Bonehead

As a *G I get to board before the lower UA elites and after the exalted red-carpet crowd...not sure what the name of that boarding group is.

channa

I'm not as concerned with boarding protocol. I'll get to board first, or close to first, in either scenario.

I'm more concerned with the overall culture towards Elites. Things like UA paying for hotels for 1Ks during unexpected overnights, or better call center accommodation during IRROPS. That's sort of stuff.

That's mostly invisible to the general public and takes some of the pain/edge off of travel. UA gets this, and I hope it continues.

ConciergeMike

True, yes, but in infrequent (to me) instances. I've witnessed flights boarding that way but never been on one.

Bonehead

How about non-elites getting the ICC all the time? You have NO IDEA waht a gigantic pain in the rear that is. I refuse to call UA support, which means that I only book UA if I have to. They would be really smart to let we *Gs in to :-: your :-: special call center.

ETA: If CO non-elites start getting India, they will raise hell.

koc1723

I agree. As I understand it this was one of the few pure IT projects that UA was investing in. They made a strategic decision to adopt the *A Common IT platform. (I can't find the press release, but it was 2+ yrs ago. and not much else announced since.)

I view the CIO decision to be based on this as CO will simply adopt the 'new' UA system. I am guessing that with the addition of CO requirements the project may extend longer than anticipated. I think this also goes along with the announcement to delay the move of the Ops center to Sears (can't get me to call it that) tower.

What concerns me is the E+ and ExPlus fallout from these decisions. I really want ExPlus on some of the EWR routes. specifically would love to see an ExPlus regional on EWR-MSP. They (CO) are competing against a a far superior product on DL (ie compass).

bseller

OK, thanks! I guess I'm going to go with the idea that top tier elites ARE worthy of early boarding, before the lowest tiers. Clearly, YMMV.
If I had some way to measure the accuracy of this statement - other than the belief of the speaker, I would be interested to do so. Sadly, for all of us in this UA-CO merger game, I just don't think there is.

Dave

bseller

Just out of curiousity - HOW MANY UA flights do you expect you'd actually FLY if you were getting a US based call center??? Am I mistaken that your flying pattern is very short on UA?
I hope they get rid of ICC and MCC, to be fair.

Dave

koc1723

On many UA routes it is not uncommon to have 60-80% of the flight to be elites. If you have that how do you board? SFO-ORD, ORD-EWR, MSP-ORD, MSP-DEN, LAX-SFO, just to name a few.

I was on a flight from MSP to ORD and the GA said that 100% of plane was elite (I didn't buy that, but I bet it was a large majority) and they were going to board by row. and yes, this was since they implemented the boarding groups.
I can tell you that everyone in the boarding area was pissed. It took 3x to board because everybody had 2 bags. So many checked luggage that day.

sbm12

I think that this explains a lot of why there is disagreement on the forum here. I'm always looking out for myself but I'm also interested in what the carrier does on a much broader level to take care of everyone. CO seems to have a narrower range of "service" offered but the bottom end is higher than the bottom end at UA. Strange as it may sound, I'd rather the company top out at 90 rather than 100 if it bottoms out at 40 instead of 10. I actually think that represents a better operation for both me and others in the long term.

ConciergeMike

Given that I will be going back to general nobody in March, I'm concerned with the opposite. There are frequent reports of UA frontline staff being pretty much unconcerned with anyone below 1K. I have not experienced this, but I have experienced the minimum of hospitality provided by CO for many years now. Make me feel like you're thankful that I'm there. That's not asking for a lot.

channa

I'm sure it is. Though I don't think they're all that bad, either. My dad (CO Elite) was impacted by UA during some cancellations earlier this year, and got accommodated just fine with them. No complaints.


I've never seen an airline pull this off, but it would be a great idea. Even during the NW/DL transition, there was some frustration when DL Elites had to call NW general res when flying NW and vice versa during the transition period.

I'm sure it'll all get worked out over time, but in the interim, but until everything is fully merged, it's generally going to be better to stay on your home carrier as much as possible.


As opposed to "We're unable to take your call at this time. Please visit continental.com and ask Alex your question."

Seriously, though, while we don't know what contracts UA has in place with the ICC, it would be nice if the combined carrier was committed to having USA agents for everyone over time. DL realized their mistake and brought it back in. UA can do the same here.

channa

I understand you in concept, but I don't think we need to accept lesser service at the top. Once you hit that top tier, that ought to mean something.

But I agree with most posters on the board, the general customer should get a reasonable baseline as well.

Using your numbers, there's no reason the airline can't strive to be 100 at the top, while still maintaining a 40 at the bottom.

nova08

^^

bseller

I think that your point is well taken, it's just that I don't believe the numbers, or what they represent, is anywhere close to reality.

Bottom line is that the 1x/year flyers - who DON'T come to FT - just do NOT view things thru the FT lens. They care about cost, schedule, and destination. Period.

Dave

BearX220

Absolutely. There's still a nice, candid, mutually respectful dialogue between CO and its best customers that I hope continues. The domestic elite upgrade situation has been deteriorating by inches for the past decade or so, and I think we sometimes give CO credit for the way we were treated in 2004 or so rather than the way we're treated this week. UA has surpassed CO in terms of elite customer experience design.

Great question. I would say the invisible kind. Discreetly rebooking you into F when you've been hit hard by irrops. Picking up your hotel tab on a forced overnight. Proactive outreach instead of erecting force fields that make contact nearly impossible. These are all great things UA does for 1ks/UGS.

When I was CO/NW-centric (until recently) and flew UA occasionally with no status, it was painful. Sometimes employees wouldn't even make eye contact. I'd always get a high-number boarding zone, no matter the price of the ticket, so it was always 50/50 I'd have to gate-check my stuff. Roll into ORD on a rainy day with a blown-up connection and I'd have a choice between standing in a snaky 90-minute CS line, or trying to dial / queue for an Indian call center and wait for an infuriating, incoherent exchange that will probably make things even worse. And so on.

But for the last year or so I've been showing up with my *G BP and UA staff address me by my name, boost me into E+ with a smile, bring me extra snacks onboard, etc.

I'm still the same polite, patient passenger, but it takes that status marker to avoid being treated like a caged chicken on the back of a truck heading for the Tysons plant. The observation ConciergeMike makes upthread, that UA staff often can't seem to be bothered with the 97% of their customers who are sub-1k, rings true for me too.

I sometimes think UA's loyalty strategy rests in part on making sure elites get to observe non-elites suffering.

That instinct to publicly, visibly divide customers based on class is unpleasant to me, whether I'm the beneficiary (makes me self-conscious) or the victim (makes me resentful). Reminds me of Basil Fawlty's scheme to attract a higher-class clientele to Fawlty Towers: his newspaper advert ended with: "No riff-raff." I see that in UA culture but not CO's. That's the cultural flaw I would like New United to correct without compromising the elite service experience.