I have just been able to get on - and I must say this is UA taking over the FF program. This also represents a downgrade to the 2010 OnePass program.

Loss of SWU on any fare is a major downgrade.

Adding the 100K level to higher EUA priority - now puts a Plat three levels down.

Question - what about the Infinite Elite program?

Sounds like the 100K is not an official tier in 2011 - so Infinites go from being top tier in 2009, to second tier in 2010, and now third tier in 2011. The Infinite tier should be the most exclusive level (per the wording of the original letter). That would imply the top mileage earning tier since GS is not earned but by an invitaion.

You should head over the the UA forum and post that in the equivalent thread over there. Don't forget your flak jacket :D

I'm making CO 100k this year, apparently more or less for practice. As has been noted, an SWU eligible fare is often a $200 or less bump. Again as has been noted, this could be a scam that never pays off, but if there's actually a better chance of securing the upgrade in advance, I'd gladly pay the $200 each time.

I more or less view the "any fare" SWUs as mythical. I don't want to talk my better half into a once a year vacation only to be playing Lotto.

So we'll see.

I would like to know when United will actually have their IT department figure out how to differentiate between CO Plats and Golds for the UDU rather than just lumping us all together and going by last name. :rolleyes:

Thanks Scott for all your replies, I will pass this info along to the person that asked me about changes.

I did not know that. Explains a lot.

If they are doing it that way, I encourage them to continue as long as they start with A ;)

Probably right after CO's IT department figures it out, too.

On a recent trip on CO my wife (1P with alphabetically "lower" name) got onto the waiting list right before me (1K). She cleared, I didn't. Folks here in this forum explained it with CO treating 1P/1K as equivalent and sort within them by alphabet.

* No kidding. Double flak jacket.

* Can't speak for Asia, but for TATL usually the delta for SWUs isn't that big. I did a trip to AMS in early Sept & literally the dif btwn S (non-ugradable w/ SWU) & W (upgradable) was $60. Granted, not all are that low, but I usually find only $100-200 dif on TATL.

And someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but...

* didn't you all just get SWUs this year (due to the merger I'm guessing) & didn't you have a smaller amount than UA flyers? So while you might have had your (what 2?) SWUs be any fare, wasn't like you got that many to begin w/.

and given UA folk are now having to fly 150K to get the 8 CR1s that they got for 40K & other changes (including 1P- for MM)

I don't get the 'major devaluation' of the CO program.

If someone could line item or do a comparison chart on what you all are losing compared to what UA flyers are losing, I'd appreciate it. Heck, they'd appreciate that in the UA forum too ;) :D

BTW - I'm not saying you're not taking some hits, but I'm not yet convinced 'your side' is facing the major devaluation.

Cheers.

I suspect you are correct.

I think it varies a bit by time of the year, but I still find SWUs valuable. Lack of confirmable-at-booking upgrade space is a bigger concern to me.

AFAIK, CO 100k flyers got 4 SWUs, for the first time this year. I think it was part of an alignment process of OnePass with MP that began when CO joined *A.

For 40K assuming your travel was "scattered" across the quarters and on UA metal such that you'd reach at least 10k BIS in each quarter. I didn't earn CR1s in two of the four quarters this year because of my travel having been restricted for medical reasons during the first half of the year. So essentially I am ending up with the same 4 CR1s this year that I have the opportunity to earn next year should I choose to renew 1K-ness (probably not). But your point is well taken for others (and me in previous years).

Me neither.

As of my post right now there are 459 posts in the UA forum re: this topic, with 90% of them being about the devaluation for UA fliers - not CO. Again, not saying CO isn't getting devalued, but right now it seems that UA is taking the bigger hit.

Cheers.

Why would you expect any different? It's UA + CO.

Let me see if I'm reading this correctly:

Currently, CO Plats who fly 100K EQMs are grouped together with CO Plats who fly fewer than 100K EQMs.

Starting 1/1/11, CO Plats who have more than 100K 2011 EQMs will be above CO Plats who have 75K-99.999K 2011 EQMs.

Why is CO not starting the 2011 program year with 100K Plats ranked higher than 75K Plats?

Teh Box haz Competition!

Sorry, OT :p

CO Insider, will CO change its partnership with Amtrak, especially in terms of allowing transfer of CO miles to Amtrak Guest Rewards points? If so, when?

Probably for implementation reasons in their system.
My solution is simple:
Give CO Plats and PPlats over 100K who do not want to wait, an option to "match" to UA 1K or stay with Onepass until the implementation of this new Onepass Virtual 1K

SBM12. That's exactly what I'd like to know. If the system will look like COs, namely that all mileage ups are ahead of EUAs and that YBM ups are ahead of EUAs, then that will mean a big difference from the system that UA has been running where Status is the deciding factor. The bottom line is (I know you don't share my opinion on this), that I would like to have a good upgrade percentage if I choose to spend 100k miles in UA/CO seats annually. Under CO's system, I know that won't happen, under UA's, I know it would.

And if this salient detail isn't announced, why should I fly 100k on the new UA in 2011 when they may go to the CO system, thereby completely negating the status I might have earned for 2012?

The way I read it, the 100K priority doesn't start until Jan 1, 2012. So during 2011, Plat is still second tier for EUA under PPlat/GS.

Well, I recall when AA dropped MRTC and all of the EXP's and PLT's thought the end of the world was near. It wasn't. In fact, since that time there was improvement in UPG's to J or FC and no fare restrictions on eVP's, plus 8 is better than 4 or 6. The past three years as EXP 99% UPG's on possible segments has been my experience. E+ is nice, but it's still coach. Of course, with AA and UA J and most FC product is just good coach.

Disappointed that my (comp'd from AA EXP) CO PLT won't translate to 1k and a soft landing. Oh well, the rules keep changing but the game remains the same. Probably will just stick with AA, as the 16k BIS flying on UA has not been thrilling.

Thumbs up to OnePass and Mileage Plus offering the best upgrade benefits of any major frequent-flyer programs on Earth.

Well...except for the current Mileage Plus program.

Or DL SkyMiles, or AA (if you're ExpPlat), or US (if you're Chairman status)...

What about (regular) miles earned before 2011, I assume they will just be bundled in, and I will be able to spend them from a joint pool in 2012?

Will any miles I have earned (with UA) count towards MM?
(Although I believe this area is still unknown, correct?)

deleted post

This post is just as laughable on this forum as it is on the UA forum.

So far in the post Mileage Plus/Smisek era I have LOST benefits from what was once the best FF program.

If E+ goes...what exactly are the differentiating factors? There are none.

In fact with AA, I will get 8eVIPs at 100k good on any fare, better than 6SWU good on some expensive fares with no sure thing upgrade/no refund and 2 CR's good to only some places. If I fail upgrade with either I end up in Y anyway so...without E+ for my soft landing...why would I put up with crap IFE and no WiFi on an airline without any legroom improvement?

No angst here, just looking for a better program. I guess I am leaving your "best upgrade benefits in the world" behind for you to enjoy for yourself. See ya on the dAArkside.

Also, it's quite amusing to see the COolaid crowd seeing this as more neutral or even improvement, as compared to MP folks whose program is being devalued and are steamed, and will soon show Simsek and Co how hard you will fight for loyal fliers outside of Houston.

You ain't in Texas any more big boy!

By CRAP IFE you mean the Dallas Symphony Orchestra? (a regular selection on trAAsh) . Or the non existant IFE on MD-80s, or the ghetto cigarette adapters? What does Arpey want me to do with it, light up?

Or the non existant direct tv?

Considering AA's IFE's system can't even connect to my ipod touch/iphone (available on CO+UA), I would hardly call the system crap. If you didn't know an IFE system could do that, you don't know what crap is.

The IFE on AA isn't much to shout about, I would say probably the best thing about it is the Bose Noise canceling headsets. I bring my own.

Huh? Under UA's current program, you're not eligible to earn CR1s until you become 1K. How do you figure you can earn up to 8 without getting to 75K?

Don't say carryover elites in Q1 of a year: UA status has expired in January for 2 or 3 years now, which means miles flown "this year" as a "Last year 1K" don't get you anything. The CR1 sweep isn't until February or March, and you're not 1K yet at that point.

Yeah, if you made 1K in 2009 for the 2010 year, then you could 8 CR1s by end-December 2010 (really January 2011) while flying only 40,000 UA BIS miles, if you made sure that there were 10K in each quarter. But you'd end up in 2011's program (old version) as a 2P with no more CR1s, no SWUs, and in practice no EUA/UDU chance.

As I posted in the UA thread on this, for normally sub-1K UA, sub-Plat CO flyers, the new program is a much better deal. Gives the 25-40K-something flyer incentive to go for 50K EQM. Since 1K (2008-2009 programs) and CO Plat (2009-2010 programs) isn't my "natural" travel pattern anymore, I like these changes.

Interesting.... Just got the email about the changes, and it said this:

"One change that will impact you directly is that after next year, the Presidential Platinum Elite program will be replaced by United Global Services®. Rest assured, you will receive all the benefits and services associated with Presidential Platinum through Jan. 31, 2012."

I don't think I'm a Pres Plat Elite.... Just a lowly Gold. Glitch in the email system or has my spend pushed me over the top somehow (I doubt that highly....)

My wife - who's a non-elite - didn't have that phrase in her email...

Weird. Guess my definition of "impacting me directly" is different than the system's.... Unless I should be waiting by the mailbox for a new card ;)

So ... as for me I have about 6 more weeks of air travel and will need to use (sigh elite maximizer on 1 week to make 100K [versus what I was planning of long haul transcon with B fare]) ..

I am contemplating not finishing my time on CO with 100K and SWU's to swap back to AA ... versus maybe doing it ... what are your guys thoughts on this?

+-ADT

By crap IFE I mean no WiFi, no DirectTV, fuzzy little screens in the front of cabins or 5 inch drop down screens every 5 rows. I mean no power ports in Y. Basically other than ch. 9 and E+, UA's Y is pretty stale even compared to competitors. I've become accustomed to using my iPad and have enjoyed being my own personal entertainment czar for flights. Given that I would do the same for example flying the dAArkside. Does AA have inflight wifi? I really only use UA Y for the E+ benefit. There are no other incentives.

As far as hooking up your ipod to something on UA in Y, I think you might be mixed up. No way to plug anything in or hook anything up in Y on UA. C or F in the new configuration on a widebody, sure. But not in Y.

I have not read all the postings in here. But maybe someone can clarify. I read what Scott has posted and the email I got from CO too. So are there any changes on the upgrades with bf and using miles/cash?? Can anyone elaborate for me, thanks!!

I think that stays the same. The announcement pertained to the SWU's gained at different elite tiers.

Sillyness.

More CR1s or less CR1s has NO BEARING AT ALL on the overall benefits of the elite program, because they have no bearing on the number of F seats on the planes. They just change who gets the F seats.

More CR1s are better for lower-tier elites. More CR1s are bad for higher tier elites, because the easier CR1s are to get, the more low-tier elites can hop ahead of high-tier elites in EUA. That's all there is to it.


If you're top-tier elite, you want CR1s to die entirely.

It's a practical problem. Adding an elite tier requires software changes. They can't jut bump CO Plat to 100k without pissing the 75ks off, and they can't just throw a 75k teir in on UA either.

So we're stuck with what we've got for now.

Funny you should use the world "delta", because on Delta the delta is ofter $1k or more, as the fares you can upgrade can be a scant couple hundred dollars less than discount C.

Current fares are no guarantee of future fares. NW had great upgrade fares pre-merger that all pretty much went away without the fare classes changing - M fares just went up a thousand dollars or two.

The real problem is most likely that the systems have no mechanism for tracking elite level on other airlines, just *G or *S. So when on the other airline, their system has no idea whether you're plat or gold or 1K or 1P, it just knows that you're *G and have a CO or UA FF number.

I get that. But, those of use >100k on CO could easily be given 1K. And, then unify the upgrade priority for 1K across CO/UA for 2011.

I'm fine with 75k level not being put into combined system until 2012. But, I'm not happy about non-unified 1K in 2011.

Just wanted to throw my two cents into the discussion.

First a huge caveat: this is entirely based on my travel patterns and habits. I completely understand if they are not yours.

I see this as a big improvement. My EUA clear so rarely that I'd love having the RU for flights where I really want to be in F, but not have to spend the miles/$ to jump the line.

The SWU issues is also an improvement for me. I tend to have one vacation to Europe and Asia each year that I buy a B fare on for the extra EQM and lack of BF co-pay. So the new restrictions don't really impact me. I'll be saving a ton of miles now.

EUA ordering, again, doesn't really bother me as I've had exactly one clear this year. When flying CO I don't expect to fly F unless I've purchased an instant upgrade fare.

Lastly, while my EUA never clear, I've always been in an exit row seat so E+ is a wash for me on CO metal.

As always YMMV

This is simply ludicrious and makes absolutely no sense IMO. Look at the UA1K reaction when they tried to get rid of CR-1s last year - I doubt there was a single elite cheering their elimination. Plus, "low tier elites" aren't even getting them, nor are mid-tier ones. It's a benefit for "the best" fliers, and that benefit was just severly devalued yesterday. Notice how the equivalent thread in the UA forum already has over 500 posts.

Many of us like to confirm UGs in advance without buying YB(M) fares or using miles.