Originally Posted by pinniped
To me, elite status is more important now than ever. It is the only way I will risk flying any of the legacy six. They have (intentionally?) made the non-elite travel experience as miserable as possible. At every step of the way from seat assignment to phone support to check-in to boarding, the airline goes out of its way to make sure you not only get poor treatment, but you know why you are being mistreated.
Assuming this is the case, is it really a sound business strategy? A certain portion of your non-elite custs are going to be ppl flying enough to gain elite status this year. Why screw 'em over when they're soon to be one of your coveted elites? Case in point: me. I'm HP elite, but on CO, I'm "non-elite" (what a flattering term, CO). By March 1 of this year, I was up to 18k -- not huge compared to the ppl here but enough to be hitting at least Gold this year and possibly Plat. Then came my early March trip. CO stuck me in 22F (seat selector didn't help) on an SJC-AUS flight, surrounded by infants. It was
the worst flying experience I have ever had and it completely soured me on CO. I've switched to AA and WN. If I fly with my wife, a CO Plat who wastes probably thousands a year buying CO tickets on CO.com rather than buying cheaper tickets with better routes elsewhere, I'll probably be flying CO. But any solo travel's gonna be on someone who hasn't thrown an adult flying solo into the "family" section. They lost a lot of money this year because they screwed me once.
In marketing there's a rule that, what, 7 out of ten customers with a bad experience will complain to others about it, while 3 who were satisfied will talk. They should've paid attention to that one.