Pat89339

For some of us who have been with UAMP from its inception, will the F and C fares of those bygone years be given the EQM bump? From what I've read in various threads the 25% and 50% bonuses didn't start until 2004. I do have my purge data print and it shows the F and C fare class flights, so I guess I could spend the next few days pouring over the printout. Is there a start date for when they will count fare class bonuses?

Also, I flew on a Circle the Pacific fare back in the 80s and at that time Cathay Pacific was a partner airline, as well as Ansett (Cathay isn't any longer and Ansett doesn't exist any longer). Those flights do show on the purge data printout, so I did earn base miles for those flights. I have no clue whether or not they were included in my lifetime EQM though.

bmvaughn

Did you receive status miles for those flights at the time? My understanding is that if the answer is yes, then they would be included in your bump.

joel67

Not expecting a huge boost myself since I buy cheap tickets and generally avoided partners after discovering they didn't count towards earning upgrade instruments. I'm expecting mainly to get a boost from Signature Visa EQMs, but also from some of the recent EQM-bonus promotions.

Anyone remember the triple-mileage wars back around 1984 or 1985? I picked up a lot of RDMs back then (plus the 125% Premier Executive bonus), but don't remember if they counted those extra miles towards elite status. If they did, perhaps they'll be counted now as well.

1KPath

I am in the same situation...have been with UAMP since the beginning and have a lot of flights on partner carriers...in addition I was able to fly a lot of F and C in the early days and it shows up on the purge...but will it count for the bonuses that show up later in the program?...

I posed just this question to several UA/CO "suits" at a 1K/GS gathering earlier this year...the answer was "it depends on how complete our records are" and "when we decide the bonuses should start" Needless to say, this was not well received by the audience. To be honest, I get the feeling that they are making up the rules as they go along...no consistency and no real concern for the customer...I also get the feeling that those of us who flew a lot in the early days of MP are going to end up with the short end of the stick!...Just my feeling...that and 45+ years of dealing with pathologic entities called airlines!

WineCountryUA

For these and all those questions -- will they go back and recalculate EQMs based on rules not in place at the time -- I doubt it. My guess/impression is the process will be to use the EQM total you had for each year. Essentially summing up the annual delta EQM-BIS and adding it in. There is a limit to the amount of reprocessing the data that can be done.

Once on the MP side, you start applying retroactively EQM bonuses that did not exists at the time, there would be a legitimate beef on the CO to re-adjust their EQMs -- such as the 50% for discount fares if not purchased on co.com or similar fare bonuses.

Pat89339

I appreciate that information. We can all sit back and guess, but at least you addressed that issue with the suits although they hadn't made up their mind at that point.

Perhaps one of the questions to ask Foland is what date have they decided the bonuses should start. I think I shall send him an email right now. If I have my purge data print and they don't, I'd be happy to provide them with a copy.

The other day when I called Customer Relations for some matter or another, the CSR said, "Thank you for being a 4MM flyer." -- I almost fell out of my chair. I doubt sincerely that would be true with the adjustment, but I'd be okay with GS for life if they wanted to give it to me.

skj

I don't know why you say there "would be" a legitimate beef; I think there clearly is one. As someone who flew numerous flights on CO during the 5+ years of 50% EQM earnings, my EQMs for that period are far less than the actual BIS miles I flew. I think it's unfair that MP members get this increase in lifetime miles while many CO flyers don't even get credit for all their BIS miles.

WineCountryUA

While I understand your point, my point was the "fairest' method would be not to change the past rules and sum the lifetime EQMs of all with the rules that were in place at that time (to get everyone roughly on an equal standing). Once you start messing with modifying the "past rules", then everyone will start wanting this rule or that rule changed -- and it will get ugly.

There is no prefect solution, and best not to let perfect be the enemy of a reasonable solution.

joel67

Having been through this sort of thing myself (i.e. merging two communities with different credit rules and trying to fairly adjust accounts based on less-than-perfect history data), I'd consider it unrealistic for them to precisely define the rules in advance. Most likely they'll start with a wish list and see if they even have the right data for the calculations. Then they'll do sample runs and see if the resulting adjustments look reasonable (not too large, not too small, no unacceptable aberrations).

They'll quite possibly need to modify their rules and iterate a few times before they're happy. "Happy" probably means not letting the PMUA group get too far ahead of the PMCO group. On the other hand, if the increases end up being fairly small, they may be more sympathetic to grandfathering benefits for the PMUA MMs.

deirdre

I do, I was a frequent CO flyer then and got lots of triples. Always on short flights, though.

bmvaughn

Indeed, and a UA flyer who flew a partner during that time received EQMs but no BIS. The one-time adjustment adjusts all lifetime miles to be based on EQM regardless of PMCO or PMUA - PMCO already used this method.

unavaca

With how slow UA has been in posting the ORD DEQM, I'm hoping they do a second sweep.

MPsince1984

I was thinking it was around 1986, but who knows? Either way, I was in the Bay Area at the time, and recall doing a number of flights to Chicago, New York, Boston, etc. on triple miles so perhaps I'll get a late (very late) Christmas gift from UA after the 31st. (Or at least I can dream about it.

deirdre

1986 sounds right to me, too. I didn't do a lot of travel in 1984 or 1985, but I did considerable travel from 1986 on. Now I just need to dig up my old CO account to merge it with my UA one.

joel67

Yes, 1986 does sound right. By the way, while I rarely flew the old Continental, it was quite impressive to find my account from 1983 still intact, including the old mileage mostly earned on Eastern. While it was only a few tens of thousands of miles, having them plus my old OP number starting with an A did somehow make me feel better connected to this new airline. (By contrast, USAir lost me forever when they forced me to give up my short, easily-remembered number.)