mnmme

Where is "anyone" going to get an instrument? Silver/Gold don't get any. Plat's get 2 -

Anyone who flys to a gold or silver level isn't likely to spring for 20k miles for an upgrade.

Who are the "anyone's"?

Red_Rob

I get your point that it is a downgrade for a PMUA 1K. I guess my point is that from PMCO experience the impact was a very minor one (having lived under these rules). I suspect this rule will not have a significant impact on future upgrade rates for 1K's. In the grand scheme of things there are other downgrades that concern me far more.

Anyone would be people like my Silver wife who I use those 16 Regionals I earned last year on. Also my Globals (domestically) since I don't play the W lottery. Actually I am not sure if using my instruments now puts her at GS priority or not. It certainly puts her above 1K's on fares below M.

ijgordon

I mean it's not a two-way street. Yes, CPU goes into R/RN. But just because there's R/RN doesn't mean CPU will happen. This is from a PM from UA Insider a couple of months ago. I can't think of any reason she would tell me this but not want it posted:

mh3265a

The "anyone's" are literally anyone. Yes there are people who use miles for upgrades as well as 1Ks or Platinums who sponsor friends/family.

I agree. Just because there is R/RN space doesn't mean CPU will work. That's true and has been well documented in other forums. I'm just saying that it appears there are still significant problems with the integrated system and because of the lack of transparency in SHARES there is no harm in PMing UAInsider. By your own admission, her PM response was from a few months ago when the sytem was operating as it was supposed to operate. In the end, the system may be working as it's supposed to but it's not clear it's operating well.

Bonehead

Hopefully you will now accept that the system is programmed to not deplete R/RN in some (many?) cases...it's not always a glitch (and I think you'll agree that it's no longer a "rumor" that this might happen by design). We pre-merger CO flyers have been dealing with this for several years, and so it's not all that new to us. Having said that, I'm pretty sure that there ARE major glitches in the system right now that are blocking legitimate CPU processing. Couple that with pre-merger UA's policy of instant CPU clearing inside the window with NC/NF>0 and you have all the ingredients for a major brouhaha.

1kwannabe

Agreed, It really stings when you have a CONFIRMED upgrade, and they sell that seat out from under you to a kettle at the gate,
and then rebook you in E-,
which is exactly what happened to me Tues out of SFO. I do know that person that "paid" for First did so at gate merly seconds before I got there AND was not on the UGS list.
Oh, it was around the T-20mark when this happened, I was rebooked again back to E+ and was on board and seated at T-15

Also, according to the aggressive GA in ORD Tues. that told me that the mobile site AND the gate screens were liers. We are no longer assigned numbers and the list is meaningless...

Often1

None of this is surprising. -UP fares have priority over CPU's. The entire purpose of selling those -UP fares is to take care of high-fare bucket pax (many of whom are last minute). If all of the available seats are processed at the 1K window, there's nothing left last minute and paying the -UP premium isn't worth it.

However one looks at it, the new system favors people who pay more over people who have accumulated miles and segments but at lower spends. This is clearly a strategic marketing decision by UA.

Where any individual falls on the question of whether they like it or not is more likely the product of where they fall as a customer:

1. Am I a person who has a low spend, but many miles/segments, or
2. Am I a person who buys high-fare bucket tickets
(not to mention that there is, of course cross-over. That is people who buy high fare bucket tickets and have a lot of miles / segments.

If I were a #1, I would favor the pre-3/3 system. If I were a #2, I would favor the new system.

Perhaps a more honest system would be to award status based on BIS $ spend, but whether or not that occurs, that's what the system effectively is today.

thach1ef

Since the merger 1k's have been posting furiously about how their upgrades are not going through as they used to and how they have dropped from 1-5 on the list to in the 20s and 30s. I can only assume that's going to continue next week as well. So does your future include next week?

mnmme

You're giving your RPU's away because you don't need them? Your wife is Silver - she fly's a fair bit.

The majority of P/1K are going to use their RPU's for themselves.

If your a 1K and fly mostly domestic, your going to fly 30 - 50 segments a year. You get 4 RPU's - don't see how that can clog up the system to the extent we are seeing it since 3/3?

Red_Rob

I think that the current problems over the next few weeks are different problems (i.e. the system not working correctly) rather than insturments, or YB upgrades. Note that I specifically dont include M as any sort of problem, since a 1K on an M would already be ahead of other 1K's not on a YB. I could be wrong, but I would be surprised if a 1K under what are basically PMCO rules would fare so poorly long term when Plats did will with those same rules in the past.

I dont need my RPU's as a GS since I get upgraded anyway. I had >275K PQM (on pace for >300K this year), so yes I do give away a lot of upgrade insturments (nearly 30, so basically every segment my wife flew). Heck I used an expiring Global to upgrade her IAH-->MSY. If I did not get GS, and was a 1K, I would use them for myself.

oblisk

I'm a Nobody in the whole scheme of things (Just a Premier)...

But my 3 flights since 3/3 all EWR<> MIA/FLL I've been bottom of the upgrade pile, which is fine.

But pre 3/3 there were maybe 10 people on the upgrade clear/waitinglist max for this route (probably had 20 or so segments on this past 1.25 years), and i'd get RN ~80% time. Now I'm seeing 15-34 people on the list regularly on these flights. I have 4 more in the next 3 weeks so we'll see how things change.

Is this how crowded the system has become?

mh3265a

I've never NOT accepted that upgrades not necessarily run or R/RN space wouldn't be completely depleted at certain windows. I split my time between PMCO and PMUA over the last five years so I'm well aware of this problem. What is a rumor is what is actually happening at the windows.

I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that people PM UA Insider until things get sorted out.

cmculp

I would hate the new system even more if I had spent the last 15 years concentrating my travel on one carrier, even when painful or more expensive to do so, to get to that magic 1K for life status to enjoy the fruits of my loyalty and efforts so that in retirement, and on the hopefully lower fares, I can still fly with the perks of hard earned status. Only to have the rules change. oh wait....I am that guy.

I just asked Alaska for a status match. far easier out of SEA. What's the point of continued loyalty? To hard, too expensive, and the perks of the effort appear gone for now, especially with the government contracts out of here all non-UA.

Bonehead

Not if the debate centers on questions like "Why didn't I get upgraded at my window when there was R>0 before the sweep ran and there's STILL R>0??". It seems clear from two separate reports directly from representatives of the airline that in some cases the system is programmed to not deplete R/RN inventory. Of course, we CO flyers have known all along that this has been going on for a while, which led to speculation that the upgrade bucket was reduced/zeroed out for a millisecond during the sweep (effectively the same thing, I suppose).

UA-NYC

I think most of us are okay with the concept of "not depleting R" during an upgrade sweep. The issue is that often now it's R9 at a sweep interval, and then R9 after the interval. So either it's zeroing out (as you mentioned), or the rules in place have changed from before.