So you prefer that the 1Ks and GS who pay the bills be the ones who are annoyed in the name of fairness? Brilliant.

^

I spent nearly a decade as a 2P then a 1P. At the time, I realized that I wasn't entitled to as many benefits as others with higher status, including meal selection, and I was fine with that. I knew that at the time I wasn't God's gift to UA.

As I said earlier in the thread, if the F cabin on the 757 is me and 10 GS flyers and 13 full-fare pax, so be it--they SHOULD have their choice first and I fully support that. Even as a 1K, I still realize that I'm still not God's gift to UA--there are others that UA values more than me, and really--THAT IS OKAY. This whole "Me, me, me...But I flew 27,000 miles last year!" thing with CO is mind-boggling to me.

But ^ to UA's policy of 'that little something extra' to those that fly/spend the most.

The "status hop" is not, IMHO, "rude." I never found reason to complain as a 2P, 1P, or 1K--just took it as, "Hey, they're asking their better customers first." It's more discreet to take by rows and sort by status in the gallery, sure, I'll grant you that. But "rude?" :confused:


Maybe because higher-status pax are, by definition, their better customers with more repeat business?


Meh, is it that hard to understand that they treat their better customers, well, better? Taking insult when they do is silly.

Regular customers get treated better at a lot of businesses; it's simply that airlines publish quantifiable thresholds of what define those regular customers. Having a better shot at a meal request is simply one of those ways they do reward those regular customers, and the only way it would make even more sense is if it were entirely revenue-based instead of a combination of revenue and miles-flown (which are only a rough indicator of revenue, although a pretty decent one of degree of repeat business all things considered).

If the "egalitarian is better" approach is indeed, better, then why have any frequent flier tiers at all? Treat everyone the same! Random chance of UDU to all fliers--silvers/2P have no higher chance than GMs! I suspect those GMs would be happy, even though their actual chances of scoring an upgrade to F are very slim... but darn if all the elites wouldn't be a bit miffed regardless of level.

Along comes an airline which says, "Hey, we'll reward you for repeat business."

Which one do you think is more appealing to repeat customers?


I admit it's been a few years since I flew DL, but last time I did, they had like 8 different zones for boarding, and I suspect the top tiers were in the first couple of zones.


They're bringing something different. There was no lack of sanity to begin with.

Wow, no.
 

I'm sorry, but @thumbun paid for their business class seat. I didn't think they sounded like a DYKWIA. CO's policy is certainly simple and stupid. Anyone paying full fare should be able to empathize here.

Don't get me wrong, it's equally stupid for a FA to jump around the cabin, taking orders from higher status passengers first. This is jarring to paid passengers who aren't loyal and familiar with the procedure (I have not personally experienced this on United, but I have on AC).

As I stated before, taking first and second choice orders by row and then discreetly honoring requests by elite and paid status makes the most sense. This is the way United has operated on most of my flights, and I hope it stays this way. I'm struggling to see how anyone can argue against this method. In one sweep, orders are efficiently taken, and everyone feels like they're on an equal playing field.

Fly any United p.s. flight and sit in the "best seats in the house", row 9. With CO's ordering policy, you're likely never going to get your preferred meal choice because you've chosen to sit towards the back of the premium cabins, even though those seats are well-known favorites with p.s. fliers. Please explain to me why the CO policy should stick and how this makes sense?!?

Clearly you dislike the "caste" system that most airlines use. I obviously appreciate and value United's status-consciousness. I've earned my right to skip lines and get my meal choice. And I'll continue tot speak up about it if people blindly defend some legacy CO policy that is seemingly illogical and contrary to my earned privileges.

Finally, this has NOTHING to do with boarding procedures.

I hate having to pick row 2 on a 757 instead of my favorite row 5 just to get a better shot at a meal.

Should be:
Full Fare
GS/PPlat
1K
1P
2P
GM
Non-member

In each, sort by fare paid.

Now.. that's utilitarian.. may not be feasible in practice... but it's FAIR.

slightly OT, but how do they prioritize within tiers? All the FA sees is **** through * right? Especially on hub to hub routes where everyone has either three or four stars, how do they decide which *** gets their first choice and which *** is SOL?

UA doesn't today - I was posting what I thought would be ideal.

I can see this being implemented into the computer system -- the FA would get a list from the GA of how the passengers of that cabin should be prioritized (kinda like the battlefield list).

However, knowing of all the glitches/crashes i've seen in the past month, i'm not sure if this can be implemented EASILY by the UACO IT team.

This makes so much sense - but Im sure they will start out with CO's policy, as that just seems to happen, until a bunch of GS's complain

this is the fear that the co ideas around valuing status and repeat business will bring down the highest rated FF program.

Buying up is not the same as buying an fc ticket. You have upgraded - why should you get your first choice when someone who fies 100,000 Miles does not - it may seem small unless you flew often and experienced this regularly - F-B seems like the most unfair method

As a long time CO flier (haven't been on a UA mainline flight in 20 years), I'm still no more convinced after reading all these posts that the UA way is better. The theme running through most of these posts is that most people in FC believe, if there is going to be a meal prioritization, that they should be at the top of the list. Full fare (and yes, buy-ups) feel they paid for the seat and the others didn't. Status upgraders feel they earned their spot at the top of the list through their loyalty. And so on. That's why the CO F-B method makes sense. And because it's so tranparant, frequent CO flyers have learned that if they really want one choice vs another to ask quietly during the drink order. Also when I've been in the front couple rows and didn't have a preference, I've told the FA that I was okay switching if they ran out. I've seen others do this many times.

This is just going to be one of those clashing culture issues. The CO way is - status got you into FC. Once you're there, the differences end. If you want to use status as a determination of on-board services, why stop with the meal? Why not have passengers disembark based on status? I know I'd appreciate the chance to get off the plane earlier, especially in foreign cities where you know there's going to be a long wait at Immigration.

I would be okay with that. But since Full fare gets lumped in with 1K, I find the meal hop to be a little silly. Just because someone flies 100k in deep discount tickets doesn't mean they should be treated pari passu with a paid F traveler.

Okay, I'll bite (pun intended): how do you know that everyone else in the cabin wasn't a VFF who had purchased the seat in the F cabin?

Glad it worked out for you and you got what you wanted.

I've paid for the F cabin before and I don't empathize, at all.

Long ago I heard that a reason for fulfilling meals based on status is that a high-status passenger could be flying the same route each week and get the same meals on every flight. This provides that person some variety. There was a month where I had the chili offered to me eight times. Prioritizing by status makes sense as does offering a choice to full-fare customers, whom one would expect an airline would like to win over.