Originally Posted by TWA Fan 1

In a nutshell that's about it. Now just imagine you're an OP Plat in EWR with its huge voume of high-mileage elites all flying exclusively tiny planes, thousands of plats vying for a few dozen FC upgrades.

The bottom line is that CO, under the current leadership, has made a conscious choice to de-emphasize the importance of customer loyalty (OP elite) in return for a short-term revenue boost (lower fares across the board, including Y and FC).

The short-term result is a slight revenue boost. The long-term implication is customer loyalty erosion. Ultimately this strategy will turn CO into another commodity-based product with emphasis on low price and low quality.

The irony of the situation is that the JetBlue coach product is far more "premium" than the coach product on CO. And it's far less expensive.

I used to reluctantly buy CO roundtrips from EWR to LAX for $800+ with the expectation that I would get upgraded. But in the past 12 months I was never upgraded on any expensive (for me) ticket that I purchased.

So what's the point? Why would I spend $800 for a profoundly uncomfortable seat on CO when I can get a much more comfortable seat on JetBlue for $219 rt?

I'm saddened that Continenal's lack of vision has led me to make this choice away from an airline that I used to deeply admire.