Originally Posted by PHLGovFlyer
There are a lot more average Joes out there trying to buy tickets than there are FT’ers wishing we could change seat assignments at UA.bomb.
The bureaucracy as seen by the average Joe/Jane.
I have had status on two airlines other than UA. Now that I fly out of IAD, that almost mandates that I fly UA. If I flew from ATL or SLC, it would probably be Delta. DFW, AA.
When I occasionally flew UA as a peaon, I kept running up against their unreasonable rules to counter my reasonable requests. Having UA status and experience with them helps me:
1) Understand and anticipate their, well, crap.
2) Get an exception around some of it
All of the airlines suffer from it. I am still amazed when I fly US, DL, or Cactus, at the crap they deal out. Of course, each airline has their own rules and procedures.
They call it their "competitive advantage."
So, I guess you could say that if UA would clean up their competitive advantage, they would have a competitive advantage.