ijgordon

No, not all of them are, I guarantee you. I guess it also depends when/where you fly.

LarkSFO

Thank you for the additional info and insight in to your decision making process.

I always appreciate a well thought out strategy that looks out for # 1 - You.

As a 1K this year, my UA upgrade success percentage has been a fair amount higher than your experience - and this even considering my base of SFO, and popular destinations like IAD, BOS, SEA, and DEN...

For next year, I am considering something blasphemous here on FT: Don't be a slave to status on any airline!

With Alaska, Virgin, and yes, Southwest all having a strong presence here at SFO (and OAK, which is also easy to get to), there really are a lot of alternatives.

More blasphemy: I kind of hope UA continues the Premium Seating Upgrade / Buy Up offers... This way, I can be confident that as a 1P or 0P, I will still be offered the opportunity to buy up to F.

The only problem I have right now is UACO's apparent lack of predictablity on availability and pricing for the F buy up offers...

If I knew Buy Ups would always (almost always) be offered, at a 'fair' price, then I think I would be comfortable not pushing to earn elite status on UACO. (Just my natural travel would probably earn me 1P without working hard to push most travel UACO's way.)

Is this the travel pattern that UACO is trying to incent? Time will tell...

schley

As you know fares change hourly, thus pulling stats from one static point in time is not a true indication. There were reports of low fares recently in the MR forum between ORD and cali and I'm sure you have seen those. Bottom line is that being able to take advantage of DEQM promo from your home airport to ORD is a huge advantage. Per those savy MR enthusiastist there have been opportunties to capitalize.

Enjoy it and use it to your advantage, you don't have to look far to see some positives you are getting from UA.

LarkSFO

OK, I just checked a bunch of dates again. Still $409... So now we at least have 2 data points!

I guess my main point is, under current conditions it is harder / more expensive to MR than it has been in the past.

By the way, I am taking advantage of the DEQM SFO/ORD opportunity. However, the reason I am doing it is because I had a $250 expiring e-cert that I needed to burn. So it brought the price down to something remotely reasonable.

And trust me, I do understand the positives I receive (in general) from UA!

mre5765

And yet your profile says you are a 1K.

cesco.g

Nice pix, Tom. Are these all intl C and dom F?

Surviving over whom -UACO?

tom911

That's correct. There should be a label below each one with the specific route.

brendog

DL is courting 1Ks and Plats pretty hard in the SE, so I might consider it, although I'd now be connecting in ATL versus IAH, neither of which make my top 100 for pleasant airports. The wifi would be nice, as would flight timings to the west coast, inclusive of an on-again, off-again RDU-LAX flight. On the other hand, Sky Team utterly blows for int'l travel and award redemption doesn't seem to be particularly promising.

Meh, I'll see how many miles I get by the end of the year and if I'm still ambivalent about the merger or annoyed and then decide.

robyng

Just FWIW - when we flew into EWR last month - the cab to Manhattan was about $90 (it is price fixed). Going back to EWR - it was about $60 on a weekend day with little traffic.

If I lived in the New York metro area - I would never use an airline that made me connect through IAD to travel international. My local airport is JAX - and I expect a 1 stop. But - from NYC - what's the point of living there if you can't fly non-stop ? Robyn

Just curious - why don't you like Atlanta? I hub through there a fair amount. And although it is one of the busiest airports in the world - I've never had a connection problem there. Also - the terminal to terminal transport system (the subway) is very efficient IMO. Hope I haven't jinxed myself with this message (I'm flying JAX/ATL/LAX in September). Robyn

Just FWIW - my brother has a house and a wife in PHX - but now works in the LAX metro area. He commutes between LAX and PHX every week - and really likes Southwest Airlines. He says its rewards system is very good (he gets free trips to visit his children - and for them to visit him).

At least with Delta - you can book any flight on any class. Price (in terms of miles) varies. I would rather have that than zero availability on decent flights. Robyn

adambrau

I have lived in NYC since 1992 and apart from TWA I have pretty much flown with UA exclusively. I have taken the odd Jetblue flight up to BTV, and US when it was the only option, but overall I have invested too many years with UA. With my lifetime miles and fondness for the odd crackling of Channel 9, the new EWR hub with the CO merger (I live and work in lower Manhattan so it's convenient to me), the ability to do the JFK-SFO/LAX-NRT-SIN/BKK/now HKG on a single SWU, the multitude on nonstop flights to just about anywhere, the amazing *Alliance partners, E+, there is no way I would look at anyone else. I still feel the UA/CO fleet is superior to Delta's, and with AA it just seems like a day of reckoning is coming. Fares have got to come up to generate a better service and newer/cleaner aircraft, I think all of us who have been long time FF's have seen what cheap fares have brought to the industry. Finally, every time I step onto a UA or CO mainline flight I feel I am in the hands of some of the best pilots and FA's around, I understand some are bitter at the loss of their benefits but a little charm goes a long way. THings may get better, they may get worse; nobody knows. It's not exactly like the state of our country is anything to be too proud of either, that is of course unless you live in NYC ;-) But i for one will unequivocally state that whatever happens, I am not jumping to DL or AA. And those that do, I hope it turns out well for you!


Adam

robyng

And if you don't live in these places - or another large or hub city - you have to ask yourself where you'd rather change planes. I would rather hub through ATL than MIA. Am kind of indifferent between IAH and DFW. Our last 4 int'l flights or so have been through EWR and ATL. Both very nice gateways IMO. Robyn

What's your price/reward ratio on a mileage run? I can still do coast to coast for somewhat more than $300 (although during the depths of the recession it was only a bit more than $200). Robyn

Gosh - what kind of snobbish remark is that? I don't usually fly enough to get elite status because I'm retired and don't have to travel in terms of a job. But that doesn't mean I want to travel in the airplane equivalent of a bus (although I have recently had some decent flights on carriers like Air Tran). I'm reading all of the messages here because I have to make some decisions before CO leaves AMEX end of September. And I think the OP asked a legitimate question - how do "non-elites" make the best of their situations. My answer has always been with credit cards. His/her mileage may vary. Robyn

Some questions before any thoughts. What's your home airport - and where do you travel most? Do you spend a lot for your tickets - back of plane - or front of plane? Do you want to earn airline travel rewards - or other kinds of rewards Robyn

If you check most CO international flights that you are interested in - you will find that no upgrades are available at any time. Holding on to Continental may make sense for some people trying to accomplish some things - but international upgrades are pretty much few and fare between IMO (except for Easypass which costs a lot of points/money). Robyn

arollins

The first year or so is more of an adjustment and learning process in order to establish the new operation. All of the things that have been mentioned as disappearing, going downhill, or devalued with the UA/CO merging, has been mentioned in the forums of the other carriers, AA, DL, WN, etc. There is no perfect carrier.

Bottom line, you should go with the carrier that gives you the service that you need to the areas that you travel most. We all have experienced cancelled flights, missed upgrades, mechanical issues, delayed flights, rude FA/GA/CS, etc. to the point where you just say that's it no more. But on the flip side, we've also experienced situations when we've gotten that coveted seat on the difficult flight to upgrade, we've been accommodated to the next available flight in cases on cancellation or delays, manage to get that award flight, etc. Is all give and take.

Go with what works for you.

nycr

very unlikely. think about it from time to time but really no better options. no desire to connect in dtw or atl, no desire to fly ancient md-80's etc. often think about switching to ac but they are stingy with upgrades and *G alone would land me back in Y for my odd domestic flights.

while overall i preferred ua pre-merger, i have to say that with the exception of the remaining old 777's, their a/c are generally in good shape and i like connecting in ord. and i have to confess that i have only ever had 1 upgrade fail in several years as 1k (and i was 1/86 on that flight). also appreciate the global network and 3 class intl flights (assuming they remain...)

would be nice to see:
--better meals in intl c
--better lounges @sfo, iad (or finally rebuild iad for that matter)
--bring back the nice blankets in domestic F!!
--branding that's not a total embarrassment

LarkSFO

The old standard was <$0.03 / EQM.... (I have only started playing the status game in the last 12 months, and became 1K in November 2010, so people with longer experiences than mine can correct this as necessary.)

So, theoretically, if you don't count other costs (transportation to and from airport, food, hotels, etc.) you could have achieved 1K for $3K.

Nowadays, it is more like a minimum of $5K or $6K in my estimation... Less if you really work the system.

My perspective is changing to a broader view of spending and status.

If I can spend less money trying to achieve status on one airline, but then use that savings to buy the things I want on my trips, then maybe this is a better equation for me.

I will 'naturally' fly around 70,000 miles this year on UA. Will I MR to 1K? Almost certainly not.

Would I MR to achieve 0P (75K EQM)? I probably would, as long as the cost is not too prohibitive. I am hoping that at some point soon UACO starts to more clearly communicate the difference in benefits that will be offered to 1P's, 0P's, and 1K's...

B787938

Very well said nycr.

In PDX, we have AS. Comparing them to the market they still put up a pretty decent show. Other than that, we have DL or WN - puke.

AA has three to four daily n/s to DFW on very, very tired MD-80s. Completely useless if you are trying to get to the NE from Orygun. Wish they would bring back the two daily ORD flights.

That said, it's UA/CO if I am going east of the Pacific time zone - and was the case even prior to the merger.