Vulcan, I have no idea how many there are. BUT, you did forget one small thing...PAID FC seats, FULL Y uogrades...etc.

deelmakur and Vulcan,

I didn't come up with that figure of 2-3K Plats. It was given to me by a CO agent on the Elite line: 2-3K Plats, 25K Golds, 75K Silvers.

It may be right or wrong. I've really got no idea. And we have all gotten so much conflicting and contradictory information from the Elite line that we all are skeptical of almost anything they tell us.

Nevertheless, his numbers are the only solid figures I've seen from anyone. Although I've heard a lot of criticism of these numbers (which may very well be justified), no one has put forth any alternate figures based on anything substantive.

If there are "30,000 minimum" Plats, do you seriously believe there are only 25,000 Golds and 75,000 Silvers? That would be even more ridiculous! Common sense dictates that there are far more Golds than Plats.

I think we get a skewed idea of how many Plats there are because of the large number of Plats here. However, bear in mind that the typical FlyerTalker is most definitely not the typical Elite, much less the typical flyer.

And also, it's logical to see far more Plats flying, way out of proportion to their numbers, simply because Plats fly a lot more.

Regardless of whether you accept the numbers given me by the CO agent, the premise that Plats are a small percentage of all CO Elites still stands!

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"An upgrade, an upgrade! My kingdom for an upgrade!"

I think my number on platinums is pretty decent. As for gold and silver, they really pump those out, specifically silver. I live in more than one city, and the computer can't tell who I am. I have been given silver for free twice at my Seattle address, and the only nexus I can find is some of my Avis Preferred bills are sent there. Gold upgrades have gotten tougher, and silver upgrades are an endangered species in this environment.

That is what I suggested a yard before this post - might not be 30,000 but much more like that than 3,000. 75K is terribly not hard to do - some fly a million flight miles a year .. see The Buzz current thread. The gold and silver as on all plans fans out like a pyramid. It pans out pretty much like that on all schemes.

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~ Glen ~

deelmakur and oz,

Please note the last sentence of my last post: "Regardless of whether you accept the numbers given me by the CO agent, my premise that Plats are a small percentage of all CO Elites still stands!"

We could go on ad nauseum on the actual numbers, and it may very well turn out that your numbers might be more correct than mine. We just don't have hard numbers, and I'm just as skeptical as you are about anything said by Elite line agents, who are not known for their accuracy.

But, the actual numbers aren't really very important. You made my point when you said that "As for gold and silver, they really pump those out, specifically silver." And oz stated, that "The gold and silver as on all plans fans out like a pyramid. It pans out pretty much like that on all schemes."

Exactly my point!!! Forget the numbers! Plats are a very small percentage of all Elites! My point is that CO has managed to alienate and disenfranchise the numerical majority of their Elites in order to give a marginal benefit to a small minority.

Granted, that small minority gives CO a large chunk of business, but I doubt if the marginal benefits will motivate them to spend even more money on CO. And I doubt if the old call-in system drove any away from CO.

Prior to EUA, Silvers and Golds were able to get upgrades fairly consistently. Under EUA, upgrades are becoming increasingly nonexistent!

I honestly believe that EUA, without a major overhaul, will motivate a very large percentage of that large Gold/Silver base to look elsewhere! And even though Plats give CO a larger per capita amount of business, I'm sure their Golds/Silvers give them a much larger aggregate amount of business, due to their large numbers!

This is a very substantial chunk of business that CO will lose, without a corresponding increase in business from Plats. Definitely not an equation that will make their Accounting Dept. smile!


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"An upgrade, an upgrade! My kingdom for an upgrade!"

Never mind ozstamps! He is a UA flyer...you know what that means...he is out of control again...

Semielite:

Very good points! No mater how you twist the numbers your points are valid!

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Viele Gr��e

Oliver

This same thing just happened to me. I get upgraded in the middle of the night and my wife gets stuck in coach. I try to get back to her and get denied. I had to call back and beg to be reseated next to her. The true irony though, is that this is the first time the EUA worked FOR me in two months of weekly travel.

It's just not working.

How many elites in each category is simply an interesting statistic. No matter the number of platinums, the issue is ratio of platinums to available upgrade seats. This will always be out of proportion as far as gold and silvers are concerned, particularly at heavy demand times. For those gold and silvers seeking upgrades, the trick is to avoid (where possible) those times.

Hello all, a lowly Silver here. I thought I was the only one who was being screwed by EUA. From personal experience this year, since EUA has kicked in my upgrade percentage has fallen nearly in half. I've been upgraded on two segments, and on one of the segments I didn't want to be upgraded because I was flying with a co-worker to a very important meeting and we had reserved seats next to each other so we could get some work done.

My boss was also on the flight with us, sitting a few rows back. I asked the FA if I could give him the upgrade, and they said that they weren't supposed to do that. I begged and begged and they finally let me exchange seats (hey, I didn't want the upgrade to go to waste!)

Before EUA at least I had a fighting chance to get an upgrade. And to all those say that EUA is more equitable to the Plats, I say screw that, in the old way the Plats were given a chance to upgrade days before the Silvers were. I don't see how the new system is more fair, when the old system was pretty fair as it was.

If anybody has an electronic petition to protest this, I would be more than willing to sign it!