jpsboo

Right. And the whole point of this thread.

Folks, CO doesn't care anymore how "valuable" a flyer you are. It makes me sick, but they have become a second rate greyhound airline- indistinguishable from the rest. Whoever has the bucks at the time of booking gets the seat. Period.

Whatever, Jeff, I don't like you, either.

ijgordon

Generally low fares (WESTNL) out of EWR unless I'm doing a "good deal premium fare" somewhere, but then obviously the upgrade is moot.

I'm also 2-for-3 on free companion upgrades this year, with a good likelihood of going 3-for-4 on our return next week. The one time we didn't get it, my companion did shoot to #1 on the waitlist (meaning all Plats had been upgraded), but F was already full and everyone showed up.

And more related to the specific thread, my (non-elite) companion did not receive any special upgrade offer on our most recent itinerary today. There was one F seat left at check-in but the website only offered it to him at what I assume was the full buy-up of several hundred $.

jpsboo

^

Maybe all you elites should do this. CO is obviously thumbing their nose at their best customers. Give it back to them!

sbm12

If you're talking about CO's 75s the answer is no. The 752s are not going to get it and the 753s that were supposedly going to do a gogo trial had that postponed indefinitely as of a few months ago when the Kiteline trial (73Es) was also killed.

farfool

As a plat, I noticed this upgrade mechanism degradation in the spring of 2009.
So since privileges were available on NWA I started flying them more often. After a match, I built up to GOLD by the end of the year, and will probably get one this year on DL also. Suffice to say that upgrades on CO followed the pattern denoted here - often not till the last minute and often not at all. On the other hand NW/DL were often early, and I did not miss getting one -even when I had only GOLD this year - except when rescheduling on my part was necessary. Consider that Bethune promised Infinite/Platinum as the highest level for life. This year the introduction of the cash based presidential plus put a lie to that promise. Basically it is/was my contention that GOLD on DL was better than Plat on CO. My continental usage went down by half in 2009 to about 40000 and will probably be down by half again to 20000 in 2010. The rest moved to DL. I should emphasize that my extended family tends to listen what I say about flying, and when my daughter said, "I like CO, they at least give you a little food," I had to point that Smisek's race to create a generic airline had even erased that benefit whose marginal cost was less than $2. Thus their loss of tickets are greater than just mine alone.
It takes a long time for good will to erase and a Halo to fade, but crappy procedures and nickle-dime savings sure will lead to deficits and lack of understanding why.

fivesixseven

Since I never really understood what are the benefits to a Silver (other than the 25% bonus), maybe now I will have a chance.

tegelad

Yeah ... I have noticed the same thing this year and at the end of last year ... only if you by a B fare do you have a chance like the old days for EUA .... I always pushed for Continental because they threw the upgrade bone and supported CLE airport ... but it seems with Smisek ... he is well on his way for making me pull my support. It was extremely hard to try to fly on CO through the past decade (but I made it happen) due to companies travel policies so from my perspective I tried to go the extra mile for them .....

Some would argue ... you should pay to play .... but there comes a point for the frequent business traveler that there should be something given for spending $20-$40K a year on the travel ....

Sigh ... I am really starting to think I might not put the effort into CO next year ... which makes me sad in a way ...

+-ADT

sbm12

Seven segments on CO metal. One was an award. I was upgraded on 5/6 of the others. The average fare per segment was about $140-150.

So CO got about $1,000 of my travel spend this year. There is no way I'm a particularly valuable customer to them.

Completely depends on route/travel patterns.

bocastephen

I'm easy to spot - I either have a little rolling carry-on that keeps flipping over while I pull it, so I kick and curse it, or I have what looks to be a GIGANTIC rolling duffel carry-on (it's actually only 22") that miraculously slides effortlessly into the overhead lengthwise while onlookers gasp in amazement.

I know a Plat who has a "special needs" dog - that certainly isn't me (I think the dog's name is Roscoe, but I don't know the customer)..although I don't mind Roscoe sitting in the seat or walking around the PC, provided he doesn't pee on the carpet or jump up and grab the cheese and crackers. Give me a cute little doggie sitting next to me over a screaming child any day.

I can understand Smisek wanting to generate more incremental revenue - as a leader, I'd do the same. The problem is with his execution (or what we think his execution appears to be so far).

If you want to charge for something, make sure it's something worth paying for - don't charge for the very same thing that was free yesterday. I provided a few good examples of incremental revenue generators, gratis (CO doesn't pay me, I pay them), but I think the chance of any one of those suggestions seeing the light of day is somewhere between nil and none. Instead, I fear we've entered the era of "give me $29 and I'll give you something that should be free - don't pay me, I'll give it to someone else".

In case Smisek is unsure about what happens when you go to war against your best and fiercely loyal customers, I suggest he read about the Cockroach uprising on USScareways and what happened to "The-Greatest-Peabrain-To-Ever-Come-From-McKinsey", Leo Mullin.

Instead, he should call his predecessor Larry to learn about what happens when you engage and collaborate with the people who often spend as much time flying your aircraft as your own cabin crew. We like "carrots" - we don't like "sticks".

fivesixseven

Right. Last year it was for free, this year we need to pay for double EQMs

jpsboo

That is too funny! I will be paying more attention now...


^


I do hope he figures this out, but I am afraid it's not gonna happen.

Chuco35

Except for those of us like me, for example, who are in places like LRD and can make either IAH or DFW our hub. Believe me, I am looking very closely at how CO is treating us during this transition, while gauging the AA alternative -- especially as I can easily meet its challenge program.

Chuco35

Interesting. That's what I used to do about 10 years ago before I got hooked on CO's elite upgrade chase. It was certainly a lot more simple.

Getting free flights is not why I am loyal. I get loads of those through my business and personal CC use. Dilute my upgrades and my loyalty has no point.

Maybe I will be back to just choosing the cheapest flight whenever I buy tickets, and use my FF miles whenever I want to fly F. Depends on how CO treats us, I would say.

bocastephen

Double EQMs are a privilege - a gift. Last year CO offered a promo as a courtesy and competitive response. So far, there is no need to offer a competitive double-EQM promo this year, and many of us hope they don't.

I highly doubt many people will buy the bonus RDMs, let alone pay double for the bonus EQMs.

njcommodore

I agree. Maybe some silvers on the verge of gold will buy, or some golds near plat. Not enough to make a noticeable difference though.