skymiles.
The MQM boosts from DL Cards gave a specific route to boost status and the rollover kept it going
Chase / UA ecosystem is not as robust (Chase is but UA is not for boosting spend) - UA has treated CC spend income as a step child and is now gradually coming in line with AA and DL in recognizing its importance - it will still be a greatly reduced levels
You miss the point. Again, almost nobody with a brain is going to spend 250k-600k on an airline card. It doesn't make sense when the ROI is so much better on a generic transferable points card. For a few bones as a muckety muck elite who gets shafted on upgrades which the airline now sells for cash? Maybe 20 years ago it would have made sense when the 1K upgrades were plentiful (heck I often upgraded as a lowly premier before we had CPUs). But now, no way.
Yes we all see a lot of people whip out airline cards (my brother is one). They accumulate their 25k and think they can get a RT economy ticket. The vast majority are not charging for EQP but for free flights and a couple of UC passes. This system works super well for the airlines and the banks.