Boraxo

So let me get this straight - after 25 years I finally achieve 1K status only to find that in 2012:

(1) The dedicated 1K line is gone and I now get agents in Manila or (shudder) ICC
(2) The dedicated 1K checkin line is gone
(3) The dedicated 1K security checkpoint is gone (at least at SFO)
(4) Priority 1K boarding is gone
(5) Companion upgrades are pretty much shot unless you can clear them with a RPU/SWU - and your record may well get involuntarily split, relegating your companion to E- purgatory or worse

I gotta be frank - I sure don't feel overentitled now that I'm getting the same treatment that I received in my many years at the 1P and 2P level. Maybe Jeff can remind me again why I should strive for 1K, as opposed to an airline that will provide real benefits for flying 100k BIS annually in paid C?

Because at this point I am ready to direct all my business class travel to the competition, where the staff doesn't complain about having to treat me nicely.

GUWonder

I had that in mind too, as the expensive gamble has usually already been waged by the customer while COdbaUA will take advantage of the gambler and/or others on the flight too.

UA's upgrade lottery is an expensive gamble that is generally a loser for UA elites but may be a winner for COdbaUA managment who don't plan to have much or anything to lose from COdbaUA ending up in bankruptcy yet again since they will jump ship with their "perfomance-based" loot well before they can be made to pay the price.

When company management treats most of it most frequent customers -- 1ks certainly included -- as targets to rip-off for management's own self-enrichment over the nearer terms, that's a warning sign for all customers in the main, elite or otherwise.

star_world

Not correct: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18590679-post69.html

Not correct. At the majority of airports with a big UA presence I've flown out of in the last month (ORD, EWR, FRA, LHR) there is a Premier Access queue for Silver / Gold members, a separate one for Plat / 1K / BF and a further one for GS / GF. Isn't this sufficient?

Some of them do seem to be gone, but the signage that is being put up in many of the US hubs is in line with the split for checkin above - Plat / 1K / BF will be treated separately.

No it's not. That's what Group 1 is for (along with C / F)

Not if they are handled correctly. I agree that the process is a mess, but it's certainly possible for companion upgrades to work correctly even with the current implementation if the agents know what they're doing.

There are plenty of things to be frustrated about with UA but there are some real untruths in what you list above, as you can see.

GUWonder

The dedicated 1k channels of communication are more or less gone for many 1ks -- no matter how characterized, the 1k channel of communication is nothing like what they used to be at this time last year -- they are a shell of their former self and the notion of it being "dedicated" is rather gone despite the apologetic lines being tossed about to try to defend COdbaUA.

The 1k priority boarding is also no longer handled in the manner it used to be and is also worse than it was at this time last year.

UA is also failing 1ks on companion upgrades in a way now that was not the case even earlier this year -- it is worse now than it was for most of the 1st quarter of this year.

UA is routinely failing to be as good for 1ks this year as UA was at this time last year for 1ks, and that undoing of 1k service has manifested itself with check-in handling, security line processing, boarding practices, call/email handling, and upgrade handling (including upgrade handling for companions).

No amount of pro-COdbaUA spin is going to disappear the history of COdbaUA failing 1ks now in a way that was not the case at this time last year.

desperationsearch

Thank you.

I always wonder why people will look at something that is clearly black and call it white and expect that people will continued to be fooled.

Many on this board have been reporting how the drastic loss of benefits and tremendously worse treatment have been hitting us over the head like a hammer - this with facts (which are dismissed as x-thousand "glitches") photos, details, etc. - and the best the apologists can do is look at our bleeding skulls and say "that didn't hurt, stop making a big deal out of it, I'm fine."

Ignore the spin folks - see the actions, read the words of the CFO, realize the correlation, move on.

GadgetFreak

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)

I believe the exact quote is, "it's just a scratch".

halls120

The OP is correct. There is no longer a dedicated 1K line, only certain agents assigned to take 1K calls. If they are busy, you get the useless ICC line, which I have personally experienced - a very polite CSR who kept having to put me on hold to consult with the help desk. I get better service as a GM at Delta than the ICC line offers.

No. At IAD, we used to have a 1K line at check in. now we get to queue with all the other elites. What's the point of being 1K when being Silver gets you the same thing?

This is the only thing UA has apparently figured out how to fix, after 10 months of a CF. But it only works where the GA's use it, and that isn't happening yet system wide.

No, there are some things you believe have been fixed because they work for you. They don't work for other people.

LAXNRT

This overentitled 1K and several years GS has switched all flying to AA and Star Alliance. Just had my first AA flight and it will take some time to get used to it. 2MM on UA are hard to get out of one's mind. Every change is hard but I feel very welcome so far on AA. UA lost around 40K USD this year from me this year.

GadgetFreak

Some things are not so hard to get used to as an EXP. My upgrade to London last night cleared a few days out. As an EXP I can use the first class, not business class lounges. As an EXP I can use the arrivals lounges even if I have upgraded or am in coach. I'm in the LHR arrivals lounge now. Oh, and the EXP line is fantastic.

I think the loss of a true dedicated 1K line alone would really demotivate me from trying UA again.

dgcpaphd

Thanks for accurately reporting facts and situations at UA as they really are.

The decline in services is a direct consequence of the new UA management's distorted view that elites are "over entitled."

The present behavior exhibited to elite customers is a recipe for UA's future financial disaster.

Smisek must be made to answer for his obvious disdain for customers as reflected in his attitude and in the attitudes of his "management" team.

This attitude/behavior will quickly result in a huge drop in revenue due to the exodux of countless former loyal customers. A huge drop in revenue equals a return to the bankruptcy court.
-

njcommodore

Anyone who thinks UA will have a huge drop in revenue over changes to MP isn't over entitled, they're delusional (or self absorbed).

UA-NYC

Many of us will take the other side of that bet for the next few quarterly results, I guess we'll see.

Don't forget that GS have been impacted by these changes and aren't too happy with it, that's where the biggest drop may be.

chinatraderjmr

I wish I could agree with you, I really do but between the cost cutting, all these buy ups and the under reported fact that there ARE Elites from AA and DL switching to UA, I would guess they don't notice any lower revenue. R seats on long hauls are harder then ever to get, we all agree on that. That means SOMEONE Zis in those seats! Full fare? Probably not but even if there are 10 GM's sitting there using miles and $$, taking the place of 1Ks and GS with upgrades, that flight will have made more revenue. I just don't buy that FT is a good indicator for what people will REALLY do or how they feel. It's just a small sampling

PLEASE, PLEASE PROVE ME WRONG. I HOPE I AM

nova08

Generally I think this is often the case, but seriously I think UA has screwed up so much that it is not just FTer's that are complaining. If you look at UA's Facebook page you see a lot of the complaints that echo what has been outlined here. Also I think FT is gaining popularity. Sure you may have a select few that actively post but I think it is pretty impressive that this "Entitled" thread has received 70,000 views in a few days.

snic

Could be. On one hand, I've seen so many posts on this forum like LAXNRT's that I wonder how the exodus could not affect UA's bottom line.

On the other hand, what people say they do and what they actually do are often two different things. And the FTer segment of the flying public of course far over-represents the proportion that really cares about elite benefits. And finally, the revenue from selling add-on's to non-elites (and maybe elites too) could very well make up for the loss of customers like LAXNRT (and me).