Originally Posted by findark

I agree - I'm always mildly surprised when these discussions filter back to "loyalty" and I think there are a good number of FTers who are going far, far beyond the wildest dreams of UA execs when it comes to being "loyal" despite poor routings, high prices, etc.

For me, "loyalty" always stems first from price and schedule. The benefit of FFP status is (and I assume execs intend it to be) to get me to choose my main carrier among equal options, or maybe spend a modest amount more. I lost my UA status and am a DL DM now simply because I'm a hub captive. DL could have no FFP at all and I would still do most of my flying on DL. Where the difference comes is on something like MSP-NYC where DL and UA (and AA) compete head-to-head, then UA has a higher bar to clear to get me to fly them because of my DL status. That being said, I can and do choose UA for that route when it's appreciably cheaper - but I will weigh status qualification into the equation. I would never consider flying MSP-DEN-LAS or something in preference to MSP-LAS nonstop unless the price difference were insane.

If people are taking unnecessary connections to "stay loyal to UA", I suspect you are in a tiny minority that executive leadership is not even considering when making these changes. The biggest distinction that seems somewhat reasonable to me is aspiring GS flying UA metal in preference to *A metal on same/similar routings. I was never in the running for GS, so when I was SFO-based I did most of my TATL on LH without a second thought.