Because the new UA management believes that once you step on board the aircraft and sit in F and C, that your status is no longer material. To them, someone who is sitting in F for the first time is just as valuable to UA as the 1K who has flown over 100,000 miles on United over the previous year.

Something to ponder, I believe, as you decide which airline to direct your business to over the remainder of this year.

You misread. A 1k is more important than a plat. I agree. What i said is that a paid F ticket should get their meal choice.... Regardless of status (i happen to be plat). Secondly, if you want to go by status, which is fine by me, please go by status then - instead the flight attendant went to gs and 1ks who cpu'd then went front to back. So all gs, 1k, and all gold/silver in front first dibs. My main point is that they should have a set policy and stick with it. Gs should get all the priority, but i dont think that 1ks should be separeted into their own group with plats to then fend among general public. And above all, someone who pays for a f seat shouldnt be treated like a mediocre, sub-par customer who is underneath a 1k who cpu'd on a cheap fare. I just think they should have a set policy. Everyone on this forum has suggested the official policy is GS then paid customers then front to back. That makes more sense to me. Instead they ignore paid/cpu differnces and also carve out 1ks but do not then carve out any other permier group.

I dont understand how you got to this conclusion as they do not go front-to-back but instead do gs, paid f, then 1k (at least what i have seen on last 8 flights since march 3rd). Secondly, your status is supposed to get you into first more often. The person who is flying first for the first time (1) may have a 4% upgrade rate... (2) thte value of that customer may be high if they pay a lot. What should matter to an airline is total value (long term revenue less costs). S just saying that someone flies 100k miles a year means nothing as many of the tickets could have been dirt cheap.

That's why i prefer other airlines for any asian or even europe trips where you pay 5 or 6k a ticket but get good service and never feel you are being passed over because some idiot elite thinks they own the damn airline.

What I tried to say to you before (but you missed perhaps because I wasn't clear enough) was that what you are asking the policy to be is exactly what the pmUA policy was. pmUA listed everyone on the manifest with a set of stars next to them. GS was 5 stars. I thought paid F was also 5 stars but someone above claims it was 4 stars - one of our memories is wrong but either would have worked. 1K was 4 stars. And it went down from there. FAs took all the orders and filled them by star rating. Some FAs used the older order taking procedure of hopping around the cabin in order of the stars. Others adopted the newer official order taking process of just going through the cabin asking everyone for first and second choice but then fulfilling those choices in star order. Either way - GSs pretty much always got their first preference as did paid F and 1K. Below that things might result in second choices. The process absolutely honored status and paid tickets. It was precisely what you've said you'd like the new UA to do. Unfortunately, the new UA seems to have no consistent philosophy of how to allocate priorities for anything (meal choice, upgrades, boarding, and probably other stuff as well). Had they just kept the pmUA process it would be a lot more sensible. It honored both actual paid tickets and long term value.

you don't have the PMUA system quite right
more in http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...level-1ks.html
agree

this is so true!!! that is why it is imperative to status match with as many star and oneworld carriers as you can then make the decision and sever the tie with continental (PMUA)! what a shame theis merger has been!!! after years and dollars of loyalty to united(PMUA) which was fruitful and pleasant ! (as apposed to PMCO which was always an obvious backyard abor***n )

and lufti seem to be devaluang miles and more! so is it one world? will they become the biggest alliance as most star carriers trim to the bare bones of obligation?

According to posts on FT, since 3/3 GS are the only F/C pax that get meal choice before the front to back process starts.

Why should the the once in awhile F/C passenger get meal choice priority ahead of someone who flies 100000 miles a year?

Just another data point:

Had 2 different PNR's that had the warning message I had to call UA to fix the reservation. Been putting off calling for a month due to other stories and posibility it would get itself worked out with our new SHARE's system (well, that didn't work out...).

So, called the 1K line this morning and only waited 1 minute to talk to a live CSR. Took her maybe 3-4 minutes per PNR to get fixed and without any help from a supervisor. This is not bad at all to me:D.

When she asked if there was anything else I said well, I still haven't got my 1K card sent to me yet. So off she sent me to MP dept again and then the wait time went back to +15 minutes. Got the same story I got 4 previous times, they will send another card and should arrive within two weeks.

Trust me, I'm not holding my breath on that one ;)

Progress! A third of the four segments posted! Now only ORD-CVG is missing. I was re-booked on a DL flight because the original one was cancelled. Do you even get the miles in this case in general? Not sure if it's worth chasing these 500 miles...

holding your breath is a bad idea
 

Although it may be a different system, it took the United Club just over 5 months to send my United Club card - it finally arrived last week just prior to departing on a TRANSPAC.

no... unless you chase it so I think the best answer is no and no..

Just my 2 cents...

I have noted the above behavior on my last upgraded flight (which are almost non-existent now but that is another matter entirely). GS got choice then front to back.

If the once in awhile pax paid full F/C fare then I think they should get choice ahead of 1K fliers (and I say that as a 1K flier). If they did pay the full fare then they should get the full benefit of the product that they purchased. Now...if a 1K paid full fare then they should get their 4 stars and a smiley face so they can choose first :D

Well, fwiw, my redeye flight on Friday, 5/4 posted this morning and it posted correctly

I have passed the two month mark now for a 3/3 partner flight which has not posted.

I still think that the issue with 'new' UA MP numbers not being considered valid in some partner sites may be causing some of the issues with partner miles not posting. LH/LX/OS sometimes still struggle with my new MP format, and at least one rental car site spat it out.