Portions of the post that previously appeared in this space have been deleted. I would provide you with a reason why, but doing so would likely be against the TOS.

Why, may I ask? AF/KL Flying Blue awards only 25% mileage and EQMs for heavily-discounted flights; Platinums get 100% bonus mileage (not 125% either)

Advantage of FB:
- 10 years of continuous Platinum makes one Platinum for Life
- Lower qualification levels for Gold and Platinum (outside of France):40,000 milies or 30 segments (non-French domestic) for Gold; 70,000 miles (60 segments) for PLT.

FB is NW's FF program in Europe/Africa/Middle East. So if you have a mailing address in one of those territories, you will get NW domestic EUAs just like a regular NW Elite. FB has no such domestic upgrade arrangements with DL yet. But an FB member in the U.S. does not qualify for the NW EUAs.

I agree, but what they're missing is the passengers they could steal from the competition by saying "We're not going down the path of add-on fees and reduced elite benefits."

I maintain my position that the airline that resists this nonsense has a lot to gain from business travelers who base their loyalty on quality of service. That's what helped CO grow in the 1990s and return to profitability after two bankruptcies and narrowly avoiding a third. The actions of the last few months make me wonder if CO really has lost that focus on quality of service.

The Platinum 100% and Silver 25% sound like UA.

I have a feeling once CO joins *A, Platinum will be 100,000 EQM per year.

This is making me reconsider shifting to CO...

We will see.

The only question left by me is, How long till Scott posts about COs having to charge fuel surcharges on Award tkts, and a sliding scale at that meaning more $$ if you are flying FC or BF.

Its a commin, I have a feeling

Scott, I know you are only the Messager, and its been GREAT having you around helping not only myself but everyone as well. You will be missed, I can assure you of that. (Not that he will be leaving, but I most definitely will be)

I don't know about that. UA's hubs are in much more competitive environments than CO's, so CO can afford to get away with more than UA. CO has a stronghold on EWR, IAH, and CLE while UA has direct hub competition at LAX (AA/DL), DEN (F9) and ORD (AA).

As a result, UA has to be more sensitive to its Elite travellers, as they can more easily lose them. If you live in IAH, you're pretty much stuck on CO, no matter what they do to you (hence the 50% EQM rule on CO).


E+ can be considered a revenue generator. UA generated over $100 million last year on E+ buy-ups, not to mention the repeat business it generates because of customer satisfaction. People bash UA all the time, yet the UA Elites keep coming back for more. E+ is the main reason for this -- it's a tremendous fallback position in the event an upgrade fails to clear.

Good points.

I would say this is not a matter of if, rather a matter of when.

If it's not for next year, it will be for the year following. The next question is how CO implements it -- will they allow existing plats to requalify at 75K? Maybe just for one year to ease the transition?

100% for Platinum and your still complaining?..I think thats still generous! @:-)

Bliss: what a difference a day makes...

So Continental decided to follow the crowd eh? Disappointed as they were the best of the old guard but now becoming just like everyone else. I foresee many other changes coming to fit in with those absolutely awful UA and US carriers. Ridiculous timing considering the price of oil is falling rapidly (though I understand this may change again). The 500 mile minimum is not much to manage - not sure why they are "forced" to go along with the rest on that. As far as the mileage bonuses, that is also a major downer. So when do the pillows and blankets as well as the meals go away so I can start paying $8 for a mediocre sandwich?! Flying sucks - lets face it - it is just a commodity to get from Point A to Point B and might as well choose the cheapest or the most comfortable - elite status gets you almost nothing!!!
Signed a disgruntled gold elite member of CO.

I had a mileage run to PTY in January. I had planned on being Plat and counted on the bonus miles to offset costs. What are the chances of CO letting me cancel this and receive full refund due to the recent changes that will affect me.

Approximately 0%.

and with the CSR giving you a which you wont be able to see

I might add that CO has an enormous stock of loyalty to fall back on. While I think its crazy given my experience (as I have noted I switched from CO back to UA) COs generally good labor and passanger relationships and the passanger first attitude I saw with former management gives CO some flexability. Their fliers are not about to bolt.

UA is in a different environment, and they have very little love for them by many of their fliers. They also have a lot more competition at their hubs and rely upon their FF program to draw in fliers. While they are the biggest carrier at SFO, take away too many goodies and I'm going to be flying VX and AS and AA in a heartbeat Ditto folks in ORD, and IAD is an airport that you try to avoid.

Ditto on E+ being the main driver. If UA took that away they would be toast in about 5 minutes. I bet you could take a poll and 90% of their elites would go elsewhere.

This said, I doubt UA gives CO elites e+ because what can CO give UA elites that is equivelent? Benifits have to go both ways, and an e+ seat is more expensive to have than a 31" pitch seat on CO.

I also don't see CO dropping two rows of seats out to add e+, they can't give up the revenue.

As such CO is in for a rough patch when NW upgrades go away, how many folks not in their hubs who used to (like I did in SFO) split my flying between NW and CO are now going to be happy having to be in e- on the replacement carrier for NW?