Originally Posted by OFFlyer
I still do not get it. E+ was the only thing that UA had going in its favour. Through that product UA has been able to secure quite a bit of loyal business from frequent travellers. Now the UA product is sub par by far in every single cabin - and this is espcially true for the intercontinental flights. Why fly UA between US and Europe when BA, AF, KL and LH (just to name a few) has a far better product in M, C and F. The goes for the pacific routes - here the competition is NZ, QF, SQ, JL, AN, etc. I know that such elements as schedule and price are important elements - but given that these over time and to the average pax is leveled out - I do not get why anyone would fly UA (well to be honest I never quite understood why anyone would chosse UA for the C or F product).
It's not just schedule and price but FF program. As a USA-based flyer my primary FF program is UA. Fly any other *A as a *G on UA, and I lose the 100% mileage bonus I'd receive if i flew UA metal (LH trans-atlantic does offer the bonus though), upgrade coupons to use on domestic flights, most likely targeted bonuses that work for UA metal flights only, etc.
If I *ONLY* flew international routes (or virtually so) then I'd pay more attention to LH M&M program, and that would also influence my choice in metal.