I keep confusing the real UA with the UA Forum. :o

I said months ago that I would try UA in order to be fair about it, and I stand by that. I won't overpay for the privilege of E-, but if the fare is acceptably close I will definitely try post-transition.

Why? I know they have better coverage but I have yet to see any real Diamond benefit as far as better rooms or upgrades. When traveling overseas they give you some sort of goodie (TXL - chocolate covered rasins in a jar, POS - Cheap bottle of wine and cookies) but its not really worth it to me.

I get all those minor goodies just for being Gold at Priority Club. Even have special parking spots for me right next to the door.

Free lodging for a couple of days definitely covers it.

Its the lack of upgrades, promotions, bonus points, etc that makes me mad. It seems that SPG, Marriott, and ICHG are running all sorts of promotions when Hilton runs promotions that are almost insulting. Currently its stay 5 times and get 10,000 bonus points which will pay for 1 Cat 1 night while SPG would get you almost 2 Cat 1 nights for the same amount of stays. The 2 stays and get a weekend free anti-match really upset me b/c I had 8 prepaid stays with Hilton. This could have resulted in 4 free weekend nights at SPG and ICHG (not sure if MAR did it?). Also, I always have to ask if I was upgraded.

Recently, in FLL at a Hampton Inn & Suites at check in the receptionist says "wow, a diamond member, you look young too" I replied with a thank you, were you able to upgrade me with a suite? The manager heard me so he comes out and says we were holding the last 2 suites for people that have been waiting on a room since 10 am this morning. I asked if they had status with HH and he replied one is a Silver member and one is a Blue member. PFFFF are you kidding me? You were going to upgrade them over me? He ended up giving me the upgrade but tried to make me feel guilty but it didnt work.

I have also noticed that some higher end properties have cut out managers receptions and free breakfast on the weekends. Im looking at you MSY and Hilton Clear Lake.:mad:

Overall, I just dont see a value in HH Diamond but the Hilton brand is unavoidable for me so I will likely make Gold but as far as I can tell they have the same benefits or lack therof...

Of course.

*cough*

:D

I got upgraded at a Hampton Inn and Suites in Seattle this past March, as a Silver. Walking in and seeing a sitting area and kitchen wasn't something I was expecting at all. Having said that, I hope that the Silver kept the suite and the Blue member lost it. Waiting for a room to be clean stinks, without a doubt. However, at a minimum that desk manager should have factored loyalty levels into the equation as well as how long they were waiting.

Do your hotwire nights count toward status?

Not been that lucky man! I haven't even had a single holiday inn night stay toward status, I think 4 nights at the MIA airport HI via hotwire. It's not a good property, but not bad for the $50-55 I spend either. Right near where I need to be as well ^

most of my stays have been candlewood, staybridge, IC, almost forgot about it but a couple stays in Express by holiday inn over in europe as well (airport hotels) :rolleyes:

Yes, that would do it.
Thanks again ^

Really? I've never seen one of their properties with reserved parking for elites. Do you see this often? Not that it matters all that much to me, as many times I end up parking in the less crowded farther out areas of the lot anyway.

jetBlue and Luftwaffe announce codeshare...Luftwaffe is marching slowly across the Atlantic.

Keep in mind with Hilton properties that upgrades aren't a published benefit for Gold and Diamond members until you hit the full service properties. I wouldn't judge the program based on upgrade success at Hampton Inn type properties, considering that it's not an official benefit, and it's really up to the hotel as to how they manage suite upgrades, if they even have a suite to upgrade someone into.

As a Diamond with Hilton I've generally done better with room upgrades at full service properties than I did as a Gold. It varies greatly though, as some properties just don't have many suites. I've never had any issue with getting other published Diamond benefits at full service properties. At Hilton Garden Inns and lower, I just don't expect much. In fact, 99% of the time if I'm traveling alone I forgo the room upgrade and get the bonus points, which I find to be worth more to me in the long run.

Hilton has been pretty awful for promotions for several years now. They used to be quite good, and this year there has been an increase in the number of promotions available across the board (last year I think the only promos were for bookings made through an e-Advantage account). Starwood and Marriott are known for having pretty much nonstop promotions, some of which are quite valuable. That's part of why I've switched a lot of stays to them — this summer's stay twice, get a free weekend night at Starwood has netted us almost $1,500 in free weekend nights by the time you figure in average rates at the hotels we've redeemed those nights at, and the taxes. The last time I saw something similar from Hilton was in 2006.

I'm keeping Hilton mainly because I need them for the small town properties for work travel, and because they do have some really great full service properties out there that I will gladly redeem points for — Millenium Hilton in NYC, Hilton Arc de Triomphe in Paris, a couple of the very new ones in London, to name a few. But if you're looking for promotions and regular upgrades to suites, they may not be the best program for you.

Starwood has been trying really hard to give away a bed today. My partner and I just Tweeted our answers in their trivia contest; maybe we'll get lucky and actually win it.

Does anybody think that CO and UA, not to mention US, will be happy about this?

Anybody who did not see this coming the day that Lufty bought 19% of B6 just was not paying attention.