+1

Also add to that we still have not seen the new "realigned" award chart which theoretically should be less (by 20-40% than current rates and include real F options too.)

As I said upthread, the changes could have been far worse and for those based near a CO hub, it seems CO's still a strong option (even without considering the schedule or n/s advantage.) That said if you live beyond a hub (SAT, AUS) or in a market where upgrades don't really exist (SFO) than I think CO offers a weaker product and "blindly" choosing CO makes less sense...especially when compared to WN (intra-TX routes) or AA/UA (ex. SFO or for upgraded international travel.)

I recall an old saying, altered to fit the situation...

"Man who would hastily leave CO hath spent too little time in the warm embrace of "The Others"."

Re: message from xyzzy

I am going to downgrade myself to silver next year on CO. My biggest complaint is the $150 award redeposit and award ticket change fee. This is a $115 increase for Gold and $100 increase for silver. This is outrageous.

I have no problems with the no 500 mile guarantee. I have reservations about the $15 baggage fee. It does not affect me now but it will in the future.

Once I reach silver, I will shift to Southwest which still has the best program in the US.

And no more international travel on CO unless the prices are competitive.

It's actually funny you mentioned this as the reason I went to UA in the first place (beyond E+ and int'l upgrades) was that it was *A and CO was SkyTeam. Oh well.

I've found UA and CO each have their niches (CO for domestic travel and discount paid international J and UA for international E+ and upgraded Y-->C) in my world and still unsure about how to go forward with the upcoming shuffle.

That said what I have concluded so far is that I plan on staying with CO for 75-100k EQMs (mostly domestic) and am thinking UA for international (60-100k). Yeah I'll loose 25% RDMs as well as some points for my AUS/SAT <> IAH flights but all-in-all it really does impact me that much.

I also think CO has one of the better cultures and their willingness to listen, respond and interact with us is impressive, even if it means distributing bad news. Case and point: yesterday after the announcement I stopped by Smith Street and talked with Scott and others about these changes as I personally felt the way they were implemented was dumb (1st free bag = product differentiator...why give it up?! Why take away both the RDM and EQM 500 min?! If realignment's occurring, we'd better damn well see award rate reductions to offset the loss in bonuses as well as few other issues.) Believe it or not, Scott and the 17th floor fought hard against these changes (seriously) and did manage to shield OP from far more vile changes plus there's some relief coming down the pipeline but it's just not quite yet ready.

But that's the reason I started this thread as I suspect the average traveler of all groups won't really be impacted to a large extent (let alone notice the changes, except for the non-elite and the 1st bag fee.) Those who will fill it are shuttle customers (i.e. intra TX, east coast, etc.) and chances are WN or AmTrak might be a better deal from almost every front...and coincidentally those are the customers who have complained the loudest.

As of now, I intend to keep CO as my primary carrier next year and see how things shake out in the rest of the industry. The change that affects me the most is the reduction in Plat bonus miles to 100%, but CO was the last of the legacies to offer a 125% RDM bonus to its top tier elites. I hope CO will offer some other benefit to Plats to offset the reduction in RDM bonus, but I am not holding my breath.

I had switched to NW when I moved to MEM a couple of years ago (lost too much on the 50% EQM on NW with CO). I was planning to switch back in 2009. Now, I'll wait and see. I may switch in 2010. I'll know better then where I'll be living. My major problem is that I travel a lot with someone who lives in CLE who is GE with CO. The way things are, we can both get our miles and travel on either CO or NW. With the merger, that will change. So because I'm toying with moving back to CLE, I thought I'd switch. But with these changes, I'm not sure. Maybe after the merger, I'll try to go with status on both. I think I could manage SE on both.

Theoretically.

NW Platinums receive 125% bonus. Not sure if they qualify as a "legacy" airline, but it seems lots of people here care about mileage accrual and they have an alternative in NW (no idea how their product is though, never flown them).

I'm giving up. Flying out of BNA gives me a lot of options. It was already a challenge to stay loyal to CO, and now there are fewer options with the schedule reduction.

I was 1K on United years ago. I switched when United stopped flying into BNA, only United Express. It was always a zoo. Then there's US. Really not an option for me.

I was willing to give it a try, since I always enjoyed the *A partners overseas. But with the new changes, I just give up.

I'm flying less this year due to a realignment at work where we perform our tasks remotely as opposed to on client site. I'll finish my year out on co, make Plat one more time, then see if NW will status match me.

Either way, it's DL/NW for me next year.

I fly to NRT often. I have used CO in the past and planned to use CO more often. In light of the changes I have canceled my Chase world card nah will switch to DL and NW.

I'm guessing that CO is guessing that the NW/DL merger (if it happens) will result in NW/DL adopting the DL 100% plat bonus. We shall see...

CO is one of my new employer's preferred carriers and I've had good experiences so far on about half a dozen North American and trans-Atlantic trips. Because I moved to NYC from Paris, I had been accumulating FB miles for my CO flights. However, I'm pleased about CO's move to Star* because my long-time co-primary FFP has been Aeroplan, so now I can accumulate Aeroplan miles and status on my CO flights. In the next year, I'm planning to burn my FB miles and especially by BAEC miles because I'm fed up with BA's seating policy and its outrageous fees for reward flights.

As long as CO and UA have separate FF programs - there is no guarantee that CO will be able to offer international F rewards since CO does not offer an international F product. Although one would think that *A award charts should apply.

It's worth noting that your status does you almost no good on Paid International J. You get the big J seat you paid for, you get lounge access on that ticket already, it comes with a big bag allowance, etc. Status at that point is just bonus miles.

I'm not sure there is anywhere left to run. I may just stop playing the game completely. None of the programs appear significantly better than any of the others.