flyersfo

I used to find it a pleasure to fly in and out of SFO on United as a 1K. Now, it's an ordeal. The merged airline has taken away virtually all special privileges for 1K, so there are almost never upgradable seats on transcons out of SFO, and even Economy Plus seats are hard to come by. Today flew SFO to IAD, with a waiting list of 95 for upgrades, with 1Ks in the middle of it. And that's very typical now. The "Premier Access" security line at SFO -- all but Global Services under the new set up -- often takes 30 minutes or more, which means your chances of missing a flight are high. I cannot understand why American Airlines doesn't work harder to poach some of this traffic, since the Bay Area is pretty high revenue. I know SFO and IAD aren't AA hubs, still they could be very competitive on that route, which is monopolized by UA (with nominal competition from Virgin). AA flies IAD to LAX, and LAX is a pretty minor AA hub.

Thunderroad

Well, AA has had a great status match offer going to draw away UA elites, and at the start of this year had a DEQM bonus going for travel from California to to ORD and DFW.

While I also would like it if AA had non-stop SFO-IAD, the absence of that option is ameliorated significantly by being able to connect to DCA, which saves time on the arriving and departing in the DC area. Factor in the shorter AA security lines SFO, the far greater upgrade chances for AA elites, the frequent UA delays and cancellations, and a nicer AA terminal and lounge, and I'm quite fine using AA to fly to the DC area.

wmute

Yep. I'm a mere 1P so I don't expect upgrades in SFO. However, the premier lines at SFO are absolutely terrible. I hope they do something to shuffle the credit card holders elsewhere because it eliminates one of the most useful benefits of having elite status -- short lines.

I saw something about credit card holders getting different boarding passes that disallow use in elite security lines, but I've no idea if this is widespread or even enforced. SFO could also improve signage and up front line checking as often the premier security line is full of regular passengers thinking its the normal security line.

Supratik

Yeah agree that the Premier line is ridiculous. I got a CLEAR membership (trial for 6 months) just to get through security faster.

mike_plat

Being 1K and missing SFO-IAD upgrades by dozens is absolutely nothing new and long predates the merger of the airlines.

flyersfo

I've been flying this route for years and years. It's never been this bad -- not close to it.

haddon90

depending on when you are departing ex SFO, when the lines are long i just make the quick walk up to the international terminal and go through there. always quicker for me.

as for upgrades, well...you can't book flights expecting a free upgrade. especially on SFO-IAD.

Passmethesickbag

Indeed not, but it certainly wasn't as bad in the days of 500-milers when the upgrade lists contained only those who were willing to "pay" by applying instruments.

mike_plat

Maybe you should have left then when PMUA introduced UDU.

halls120

Not true. I fly IAD-SFO 4-6 times a year, and before 2011, I enjoyed a healthy upgrade percentage - 75%. What has changed the percentage downward are two factors - pmUA reducing overall fleet capacity, and the pulling of widebodies off this route. While the former isn't a merger-driven cause, the latter is.

WhyPayRent

I did this too! And then two months later I am still waiting for my credentials because they forgot to mail them. They gave me an additional free month...so...

Hopefully precheck helps this.

mike_plat

Consider yourself lucky then. I never got a single UDU as a 1K on United, regardless of the route. This included the roughly 12-month period from the time UA introduced UDU until the 2 airlines merged. So from my point of view, the upgrade percentage mathematically could not get any worse.

davewang202

The last time I boarded at SFO, there was a security line for elites and a security line for the "non-elites". When I walked up, I walked toward the shorter line, but was stopped by the United agent acting as traffic manager. I told him that I was 1K, and he said the longer line was for elites, so I followed along to the longer line. Then, after a while, all of the elites standing in line realized that the non elite line was moving much much faster, and we were all steaming.

There were supposed to be 2 agents per line to check ID's, but one of the desks for the elite line was not occupied, so only 1 agent was checking ID's for the elite line, but 2 agents were checking ID's for the non-elite line. This set up might work well if the ratio of elites to non-elites were much less than 33%, but since this was SFO, it was basically close to 50%, and we were all rather unhappy.

Granted, I had extra time so the delay didn't impact my schedule in a real way, but having the idiot traffic manager enforcing the "elites in the elite line" thing didn't help United that day. Sometimes it's just the little things that doesn't cost much (any) money that will hurt or help United's image.

WineCountryUA

Your stats are definitely on the 3 sigma unluck end. While I agree IAD-SFO is a tough upgrade route, the smaller planes have definitively made it tougher -- a regional upgrade candidate.

cesco.g

smart move!