Recieved this very rapid response from United today regarding my concerns. It may be a template but is still an impressive reply rate.

Dear Mr. Brook:

Thank you for your email expressing concerns about US Air's announced changes affecting their Dividend Miles Program .

As you know, United Airlines, along with the rest of the airline industry, is faced with dramatic changes to our business environment. However, there have been no changes to our Mileage Plus Program affecting the manner in which our customers currently earn their status miles. Your feedback and concerns are appreciated and have been shared with our senior management.

As a 1K member, you are one of our most valuable customers and your continued business is most important to United.

Sincerely,

Charlie Johnson, Customer Relations
United Airlines

You did the right thing and this will be heard at United - congrats. As I've said in other posts on this issue - it's not about US Airways and there is a need for members of other programs to help out. BUT, United only mentioned what their status is today...more messges from more members may mean that mesage will mean no change tomorow as well.

100% in agreement with what Randy said.

Here is the text of an e-mail that I sent to a top person at Mileage Plus this afternoon.

Dear Mr. ________:

We met over lunch this past January at _______. You were gracious enough to spend time with me to obtain feedback from one of United�s 1Ks. As you may recall, I was initially introduced to you through _________ ________.

I just wanted to drop you a quick line to mention my thoughts regarding various changes and potential changes to Mileage Plus. I know that this is a difficult time for United and I wish all of its employees well. I, too, have a vested interest in United, and I hope for its future prosperity. I also understand that United has to make some difficult choices.

I am sure that you are hearing many complaints about some decisions. But I want to applaud the actions you have taken. Closing down 1K rooms and raising the price/miles-needed for various upgrades�as painful as they may be�are wise decisions.

I do want to communicate my concern regarding a couple of potential interrelated changes. First, if United prohibits upgrades on low fare tickets and no longer grants miles or status credit on those tickets, my loyalty to United will be tested. I go out of my way to fly on United for business, even if it means paying more. My clients know this. They understand that I fly a lot, and that I like to upgrade to first class. When I fly for leisure, I search for United�s lowest fares. If I can�t upgrade on United�s low fare tickets, I will likely look for the cheapest ticket on any airline and book that. And without my leisure trips, I will not qualify for 1K (or maybe even Premier Executive) on business trips alone. I would then have more difficulty upgrading on business trips. And that may cause me to start buying tickets for business trips based on price�especially if I would end up in coach on a more expensive United ticket. Simply put, upgrading is the number one reason that I strive to be a very frequent United flyer. If the program is diluted to make it harder for me to upgrade, there will be less incentive for me to fly exclusively on United.

Price is another matter. I understand that United might want to make some of its cheapest tickets un-upgradeable. This is understandable. I suggest that United make its absolute least expensive tickets un-upgradeable, but beyond that, upgrades should be allowed. For example, the $178 round-trip from ORD to LGA purchased on United.com, Orbitz, etc. should be un-upgradeable. But the $227 ticket should be upgradeable. Same with ORD to LHR�no upgrade on the $650 ticket but upgrades on the $850 ticket. I can live with that.

Regarding miles and status for flights, the same approach might be wise. Either allow miles and status for all flights or for all but the absolute cheapest flights. I can stomach paying an extra $50 for an ORD to LGA flight to get the miles and status, but if I only get miles and status by paying $250 more, I�ll either pay the cheaper fare or look for an even cheaper fare on another airline.

I hope that I do not sound shrill. I simply want to pass along my travel patterns and my take on these potential changes to let you know how one particular 1K feels. I am not the typical 1K. I don�t fly internationally for business, so I�m not buying $8000 tickets to Frankfurt. But when I fly for business within the U.S., I typically pay full coach fares or nearly full coach fares. And for leisure travel, not surprisingly, I look for the best deal on United�s flights.

Let me know if you have any questions. I would be more than happy to provide you any additional information.

In the examples you describe, what would you have happen if you purchased the upgradeable fare but the upgrade did not clear?

Prem Ex,
I think that your letter was very well worded and certainly more kind and diplomatic than many I am sure that have been written today. I do feel though that your system would complicate things altogether as pointed out by the last post..."what happens if the upgrade does not clear?" I agree that the 1k lounges were ridiculous, the lounges themselves were typically dingy and small and as such I always used the RCC instead. I agree as well that if upgrade prices need to be raised than so be it. I must stop short there however as it would be completely archaic to try and figure out which of the non-refund fares are upgradeable under your plan. Nice letter though, I am sure it will be circulated and considered

I strongly disagree with these "wise" decisions.

Tough luck. That situation already exists today. If you're out of SWUs or non-1k and want to upgrade SFO-LHR with miles, for example, there may be a $600 non-upgradeable fare and a $900 upgradeable fare. If they can't clear the upgrade immediately, you have to buy the higher fare to get on the waitlist and it's a roll of the dice.

PremEx's letter is excellent! The only thing I would also disagree with is changing upgradeability of less expensive fares. It is just so complicated and difficult that it does not seem worth the trouble to anyone involved.

Here is the response I received from the 1K e-mail desk:

Does this response sound familar to the one eyechip received or what!

Still waiting for a reply for my email. I wonder what's taking so long?

I'll get to it as soon as I can, fer cryin out...

Ooops.

I'll bet htey are swamped!! No reply to my email of Thursday (yesterday) morning yet either.

Swamped? How long does it take to send a canned response.

Again, the response I received was EXACTLY the same as the one eyechip received.

Tacky if you ask me.

Got my reply today. Same text as what others have received, plus the message from Bowers available at all 1K Centers as of today. Don't know why they need a dedicated email address to send out dedicated canned replies. None of the specifics in my email were addressed.

Swamped? I hope so! This is something that affects all 2% of us who use the 1K Centers! (Incidently I think the 2% number is a diaper full. They must have gotten it from that week of sign-ins and thought it scientific enough)