milepig

OK for starters. F on a CO domestic flight. Three hour flight, the FA came down the aisle one with drinks (grumpily), once with the food, and then sat on her butt on the jump seat in full view of us for the rest of the flight and read gossip magazines. That's what we're talking about.

UAGuy2

Oh dear. I'm sorry your arms were broken. Otherwise you could have used the call button.

willyg2me

b/c we earned it under our rules and now the UA pple are walking all over us. IF the "merger" never happened, it would not be an issue.

Luvs2snowbordbut1kSEA

seriously?! lol

WineCountryUA

Suspect vast majority of MM are still active flyers and have status based on recent activity -- I'm retired and still fly enough to maintain as status above or equal to my MM status. So probably only a few are 'above' what would normally be their status.

And while it may seem like it has been a year, it has only been 9 months since the merger was formalized and 6 months since there has been any hint of joint operations.

No sure where the flood of UA folks are from -- except of a few routes where UA/CO have stopped cross competing suspect most are doing their best to stay with their original airlines. BTW, UA folks have been worried about the flood of CO folks going to UA E+ aircraft.

(An aside, but it is interesting to hear UA folks talk about how "CO" is killing UA and at the same time CO folks are talking about how "UA" folks are killing CO. Maybe there is a different message here )



However you do sound unhappy but it may be for the wrong reasons.

willyg2me

yes, b/c everything was fine until the change, which OP started to recognize UA MP. Some pple have said that the CO pple have no choice. I disagree, as I took over 55 flights from Sept to Nov 2. All one way purchased a day or two prior to departure. That's a lot of money. Not to mention the pple I work and travel with. Fortunately or unfortunately I have to travel private. So spreading all out dilutes my yearly status. However, I would fly UA/CO only when commercial if they would treat us equally.

SFO777

Had a chance to see UA in operation last night at ORD for the first time in a few years. What a third world pit. The most unattractive check-in lobby at any major hub I've seen in a long time. Priority security closed at 8PM. No priority lane in the lice security. B-6 RCC is a dump that closes at 9:30p regardless of delayed flights, even on days like yesterday when there were dozens of them.
AA's T-3 and the H/K AC put UA to shame.

FlyinHawaiian

This thread was temporarily closed after some members appeared to let their emotions get the better of them and we strayed into some pretty off-topic discussion. If you posts are missing from this thread, I'd encourage you to review the following FT Rules:

http://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php#q87
http://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php#q88

Thank you for your understanding.

FlyinHawaiian, Co-Moderator
United Mileage Plus Forum

LarkSFO

demkr? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/16690395-post183.html "1.5 MM on AA and all I see are cuts, cuts, cuts. Smisek > Arpey."

Not sure how representative a sample demkr is, coming over from AA to UA...

My company has a strong presence in Car Country and traditional Delta strongholds... Heavy travelers. Lots of elites.

I can not tell you how pi**ed off they are about 'Delta pitching discount first class upgrades'. http://www.ajc.com/business/delta-pi...st-955709.html

Things change. Revaluate your options annually. Pick the airlines / alliance that best meets your needs. Bi*ch about everything on FT.

edcho

+1. Did mucho research tonight and think Virgin might be the best for me (especially if they come to EWR this year). I love their funny safety video too!

SFO777

demkr says he booked on CO, not UA. For the moment, there is still a big difference. The grass is always greener, until you get there. Heck, one DL flight last month and demkr thought DL had great meals.

PaulInTheSky

demkr, does that mean you are not going for EXP again in 2012? I have a hard time understanding that you claimed to leave after getting 121k EQM in AA this year. Any who re-qualified for the status they wanted would probably switch to another FFP for more benefits.

demkr

Yeah, I am actually surprised reading this forum over the past couple of days just what reason people would have to actually move to AA. (I understand it's all a matter of opinion).

Being from SFO--we know that this airport is constantly on the cut list from AA. This is the #1 reason that I left. Constant downgauging and cutting. The seasonal removal of one flight to JFK was the final cherry on the sundae for me.

Upgrades are nailbiters even for EXPs. Yeah, and I know that many people say they don't like the fact that GS exists or whatever, but as a CO PLAT I am below even 1Ps on the upgrade list until I become 1K or get UA status-and I've cleared 5 out of 6 times. The only flight I missed was a SFO-DFW flight last week on a 319 (I was #1 on the list) where I enjoyed a surprisingly pleasant E+ seat and excellent BOB options. Along with free headphones that I didn't have to pay $2 for, and headphones that actually looked like something that didn't come out of a toy set.

I can't say that I deny this!! I loved DL's hot breakfast. Did I mention PDB service? lol Unlike on AA, the portion size was fit for someone other than a 4 year old.^ Noticed the same on UA. Extreme cost cutting measures aren't needed I guess when you're making a profit. If AA loses money in Q2 2011, I imagine the snack mix on SFO-LAX will be the next thing to go.

I qualified for EXP for 2012 really fast because I tend to have a lot of BIS early in the year. Since nearly every location and its mothership was cut from SFO in a 2 year span, the ORD/DFW connections were rampant and through DBEQM I was able to get to 100 pretty fast.

I matched to United and was comped as a 1P last year, but due to circumstances I failed the challenge. I did that too quickly, too fast. So the only option was to do the CO PLAT challenge-its worth the expense to not have to sit in E- in the beginning of 2011.

i've got two AA flights booked in 2012 but unfortunately that's it for me. Millions of miles later. For those thinking of switching to AA, you *will* have some net positives...such as the (what I believe is only perceived) better meal service atleast vs UA ... note that that doesn't apply to flights like SFO-LAX where UA serves a snack basket or warm scones and AA feeds you a baby-size snack mix. AA has no snack basket whatsoever. Yes I know UA recently cut back on it, but whether its JFK-SFO or DEN-DFW, no snacks--just the small breakfast.

You'll get to use your SWUs/eVIPs on all fares....great.

Negatives you'll gain with AA:
-No J lie flat seats/less comfortable F seats in general
-The most uncomfortable Y cabin on the planet
-Operational chaos. Look at delays at ORD on any given day, particularly on-time departures. UA excels. AA way below industry average.
-Lots of proactive cancellations and hardly ever any weather waivers
-Battlefield upgrades due to aircraft downgauging
-A much smaller network and destination list.
-Employees that are inconvenienced when you say hello to them
-Little to no compensation when issues are faced
-No fee waivers for EXPs such as the confirmed flight change or the domestic 48 copay like UA Does
-EXPs must pay for "Express Seats" in Coach

Honestly, I'm in the air more than I'm on the ground next month for this PLAT/1K challenge, so my perspective will be better known then. But having flown CO and UA now, I don't see where CO gets its stellar ratings from. Yeah, their food in F is tasty, but thats about it. Their 737s and 757 F seats made my butt hurt!

United...totally different story. Comfy, cozy seats in every aircraft that I've been in so far---kind staff, PDBs *Every* time, early gate departure and arrival, excellent airport facilities, and excellent compensation for an issue I had flying to DFW last week.

I guess I'll post more about my experiences in this thread. But if you're upset about the CR1 changes, don't switch to AA, there you get none. Be prepared for the nickeling and diming. I know that Smisek is being referred to as Edward Scissorhands, but AA is the ultimate penny pincher. I'd strongly advise not departing from the strengths of the Star Alliance and at this point I'm going to take Smisek at his word that he is going to take the best of both airlines.

Happy I made the decision I did. To be continued!

demkr

I agree that closing regardless of delays is a pretty mean thing to do to your paying customers...especially when the delays are operational.


On any day where ORD has bad weather (Winter/summer) or severe ATC delays, UA has less cancellations, less delays than AA does. AA likely has more chaos too because they didn't give their customers the option to proactively change their flight flexibly when severe weather is expected like UA does.

Random example...Let's do a side by side NYC comparison. Info provided by Flightstats.

JFK
7/9/11, AA has a 5% on-time departure rating and a 62% on-time arrival rating at JFK.
Contrasting this with DL, who had the same weather as AA did last time I checked, had an 83% on-time departure rating (This is a whopping SEVENTY EIGHT percent gap) and a 72% on-time arrival rating.

EWR
CO had a 66% on-time departure rating at EWR on 7/9, and a 65% on-time arrival rating.

So--really, just a fair warning that these kind of standstill operations is what you get with AA- those who are considering switching. The pattern is pretty clear.

Years ago I used to only worry about severe weather , flying AA I worry about flurries and rain drops because of whoever runs their operations and makes cancellation decisions proactively.

I also note that UA issued travel waivers two nights ago for passengers in NYC. AA did not. Therefore, if I had a flight on AA at JFK today, I'd have had to pay the $150 change fee to change--either that or have a 5% chance of getting out on time.

darthbimmer

So far this year I'm at 100% with UDUs and 50% with international flights eligible to use SWUs. Although I'm not pleased with all the changes that have appeared recently I don't believe the grass is genuinely greener for my travel pattern with another airline. I will stick with UACO for now.