EUA is a much better system
 

After all the hullabaloo surrounding the changes made to Continental's upgrade policy, my friends and I who are Gold Elite are finding it's much easier now to be upgraded than using the old system.

We're consistently getting emailed an upgrade without the hassle of getting up in the middle of the night to call in and request an upgrade.

sigh...

No, it's not.

Please, even I don't want to make another 10 page post.

EUA sucks. Search the boards, read the posts.

Spread the word, Continental Elites will no longer tolerate being bashed over the head with award statues.

www.denycontinentalthefreddie.com



[This message has been edited by NJDavid (edited 12-28-2000).]

Sigh, to the "sigh." http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Yes, it is. EUA is great.

Please, even I don't want to tolerate another 10 pages, or spend 10 pages of response.

So let's let these two posts be the last word of a potentially very long "last word."

However, jaguar, I'm sure NJDavid would agree with me that we're both glad that the system is working, for you, even though we disagree about the system itself.


JL2

[This message has been edited by JeffLewis2 (edited 12-27-2000).]

Yes, jaguar, EUA is great.

While I respect David's opinion, and agree on certain points (lack of communication regarding changes, etc.), I do not agree that EUA sucks, and I do not agree that everyone thinks it sucks.

As Jeff indicated, I, too, do not want this to prompt 10 page responses flying back and forth, just suffice it to say there are others of us out here who think it is working well.

Lets get started on the 10 pages!

EUA SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Viele Grüße

Oliver

Well, folks, the EUA jury is still out as far as I am concerned. I've been passed over a couple of times when seats were available. Got to the airport and still no upgrades available, so I took my spacious coach seat, packed my carry-ons in the overhead and then the gate agent comes and offers me an upgrade. I go to the FC cabin and check on overhead bin space--there is none. I leave my TravelPro in coach and take my laptop with me. After the plane lands and we go to the gate, I get up and totally p*ss people off by trying to get my bag. I'm almost tempted to decline the upgrade and make the agent go back and find someone else, so that I can enjoy my spacious coach seat. However, with JAWs reputation at CO, I do not decline anything.

Frankly, I've had a better EUA percentage on NWA than I have on CO, and the NWA FA's keep bringing me the Bailey's and coffee.

The only thing that got me (Platinum) to a decent EUA percentage - 6 for 8 -- was three upgrades over the holidays where there were empty seats in FC on all 3!

My "proof" that EUA is aweful... It killed Boomer. Remember the last time we heard from him? EUA debate... enough said. How can we support this evil thing that vaporized Boomer?

Let us pray for the soul of our poor departed brother Boomer.

Rest in peace, Boomer.

EUA presents for me a psychological problem. Although the results so far have been the same for me with this new system as with the old (100%), the lack of control and no longer having the knowledge that I can do something to affect the procedure grates at my psyche. I am now completely at the mercy of somebody else's system, and something inside of me does not like it, despite the fact that I can put my head on the pillow without the duty of
getting to the phone in the wee hours.

I am sending emissaries to Brooklyn to search for Boomer. I expect them to report back in about a month.

Also have them check Bellevue.

No sir, don't like it, not one bit. I too am a Gold Elite now and I have been passed over more times when seats were available than I have been auto upgraded. Add to that the lack of control (I never know if I got upgraded or not because the email notification is so erratic) and you have a system I find unreliable at best.

For me, the jury is not out yet. The first I heard of EUA, as silver, was when I got email announcing I'd been upgraded by CO when I changed a SAN-EWR return ticket from H (3-day advance) to Y. On my next trip (EWR-SFO) I struck out, and on my next EWR-SAN run, now as gold, I got EUA outgoing on a connection that I ended up missing, and EUA returning on a direct flight.

So, all in all, not bad, and I certainly don't miss staying up until midnight for what was proving to be about a 25% hit rate as silver.

I'm still peeved over their distinguishing H from Y, denying me upgrades far in advance in order to save my company about $100 on an $1800 ticket. As someone said, it is probably because CO knows there are companies that will enforce the purchase of the slightly cheaper 3-day fare. Aargh. Never got a response from CO about my comment to them, either, which is even more disappointing.

dupe of below

[This message has been edited by RichG (edited 12-28-2000).]

monitor said:

EUA presents for me a psychological problem.

but then also said (re finding Boomer):

Also have them check Bellevue.

Hmmmm. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif

I dont like this new system. Had a flight recently, went the the airport and asked if I was upgraded, the agent said no. I then requested an upgrade, but sorry, no seats in first class. Got on plane, guess what, there was one open seat. Ticked off, but I did not say anything. Got to the hotel, checked my e-mail and guess what - a nice not from Continental telling me I was upgraded. The e-mail was sent a whole two hours before I got to the airport. So for me the EUA blows. I much prefer to wait until mid night to call in and request and upgrade. Atleast this way I am positive of my upgrade status.

RichG - It was established quite a while ago that Boomer had lifetime access to the President's Club at Bellevue (along with some of the other nutcases on these boards). If I remember correctly, you were one of them as well.

JAGUAR -With ya all the way !!!! I love the system - and have told CO how much I love it -
kazman

This is the best representation of how I feel Very well said monitor

The EUA is great, and - as a Gold with a 100% upgrade percentage with the system - I tell them how much I love it at every opportunity.

It really doesn't matter, though, how often I tell someone at Continental what I think. CO is a smart company: they'll listen to what the market tells them their customers think about the system. If it really does drive elites away in droves, they'll know. And, no - they won't be unable to get those customers back. Regardless of what one thinks of the EUA system and the new fare classes, OnePass is arguable one of the most generous FFPs in the industry. (The Moose will resist the urge to point fingers at other airlines in this forum as an unnecessary means to prove the point.)

One of the greatest things about this program, though, is its marketing beauty. Applied as intended (of course accidents happen), it rewards what the CO marketing team has identified as the behavior it wants from its customers, rather than rewarding fast phone fingers. Way to go, CO!

Hi Moose,

Great points....they sound just like something our esteemed neighbor Kazman would say.

You've commented in all of the threads he has...right after him. It must make him feel proud and supported. Way to go. Post an e-mail address so he and others can thank you privately.

Umm - No. If you have something to say to/about the Moose, you can say it right here in the open. That's how I do business.

But you're absolutely right. Kazman and I seem to share some of the same enthusiasm. Maybe I'll ask him to go in with me on some bread and cheese . . . to go with your whine.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

wears booner win yu kneed hem?

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Loving, Caring, Honest, Intelligent, Empathetic, Creative, and Giving.

I wonder how CO will e-mail me on my next trip. I should get upgraded going through CLE, but I didn't get the ticket through COOL, and I've never given my e-mail to CO. No kinks in this system.

motnot:

an interesting point, especially since CO can't seem to email some people FOR WHOM THEY HAVE HAD AN EMAIL ADDRESS ALL ALONG.

Isn't it fun spending days wondering if you got your upgrade? I know I enjoy it no end.

Back to a comment Moose made, regarding CO losing passengers and then not being able to get them back. He's probably right, which is a pity for CO. In the long run it will cost them MORE money, beacuse it is more expensive to cultivate new customers than it is to keep old ones. A simple fact of marketing that CO hasn't seemed to grasp. Let's hope they do before it's too late.