Although much has been discussed in this forum ad nausea, in preparation for the meeting with CO’s top officials in April, I decided to perform a little case study of my own. My case study centered on the costs and benefits of being a top tier elite with any given [major] airline. Now most of this stuff is common knowledge for FT-ers. However, I have never seen a complete compilation in one place, so I’m sure there will be a common retort of “I knew that” and “Yes, I knew that too”.

I did not want to go to the meeting with a bunch of rants about EQM’s, upgrade capabilities and other things which I’m sure will be addressed anyway. However, I did want to find out just how OnePass stood up to other airlines’ top tier status, from a matter of fact point of view.

Being based in SFO, I definitely do a lot of transcons every year, and hence part of my study is biased by this fact. For those who live in hub cities, options are sometimes cut and dried. Additionally, it is obviously up to the individual flyer to determine where there is value added and where there is not.

A disclaimer about upgrades: Since upgrade rates are impossible to determine without some serious industrial espionage, I left out any sort of conjecture regarding freebie upgrades.

In any event, my study provided me with some unsettling results. Here’s a few of the major high points of what I found out:

(1) All major airlines (except UAL) offer unlimited complimentary upgrades to their top tier elites. DL and AA are the recent additions, I think US started a while back. UAL is the only hold out that still charges for the privilege. It seems as though OP has lost it’s edge in this area

(2) CO has the least economy seat pitch of any airline I studied: 31”. Even Jetblue offers 2-3 more inches of legroom !! AA and UA both offer increased seat pitch in economy, worthy of note for lower level elites not getting good upgrade %.

(3) In comparison to DL, AA and UA, CO is the only airline that doesn’t offer ANY powers ports on ANY Transcon from SFO (actually ANY flight from SFO for that matter). UA offers it’s new P.S. service on transcons with power at every seat. AA has power at every Bus seat and lots in eco. I noted this morning that widebody EWR-LAX is gone in May, so add LAX to the list of transcons with no power.

(4) Of the four majors doing transcons SFO-NYC area (CO, AA, UA, DL), CO offers the second-fewest big seats. Note DL only ops 3 flights per days whilst the others all op 5. UA: 190 seats, AA 177 seats, CO 94 seats, and DL 64 (on the 3 flights). Note that AA Explats have free access to those 177 seats.

(5) NW and AA both offer upper-tier elites CONFIRMED companion upgrades at the time of booking, separate from SWU’s they offer to top-tiers. CO and NW are the only major airlines that don't offer complimentary SWU’s to top-tiers. US, AA, UA, and DL all offer SWU’s confirmable at time of booking.


The second part of my study focused on the costs to get a big seat on an international routing using the upgrade process. I took the big 6 (AA,UA,CO,NW,DL and US) and made mock bookings, mid-summer, from their hub-city to CDG. AA, UA and DL all from JFK. NW from DTW. CO from EWR, DL from ATL and US from PHL. All bookings were made in the LEAST EXPENSIVE UPGRADEABLE FARE. All costs included both out-of-pocket expenses, and mileage expense computed at the rate of $.05 per burned mile, based on a round trip upgrade.

Once again, CO AT BEST, was in the middle of the pack if not closer to the bottom. Here’s what I found out:

(1) CO had the HIGHEST out-of-pocket expenses @:-) (before mileage expense) of any airline, coming in at $1737 including the co-pay . At least in my case, it’s the out-of-pocket I need to sell on my wife as miles are intangible to her. NW was lowest @ $1100 ^ , followed by: US $1162, AA/UA $1350ea, and DL $1582.
(2) However, factoring in mileage @ $.05/mile, CO did much better. NW led the pack @ $3100. CO came 2nd @ $3737 . Followed by DL $4082, US $4162 and AA/UA at $4337 each (the most expensive of the bunch).

(3) HERE’S THE REAL KILLER: US, AA, UA and DL all offer top-tiers SWU’s ^ . Factor that into the mix and the results change DRAMATICALLY. Since there’s no miles to be burned with SWU’s, actual COSTS for getting the big seats becomes:

US - $1162
AA - $1337
UA - $1347
DL - $1582 (yes it was an M fare, upgradeable with SWU’s)
NW - $3092
CO - $3737

Here’s my gut-feeling analysis of the results:

N.b. I consider US to be a bit of a question mark, so I really haven’t included them here.

If you’re going to fly 100K+ miles/year, AA has EVERYONE beat. CO doesn’t even come close. AA, DL and UA have power on tons of domestic flights. Come May, CO will operate only a handful, and none on transcons.

Since AA, DL, NW and CO ALL offer unlimited top-tier [domestic] upgrades, CO doesn’t look so good anymore. Couple this fact with AA’s, UA's and DL’s offerings of SWU’s and CO is in the dust….And NW offers [domestic] companion upgrades confirmed at time of booking.

Since AA, UA and DL operate wide bodies on many domestic routes, it would APPEAR that access to big seats on domestic flights would be greater . I know that my upgrade % has dropped significantly over the last few years. To re-iterate, however, I really don’t know !! I do know that CO seems to be moving toward flying 757’s and 737’s for ALL domestic routes, save perhaps IAH-EWR.

Overall, I’d rank them as follows, from best to worst: AA, DL, NW, CO , US, UA (I'd still rank UA at the bottom for the terrible domestic upgrade policies, others may differ)

What happened to my beloved CO being a no-brainer choice ?

EDITED TO ADD FLEET FACTS.

Some further analysis and fleet facts

I was hoping to keep this thread dedicated to quantitative discrepancies between CO (and onepass) and other airlines services and products based on tiered elites (primarily upper-tier elites).

That's why I didn't really provide any analysis on food, pillows, friendly faces, or otherwise since it's up to you to decide the important things. For me, it's more seat for the dollar, staying productive in the air, and the ability to take a fancy trip once a year.

In concert with this paradigm [insert fancy buzzword here], I've compiled some stats on the big-five fleets and so-forth. Here goes:

SYSTEMWIDE FLEET FACTS (mainline only. sorry commuters, your SOL !!! ):

% OF PREMIUM SEATING AVAILABLE (F & J combined for this exercise):
UA: 14.97
AA: 14.66
NW: 14.42
DL: 14.21
CO: 12.45

Conclusion: That might not sound like a big difference, but 2% points means 2 extra big seats on a 100-seat aircraft; i.e. 2 more upgrades

% OF SEATING OFFERING POWER (either std 120V or em-power):
AA: 40.96 (WOW)
DL: 23.03
UA: 11.13
CO: 8.97
NW: 3.42 (ONLY THE NEW 330'S I'm afraid )

Conclusion: Well, it depends on the user. AA may get a bit tougher for laptops once MRTC is removed on most planes. However, CO only offers the chance on 9% of seats....and almost none domestically.

Seat Pitches (note I didn't worry about widths since the permutations become endless):

BEST AVAILABLE PITCHES FOR ELITES, ECONOMY SEATING:
UA: 34, 35 and 36" (economy +)
DL: 31, 31 and 33"
AA: 31, 32 and 33" (reflects removal of MRTC)
NW: 31, 32 and 33 (34 in some seats on 742's)
CO: 31 accross the board (conflicting reports of 32" and 33" on some 76's and 77's)

Conclusions: Perhaps CO's new articulated seats FEEL more spaced apart ?? However, little options exist for better legroom on ANY domestics op'd by CO

FIRST CLASS SEATING PITCHES (please note where 3-class aircraft exist [read UA and AA], only business class has been listed):
AA: 39/40 for narrow bodies. 50/60/62 for widebodies op'ing domestics, all int'ls
UA: 38 accross the board for domestics (however, some offer 3-class with better). 55 and up for int'ls
DL: 37 thru 40 for domestics. 37" on shorts only. 55 for int'ls
CO: 37/38 for all domestics (note very few @55). 55/78 for int'ls.
NW: 34/37 for all domestics. 60/70 for int'ls.

conclusions: I'm gettin' squeezed baby . !!! CO now offers very little international tidbits on domestic routings. AA and UA flyers could get creative on certain routes and get a taste of the good life.


EDITED TO ADD THOUGHTS:

After performing the research, based on personal preferences, I'd gauge the airlines' as follows:

Lowest-level elites (ie Silver, AA Gold or United Premier):
UA (best)
NW / CO / DL (mid)
AA (worst)

rationale: If you're a lower level elite, with a poor upgrade % go for UA in a heartbeat. Until they start talking about removing ECO+, then you'll be happier with your seating in the long run. With ECO+ seat pitches approaching that of other carriers Biz seats, you can work on your laptop or simply stretch out. Waiting on an upgrade that comes only occasionally may be hurting your overall comfort. If your upgrade %'s are OK with CO/DL/NW why change? AA's upgrade policy for silvers isn't that great, and removal of MRTC will mean closer pitches approaching CO/DL/NW anyway......



Mid-Level Elites (ie Gold, AA Plat or UA Premex).

Hard to call. Not an easy answer so......


Upper Level Elites:
AA (best all-round)
NW/DL (middle)
CO (middle-bottom)
UA (worst)

Rationale:

AA offers the best all-round performance for upper-level elites. Although it takes 25K more miles to make it, AA simply offers more to their highest level elites than any other airline. Unlimited domestic upgrades coupled with SWU's make AA a clear choice... You may even get an occasional open seat beside you in biz. Creative planners on domestic routes also find themselves with power ports at premium seats and better seat pitches if you get yourself on a widebody operating a domestic route. These facts and a good worldwide partner system all make AA atractive to the top-tier flyer.

Northwest and Delta get good marks for unlimted upgrades and the ability to take an international trip without breaking the bank. While DL offers SWU's upgradeable from certain fares, NW has no international co-payment for upgrades making them a step ahead of CO in this respect. Both offer economy seating at worst equivalent to CO's economy. However, NW's domestic first is maybe lacking in seat pitch.

CO gets dinged for economy seat pitches, domestic biz class seat pitches and lots-o-cash to get the big seats on Int'l upgrades. While BF may be a great product, I find it hard to beleive it stands up to AA's and UA's first, which are attainable at 100/125K miles repectively (note CO charges 100K for BF). I also have a hard time grapsing that it's much better than DL's biz elite, or NW's WBC, although this fact is debatable. DL's bizelite and NWA's WBC come for 90K and 80K miles outright for awards respectively.

United is a wild card. It all depends on the traveler's habits. If you fly primarily internationally, then US is a pretty good choice. I'd much rather sit eco+ on United than economy CO if international. However, the domestic flyer still gets burned by UA's archane upgrade policy. For example, a trans-con flyer on a $400 purchased eco ticket will pay $500 for e-certs to upgrade round trip. With a $900 ticket, why not simply purchase a FC ticket on another airline? Flyers who fly mostly domestic routes would find themselves sitting in the back on a lot of flights to get the shot at international bliss.