Continental Elite Platinum Program Emasculated
 

Hi Flyers,

Any other Continental Platinums experience this? You purchase a ticket and start out at #1 on the standby list, only to check a day later and see that your number 1 status is now number 3 or 5, and that 3-4 people have been upgraded and not you? Then, by the time you are at the airport on the day of travel, you are at number 10 or 12, and the 3-5 seats available are gone by the time you board the plane?

I have experienced this on my last six flights. What happened to rewards for loyalty? Being a Million Miler who has been Platinum for many years, I can say that this is now the worst that the program has been in terms of earning an upgrade. I don't know exactly why it is happening. Probably the changes with offering the higher "B" class, but I cannot say for certain. With it being this difficult for a Platinum member, I can only think of how difficult it must be for a Gold or Silver member now.

I do know this, though. I predict that if it continues and if it continues to render the Platinum status "null and void", that Plats will just move to another airline. :td:

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Popcorn, table 1 please.

Losing 25% Bonus
 

My disappoinment is the loss of the 25% bonus

that now brings plats equal to gold in bonuses

If there had to be a reduction in should have

been across the board (gold = 75%)

That's not how to even it out. If CO wanted to bring the bonuses in line with other carriers (25/100/100), then they should have been prepared to offer the top tier benefits of those other carriers in terms of upgrade delivery and SWUs/PMUs.

Cheddar sprinkles with your popcorn? :)

Dear Pook123,

We understand your lament. What fare classes do you normally purchase? What routes are you flying?

It all boils down to this - the more Plats on your flight on higher fares than yours, the less of a chance you will get a complimentary upgrade. These are awarded in the order of status, fare class and then booking date (or check-in number). If you book lower fare classes on Elite-heavy routes, your upgrade chances are very low.

Either try buying a higher fare class (sometimes bumping up a couple fare levels is only a $20-$50 difference), or select flight dates and times which are less Elite-heavy, like weekends, mid-week or off-hours.

I hear you loud and clear OP, my EWR-SAN flight tommorrow was 9 empties since Weds finally they gave 3 UPs today Im still waiting but having paid $138 base fare I can complain but not too loudly.

At 1st I garbbed the middle in the exit row, late Fri an aisle opened. Now the 2 people on both sides of where I was in the middle are no longer there , I take it there went 2 of the 3 UPs but they were booked before me.

No way would I any longer book a trip on CO expecting anything but the coach seat I chose! And wait till all the newly minted Plats due to the 2x EQM thingy come aboard. An EUA will be but a DREAM or something spoken about at a DO under"Remember When"

Hey Bocastephen,

Thanks for your reply.

As someone who's flown CO for 20 years, I currently am doing nothing different than I have for at least the past five years. The program has changed significantly, and not to my liking, at least for the way I have flown and the way I was upgraded quickly up until about 60 days ago when I am now relegated to staring through the bulkhead curtain at drinks and menus being served.

It could be that revenue management is playing the fare bucket game.

When I purchased my tickets to DO III it was a I fare for approx $210 (RSW to IAH) with Y being much much higher. Three days before the event a Y fare had dropped to $240 with a Y-UP being available the F seats where sold for coach.

Has happened to me many times this year already. However, I have still been upgraded, often on the busy EWR-FLL/MIA routes (this being high season) where upgrades in the past have been nearly impossible to snag. Several things are at play here: plats paying a higher fare class than you and full Ys (as in the past); availability of B fares, which will put those customers into a F seat at booking (a new twist this year); and - in my experience, maybe not yours - weaker demand for F seats and fewer people paying higher fare classes, even with the availability of B, meaning that my upgrade chances have been at least as good if not in some cases better than they have been in the past. It's amazing to me that that I have been upgraded for EWR-MIA on a Thursday evening in late March, five days out, flying on a W fare no less.

In a couple of instances it has been instructive to be watching the pda site in the battlefield, sometimes after boarding, and see that several people either in F or at the top of the waitlist, actually do not show up -- getting me the upgrade when I had started out at 6 or 7th on the list - after F, Y, B and running of EUA. In this situation in the past, on these routes at these times, chances of upgrade would have been nil. IMO, this is the result of weaker travel demand, which makes me nervous for CO.

I have also had a few experiences where I snagged the B fare with upgrade when available, so CO is realizing more revenue from me than they have in the past.

Remember that the PDA standby list is different than the EUA list.

The upgrade list is a relatively worthless tool until about 60 minutes prior to boarding. At that point it becomes somewhat useful and reflective of approximately where the upgrades will fall. Only at actual departure is it fully accurate. Looking at it at T-24h doesn't really do much good.

As for more or fewer upgrades on various routes? My numbers are pretty high for 2009 as a platinum and cheap fares. I've got a couple flights coming up this weekend as a gold that should be a bit more of a challenge.

What happens is that the Upgrade Standby List is populated as people check in. If you are the only Platinum checked in at the time you check the list, you will be #1 in the pecking order. Later, if other Platinums with higher fare classes check-in, you move down or get bypassed in the list.

CO is a tough upgrade, no doubt about it. As a Platinum, I've been upgraded approximately 50-60% of the time over the last three years on CO. Meanwhile, on NW, my upgrade percentage is 100% over the same period.

Plus irr. ops Plats and last-minute ticket purchasers.

Dropping on the list happens to me on just about every flight I take. I figure the only difference between now and any other time I flew was that what's happening is completely transparent.

I never get in a tizzy because, at the end of the day, I bought a seat in Y so that's where I'll sit. I find EUA's to be icing on the cake.

Bups are a game changer, you may have to change your methods if you want to sit up front more often.

It's a tough call.

From CO's perspective they've got a strong product due to the fortress nature of their hubs. They're often the only non-stop game in town and can win customers on that basis alone and don't need to compete as much with FFPs as they've already got their prime O/D passengers.

CO's looking to generate revenue (just like everyone) and it's disappointing when they throw the elites under the bus to do that. Don't get me wrong, as a Plat I certainly believe that an elite on a $$$ Y ticket or higher fare class comes before me in the UG list. But at times it *seems* like CO is more than willing to turn their backs on the elites and fritter away F inventory with discount sales. Or charge Plats for same day confirmed fees. Or charge Plats for close in award ticketing.

Again I don't fault them for wanted to sell F (and I'd even argue the more F they sell the stronger they can make the product, which will in turn be beneficial for everyone) but I'm disappointed when the $ between Y and F is small as it seems like CO's easily willing to look away from their elites for couple of bucks.

Likewise if CO's willing to bank on upgrades being the sole differentiator of the top tier, they've got to understand that not all upgrades are equal. A plat who routinely clears AUS-IAH but then sits in the back on a longer flight won't see that much of a difference. Sure the % is up, but there's a miss-match between the value derived as not all upgrades are made the same.

IMHO what CO needs to do is bite the bullet and raise the Plat threshold. Gold is essentially going to be Plat (with award fees) and hopefully if they can refine the Plat pool, they can offer better benefits to the top tier.