I think there isn't a chance that it will be the best FF program again if they keep going. This is another example of where they have picked something that the most frequent fliers use and remove it as an option. I have yet to see an actual positive for me to keep providing my business as they consistently do things that reduce the value of me doing so!

But having this mentality is what PMCO was all about and how they always thought and did things, and more or less were profitable

Getting me or you or anyone else from PtA to PtB for least $$ spent and buying a Coach tkt but flying in Biz or 1st is Not what PMCO was ever about.Its what we are about

PMUA thought keeping its Elites happy at any cost was the over riding issue, but imo that was the wrong way to look at it and do things. And is why CO sees us as spolied brats, which to an extent they are correct

they don't, because purportedly the upgrade system works as advertised on AA, DL, and even US for that matter.

The snarky answer is that US and DL members don't have to bother because they don't have useful GPUs and AA members have so few usable destinations that it doesn't matter.

The real answer is that they likely either call or use a 3rd party site. Or just book and hope for the best, as many United customers likely also do.

Jeff S.
 

Sitting here wondering when the "changes I will like"will actually happen.
Did Jeff really believe what he said in the video??? Doubt it. He knew exactly what he was going to do.

Pissed off the customers and employees in one fell swoop.

I hope it's worth the money, selling your soul, Jeff.

What UA needs to do is get in front of this. 90% of the complaints here are from people that want transparency while looking for upgrade space. That's a good reason to complain & UA has no good reason to take this away. But let's call a spade a spade & admit that there is more to this. Some people do use "expert mode" to find flights where they are most likely to get bumped, or use it to time purchases trying to "out think" the system to get a lower fare & there are more examples. None if these things are illegal or "wrong" to do but UA is correct in trying to do whatever it needs to in order to stop people from trying to beat the system. What UA needs to do and do quickly is come up with a good way for us to search for upgradable space. That's ALL they need to do. It's not their problem if people want to do more but can't, if people want to see how many C seats are left so they know which flight has a better chance to upgrade, well, it's not the end of the world if they take that away. As others have pointed out most other airlines don't offer so much transparency so why should UA

We need to let UA know that the majority of us who hate this move don't care about beating the system & don't need the whole alphabet back. We just want an honest upfront way of searching for upgradable seats. On .bomb there is a way to search for specific fare codes. W, Z, A, etc. if they enable us to use that for R it would be a good start

Not to nitpik but this expert mode had nothing to do with MileagePlus. Anyone could use it.

The argument is that it affects the ability to redeem upgrades, either miles or certs, which are part of the program.
Why the people are complaining is less important than how many are and whether they are just complaining or actually doing something about it.

There is an option. It isn't quite that easy, but it is still there via the advanced search interface.

I understand that, that is why I said not to nitpik :D

:td:

I just wanted to add my displeasure to this decision.

Further, to announce it a couple of hours before the change is to take place on a Friday afternoon is simply dishonest. SHARES is not easiest thing to program so how long has someone been working on this? And then to announce it just before the weekend.....

It's really not that simple.

There is no "yes-no" metric that will tell you this was the right change to make in order to maximize revenue, since revenue generation is a complex process that involves so many levels, including customer psychology, the emotional component of loyalty and feeling appreciated, etc.

But regardless, it is certainly in keeping with the long-standing, well-established and standard CO approach.

And, by that measure, there is no metric which will tell you it is the wrong change to make either.

So we can all hate the move but pretending we know it is going to destroy the company and see huge volumes of revenue go running out the door seems rather strange to me.

There is a difference between "this is bad for me" and "this is bad for customers" and "this is bad for the company." Failing to recognize that leads to all sorts of issues in the long run.

This is the website, not a SHARES function. Making this change in the web code would not take much time at all. Even if the data is still being returned from SHARES back to the web server you just don't present it to the end user. Piece of cake, really.

Just wondering exactly what is the new UA's business model? You would think trying to keep high volume flying elites on UA would outweigh this stepwise downgrading of benefits to net a small volume of TOD sales.

At the end of the day, the average consumer is going with the lowest price and I'm not seeing that with UA -- if anything, a lot of times, they have the highest fare but I still fly them because of MP. For me, UA has the best direct route network (being based in SFO) but for others this may not be the case.

They need to enhance the customer service portion (phone / online) and catch up with the inflight service (WIFI please!).

+1

+1
This move substantially affects planning a SDC.

[QUOTE=sbm12;19283494
There is an option. It isn't quite that easy, but it is still there via the advanced search interface.[/QUOTE]

Hi: I just tried to "work through" the UA web site: pick sfo-syd, 2013 dates, # passengers, w fare, mileage upgrade...and the siet just says nothing available call...so what am I doing wrong?

I hate this change.