Is it worth it anymore?
 

I live in BWI and regularly fly CO through CLE/IAH/EWR for ~75% of my business travel. The other 20% is on NW as I fly to MSP frequently. Finally, I will do the occasional flight on WN (given it's hub at BWI).

I have scored only ONE upgrade this year so far (on about 30 R/Ts on CO metal, with about 50% in the "economy" fares and 40% on N, B, K and H and 10% on full-fare Y). The one upgrade was at the time of booking with a 'Y' ticket coming off a red-eye on a Sunday morning from IAH-BWI (I did not get te SFO-IAH red-eye upgrade, even with the 'Y' fare). The "good ol' standby" of BWI-IAH or IAH-BWI isn't even clearing anymore, and this is on 800's!

Is it worth it anymore to stay loyal to CO? I can fly WN on the non-stop, earn my free tickets and sit in coach, just like CO. Low-and-behold I can usually score an aisle seat on WN (whereas aisle's are harder to come by, as I don't get to book out more than 7-10 days in advance). Mileage tickets are impossible to use overseas, let alone upgrades (either domestic or int'l).

WN actually gives you a snack box on the planes, vs. CO that will give you essentially the same. "Big Momma's House 2" is hardly IFE and I find that for the longer flights I'm bringing my DVD player anyway.

I have thought about switching to UA and *Alliance, but who wants to deal with ORD and I live too far from IAD to make it an airport of choice.

Anyone else out there live in another hub city, but stay loyal to CO? Thoughts?

When did Continental start charging for food?

Well, I'm a Silver, and I've been 4/4 for EUAs this year. I fly out of SEA, which is sort of a hub for NW and is def. a hub for AS, but AS doesn't have MRs. Granted, it was a Wedsnesday MR, but still. I was booked in freaking L. On mostly 73Gs and 735s. I guess it varies. And I've been able to get 2 mileage upgds., one on a transcon (before I was Elite).

The problem is that CO has dropped the price of FC tickets. IAH-SFO RT in A class is about $700+tax. Y is $600+tax. While cheapest coach fares have gone up - IAH-SFO is $330+tax.

Where as before prices may have varied from $200 to $1500, now the range is $350 to $700 (A class). I believe CO is competing more now with airlines like AirTran and USAir which offer FC at discounted prices.

As a Plat you should still be able to use your mileage for standard rewards - particularly select BF standard rewards in the "F" (formerly EG) category.

CO versus WN - of course no PC at BWI, but if you want full services like lounges and international flights - CO would still be my choice over WN. WN is appealing at BWI with all the non-stops.

If you have to ask us, it seems like you you've already made up your mind. If you don't get upgrades and or value the miles from CO, then no, there really isn't any reason to be loyal to CO. Maybe NW would make more sense since you already fly them a good amount, and they are typically easier to get an upgrade.

I'm 30 for 33 on EUA's.

And I've never paid for food on CO - nor has anyone else, to my knowledge.

This Plat in 2006 has been EUAed on 29 of 37 segments and 77.67% of mainline MILES flown.

BWICOPLAT,

Personally, I'm with you. Essentially what has happened is that CO has changed the way it prices its product. The FC fares have dropped about 60% on many lines. So now these seats are filled with passengers paying these lower FC fares.

Also, in coach, CO is selling very low fares and on many flights there are so many revenue passengers that there is no rewards availability.

Reading other posters it is clear that the rewards that are available depend largely on where you fly. I happen to fly a lot of transcon out of NYC, and my tally for upgrades in the past 18 months is 1 for 28.

Of course, upgrades are perks not something to be taken for granted. If CO can sell a FC seat EWR-LAX rt for $1,100 why would they give it to me when I'm only paying $258? I don't fault them for that in the least.

On the other hand, what good is a loyalty program if the customer's loylaty is not rewarded in any meaningful manner?

I still fly CO but only based on price and schedule. If you think about, this is what CO's management wants, that is how they are positioning their product.

What I do think is that CO's management ought to set aside some seats for its elite ff's, otherwise they will end up alienating many of them. And, in the long run, ff's are much better customers than casual passengers who purchase based only on price, because they have an incentive not only to keep doing business with CO, but often at a premium.

In the same way that WN is more convenient for you out of BWI, I have chosen to fly JetBlue. Even though both JetBlue and CO have NYC hubs, the coach experience on JetBlue is light years ahead of what CO offers, especially on the long cross-country flights, where the cramped cabin of CO's 737's is dreadful.

What I do find a little odd is the attitude of some of the posters (this topic is on-going in this forum) who seem to feel that if a customer like me isn't getting anything out of the program that is somehow disloyal to select another airline. I mean this is just a business transaction, not some kind of secret society with a blood pledge.

Translation: Worth It! :D

It obviously depends on the routes that you fly. It doesn't matter that other people get upgraded most of the time unless they are flying the same routes as you. As a Gold, I get upgraded most of the time EWR to FL cities and to MDW. Other cites... not so much. For me, I'm happy with what I get.

Again, what about NW? How often to you get upgraded on your flights to MSP? They might be a nice option since you have good hub locations in MEM and DTW/MSP.

FWIW, they do this, at least a little. If you are logged into your OP account as an Elite, you might have a better chance of getting a Standard reward. It's still not great, but it's something.

Agreed 100%. Then again, if you are flying transcon EWR-LAX on a 737, there are so many elites and so few of these seats that it is pretty irrelevant.

On other routes, the availability is still there, though. So it really is a matter of where one happens to fly.

I remember another thread where a poster based in HNL described his fabulous experience on CO. Of course, HNL is served by 767's with lots of room and great service.

IMHO, the worst product that CO currently has is out of EWR because it is a huge hub with lots of elites, many pax connecting to international while the vast majority of the doemstic flights are served by very small planes like 737-700's.

Folks, the upgrade party is over at CO. First, they started sorting by spend, which took care of mileage runners and the like. Then they started pricing First at rational numbers. Net effect: More seats sold...more held til day of departure, and in some cases, fewer seats on downsized (or BF configured 757's, which we see on Florida trips all the time). For the moment, CO elites will do much better on NW. Blame the computer. Before them, they never knew who they were giving the stuff to, other than they were elite.

Sorry about the mistake with buying food and thanks to everyone for not completely going OT about my error.

I have considered NW, except they won't status match and I don't feel like starting over with a program. FWIW, I have yet to sit in coach on NW (I know I've just cursed myseld).

I've never come to "expect" an upgrade, I know that it is a perk that comes with flying, but if I am never getting them, I am better off on the WN bus. Of course, if WN ever starts to allow seat assignments, then this arguement is over, as the only thing that gives me pause is the notion of the cattle boarding for business on a weekly basis (not so bad when I have my "preboading cards" [my kids!]).

I flew BWI-ORF the other morning (30 min flying time) and the FAs managed to serve a half-full 737 drinks. An RJ FA can't even get drinks to a full RJ BWI-CLE :(

I think this plat is going to hang up his Onepass card and call it a day. I am fortunate to be able to fly paid C/J when I fly overseas and have been doing all of it on AF metal out of IAD. I can easily start to grab the NS on BA out of BWI, so the international perks aren't worth it.

Given no PC at BWI, I'm better off with WN as they have a nicer terminal (much friendlier staff) and more non-stops, which means more time with the family and less time crammed into coach wondering why the heck I connect if the perks are all gone. :rolleyes:

Someone else can confirm, but I think with NWA, you can use your OP number to book the ticket and try and get your upgrade, then at the gate after, hopefully, you got your upgrade, switch your FF# to NW.