Why oh why?
 

Sometimes I ask myself why I am still flying CO. Booked from AUS to EWR tomorrow. As usual, F is full, I would be number 6-10 on the upgrade list (as a Plat), so I figured "let's same day change" through Houston, which had F seats available (and a very short ug standby list). Told that yes, there are seats available, but I couldn't do same day confirmed change because the fareclass (W...spent over $400 for this ticket when purchased) is not available on the routing through Houston. I decline paying the change fee plus fare difference and check in for my original flight.

The flights in and out of AUS are nearly impossible to upgrade. I might be batting 1 or 2 out of 10 this year on that sector. May this be one of the most difficult upgrades in the domestic CO system?

Also, lately, ticket prices have been insane between AUS and EWR. $320-$500 for deep discount tickets. In the meantime, AA is having occasional sale during which I was able to snag a number of tickets priced in the $200s.

So to summarize...can't get an ug out of or into AUS, can't same day change, tickets are very expensive.

I've been debating for some time whether I would shoot to requalify for Plat or Gold this year. This morning, I got my answer. It'll be Gold for me. After all, I am not getting upgraded anyway, so the difference between Gold and Plat is negligible. To requal for Gold, I think I need to book one or two more roundtrips through the end of year, and I'll be done.

It's unfortunate...I like flying CO, and I like award redemption on Star partners, but the benefits just are not good enough to give them enough business to be Plat in the future.

It's quite simple, If you want to fly nonstop, you'll pay a premium.

I feel for you but let's consider the circumstances. You are flying a route that is very business traveler heavy on the prime business traveler time schedule.
You are flying on a deeply discounted ticket. I think that your expectations are greater than your pocketbook. You should expect to fly in coach when you pay a coach fare. Upgrades are like cherries on a sundae: welcome but not a necessity. As has been said over many threads many times, if you want to fly in F, you have to pay for it. As a plat, you do get M fares but I will be the first to agree that this has not been a bargain over the past several months.

The second issue is the cost of travel. I agree that the fares I am seeing have escalated over the past several months. But here is the rub. IF a company cannot make money on their business plan, they go out of business. I have not seen CO making buckets of money over the past 4 quarters (In fact, they are still losing it although their cash flow is positive).
So, they need to charge a price for their services which will allow them to make a profit, or suffer the same fate as prior airlines that did not make money. You will pay more to fly. Sorry to tell you that :(.

If you can scarf a better fare elsewhere, fine. Take it and fly. But just remember that everything that CO has become from baggage to food is because of Kettles who see flying as what ticket price from A to B is the lowest.

If you want a seat an F, buy it.....I am sorry, and this may sound rude, but I have no sympathy for you.

My L fares are $300-$400 and all I get is a 3 hour barbie jet to IAH....I pay coach and expect coach......simple as that...an upgrade is icing on the cake.

I think the transcons and IAH-LAX/SFO are the most difficult, but that's just my opinion.

Same day change has been disappointing to me. Majority of the time, same fare class is not available although there are open seats on the plane. I think I has 10% success rate on same change. It only happened when the program first rolled out.

I am batting 4/4 and 1/1 on EUA segments on SDC, just have to know hat you are doing :D

I hear you, thats why I did what I did, left CO if Im not gonna be getting the UP then at least with UA I'll be sitting pretty in E+ or if time is of the essence then B6 (JetBlue) where the 1st bag is free to all and leg room unlike CO

Now with PlanB no longer possible and food going bye-bye I just cant find too many logical reasons to fly or credit my miles to CO any longer it was a very nice 7 yr marriage

jetBlue
 

Why not just fly jetBlue?

3 daily non-stops AUS-JFK. with roundtrip fares as low as $337.40 (incl all the taxes), free LiveTV, free snacks, not a bad seat in the house on their super comfy E-190 (minimum 32" seat pitch and EML seats with 38" seat pitch for about $20 each way), no middle seats, 1st checked bag free for everyone.

This is why Kettles like JetBlue. Nice low prices and some services provided. However, using your JB FFP pts to go from JFK to FRA may be somewhat difficult and OTW fares on JB just don't exist, yet. Furthermore, if you are a real Kettle, then JB will be superceded by anyone else who has a basic fare that is $1 less. After all, it's all about the lowest fare.

Each program has its pluses and minuses. UA just dumped same day changes for free (exceptions exist for super elites). CO dumped food. So, yes you can fly JB with the bells and whistles but just don't wind up in an irreg op situation with them, or want some of the above described FFP benefits.

Id rather be on JB with Ma & Pa and be comfortable then to be on CO and not be. And with JB & AA working together I wouldnt be surprised to find that sooner then later youd be able to use miles/pts from 1 to fly on the other

I have flown B6 about 100,000 miles per year since 2006 and have never had an irrops with them.

Sure, if you have one it's bound to be pretty ugly, but with a completion factor of 99.9% at B6 it's really not a big issue.

Ultimately, the choice is sitting in the deeply horrendous CO 735 in Y, with the tight legroom, no IFE whatsoever, and soon no meals either, or on B6 with far more comfort, a very inexpensive buy-up to 38" of seat pitch and free DirecTV.

Who cares about the kettles? This is better for anyone.

Yes, you cannot use B6 points to go to FRA (not yet at least), but you can use them to go to SXM, AUA, CUN, about a dozen other locations in the Carribean, and about 50 other destinations in the United States.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9630/4.7.1.40 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

It isn't just "kettles" that love B6. They do a decent amount of business traveler lift, too. Their FF program certainly has limitations, but so does OnePass. And the in-flight experience on B6 is much better than on CO for folks who are riding in the back, the vast majority of customers out there.

This all presumes that JB serves my city, which it doesn't, so discussion of this airline for me is academic. And I wonder given the economic pressures on all airlines when JB will start to succumb to economic reality.

Hallelujah brother.

I will say, though, that B6 is rarely the least expensive ticket, at least in the "unbundled" version one can see on the internet travel websites. Once you add all the fees the average kettle has to pay (checked bags, IFE (if applicable), meals) it's perhaps more of a wash.

I have found over the years that even the so-called kettles are savvy enough to know about B6's amenities and seek it out even if it is a little more expensive most of the time.

I remember riding on B6 shortly after the infamous "Valentine's Day Massacre." All the B6 employees were deeply apologetic, but all the kettles sitting in my vicinity kept saying how much they loved jetBlue, how much better it was than the other airlines.