After chatting with a few FTers last night online, they convinced me that joining the PC will make my travel experiences a lot more pleasant. So given this, I'm wondering if there are any promotions running right now from CO to get new members. Can I earn OP miles somehow? Can I get a membership redeeming miles?

One more thing---I'm going to MCO several times next month and am wondering if there is any reciprocity PC members have with other clubs since there is no PC at MCO. I need to escape happy clappy tourists!

Thanks,
Analise

No OP miles and no membership redeeming miles. But you can get the $50 initiation fee waived if you're elite (any level) or if you have the coupon from the Prestige Pack if you're not. Also elites get reduced rates, depending on elite tier. See the PC page at the CO website for details.

You get access to all PC's, NW WC's, and HP clubs. Also there are some independent clubs overseas that PC members have access to.

Sorry about MCO, though. No PC, NW WC, or AW Club there. And the independent affiliates are all overseas.

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"Read my lips! No more benefit cuts!"...Gordon Bethune

I asked the same question when I was in MCO in Feb. The NW agent told me that there was no club in MCO because it is a "low yield market". So apparently the formula is "lots of traffic, AND the ability to gouge" before you'll see a club in any city now...

There's no PC or WC at BWI either -- possibly for the same reason.

Don't they share that little room outside security w/ HP? The Friendship Lounge? Friends don't make friends pay for drinks....

yeah, it seems that most people don't know about that... it's not very impressive, but it is a quiet place to sit when a flight is cancelled or delayed...

I think the NW agent's choice of words was poor. When he called MCO a "low yield market," it implied that they won't put a club there because flyers there are primarily travelling on cheap fares.

Actually, the cost of the fare has nothing to do with where CO/NW puts a club. The PC/WC's are profit-generating entities, independent of ticket revenue. They aren't a perk for high-rev flyers (except for intl. BF).

I'm sure if there was a demand by leisure flyers for a PC there, they'd put one there. But leisure flyers don't normally buy memberships in airport clubs. And MCO isn't a big business destination.

It would be nice to have a PC/NW in every city served by CO/NW. But that just isn't feasible. The airlines put clubs where they have club traffic, not just flight traffic!


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"Read my lips! No more benefit cuts!"...Gordon Bethune

Well it seems that next to Las Vegas, Orlando is the #2 destination for most conferences, conventions, and trade shows. I read that somewhere. So there is more to Orlando than merely amusements.

how so? do you think if CO put a club in MCO that they'd make money off of it? I don't think so... I don't think a enough "locals" would sign up for it... as such, the only people that would go there are existing members theoretically coming from EWR, CLE and IAH.

so, I would have a beer or two, grab some snacks and get on board... but there's no extra money coming CO's way from people like me...

I think they put clubs in airports that are hubs, or serve the hubs as a business route... I definately think that high-yield plays into it... I'll tell you that I being based in EWR I am more inclined to fly to a city w/ a P-Club than w/o one...

I'll fly into ORD, not MDW... I'll fly into FLL rather than MIA, etc etc etc... as a P-Club member I am spoiled... when I flight gets delayed it's no big deal... I just go to the club...

just a few weeks ago I *had* to fly out of MDW because of the last minute fares... wouldn't you know it, my flight was delayed for like two-hours and I was going out of my mind...

if I recall correctly, there's a US Air Club just a few doors down from the CO gates at MCO... can anyone confirm that? I'm going back to my US Elite days... I used to be a US Air Club member... nice place, two levels... so for those flying from MCO, you might want to look into swapping a P-Club day pass for a US pass or something like that...

Analise,

We all have a favorite airport where we'd like to see a PC. And we can always come up with lots of good reasons why CO should put one there.

For example, SNA. High volume of traffic, lots of business flyers, and due to demand, tickets are generally more expensive out of SNA over LAX. Even the leisure flyers are well-heeled. And lots of NW, HP, and AS flights go out of there as well. So a combined CO/NW/HP/AS club could certainly be justified!

Ditto with SAN. And from what I understand CO was going to put a club there, but then dropped the plans.

These days CO and other other airlines are reducing hours and closing clubs. So expecting them to add new clubs is a pleasant thought, but just not realistic.

EWR-COflyer,

I realize that PC's aren't put there to draw the locals. But you have to consider how many CO flyers travel through that airport. At MCO, CO doesn't have a big presence. US and DL are the big players there, and UA is a big player just about everywhere. So they have clubs there, while CO doesn't. TPA is much more of a business destination than MCO. But CO doesn't have a club there, either...but US, DL, and UA do!

OTOH, CO has 4 PC's at IAH for one simple reason...most of the people flying in and out of IAH are flying on CO, and a lot of them are PC members! But just try to find the US, DL, and UA clubs at IAH! CO puts their clubs where they have a large volume of CO flyers who have a high probability of being PC members.

Your idea of swapping day passes is a pretty good idea though. Or at least it was until CO reduced the passes in our Elite packs to one, and put an expiration date on it. I've swapped a couple for AAdmiral's Club passes which I can use at SNA.



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"Read my lips! No more benefit cuts!"...Gordon Bethune

I believe that CO terminated their affiliation with the "Friendship Lounge" at BWI (because they still charged for drings???). Anyway, I won't be back there for another month, but I think BWI is now lounge-less. This might not be too bad, because the Lounge is outside security, and BWI was infamous for long security lines, at times.

Re: SNA and SAN PC clubs:

I can't envision CO putting a PC at either of these locations in the forseeable future, there's probably about a dozen flights per day out of SNA and SAN combined.

Not to say I would object to such an establishment. It would definitely be nice to have SOMETHING there - be it HP, NW or CO with a reciprocity agreement.

But I just don't see it happening.

Whoever posted about trading their PC pass for an AA one - that's a good idea. I think I'll look into that. There's an AA club and a UA club at SAN, right? Which is better?

(My apologies to Analise for drifting quickly off-topic )


[This message has been edited by jetsetter777 (edited 03-22-2002).]

jetsetter777, you're only about a decade too late, at least as far as an America West Club (formerly The Phoenix Club) at SNA. I missed out, also.
I never had the opportunity to visit the SNA Phoenix Club but would like to hear about it from anyone that did.


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If you keep on doing what you've been doing, you will keep on getting what you've been getting.

[This message has been edited by MRLIMO (edited 03-23-2002).]

How is it that between NW & CO, they can't seem fit to have a club in MIA. Truely pathetic.

Well, we never got that AW club in San Diego and even CO promised one in 1997 but the Port District refused their request to open one in the new terminal.
We really need one... NW,CO or HP