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November 2012 UA ORD DO (Post-Meeting Posts/Discussion/Reports/Etc.)

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November 2012 UA ORD DO (Post-Meeting Posts/Discussion/Reports/Etc.)

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Old Nov 17, 2012, 1:40 pm
  #16  
 
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With all of the positive feelings from such a nice event, it would have been rude to be too critical of the hosts, but was there any sense from the presentations or discussions that UA recognizes the depth of disaffection of a sizable number of former loyalists? And plans to do something to specifically address it? Or even cares?
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 1:51 pm
  #17  
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Originally Posted by FortFun
I don't remember too much detail about future plans, but I'll start this and others can tack on. ....
thanks very helpful

Originally Posted by ORDnHKG
....
(3) Another big complain for MP session, UFC cost more for elite than non-elite.

MP folks couldn't explain, and Jeff also spoke about this question later in the Willis Tower reception, Jeff's reply was they need to make money at all opportunity.
understand the need to boost revenue but to discriminate against your regular customers
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 1:56 pm
  #18  
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Originally Posted by NiceLanding
With all of the positive feelings from such a nice event, it would have been rude to be too critical of the hosts . . .
That didn't stop some people.

Originally Posted by NiceLanding
. . . but was there any sense from the presentations or discussions that UA recognizes the depth of disaffection of a sizable number of former loyalists?
Yes.

Originally Posted by NiceLanding
And plans to do something to specifically address it? Or even cares?
There were expressions of regret, explanations of failures and fixes, and justifications for some of the most contraversial policies. Essentially, they say that they want to make things better, but that everything goes through a cost/benefit analysis. In other words, they are striving to improve themselves in every way possible, but legacy MM'ers shouldn't be checking their doorstep for a gift basket from UA filled with Sweet Spot upgrades.
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 2:17 pm
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by ORDnHKG
UFC cost more for elite than non-elite.

MP folks couldn't explain, and Jeff also spoke about this question later in the Willis Tower reception, Jeff's reply was they need to make money at all opportunity.
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
understand the need to boost revenue but to discriminate against your regular customers
To be fair, my recollection of this is that Jeff was discussing the existence of UFCs/TODs per se, rather than any distinction between the amount offered to elites vs. non-elites.

The MP folks basically said that was an IT issue, and was not the intent.

Jeff's position, FWIW, was that they have to generate revenue out of at least some of the seats up front, and that the airline making money is good for everyone (us included).
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 2:18 pm
  #20  
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Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
thanks very helpful

understand the need to boost revenue but to discriminate against your regular customers
Essentially, he said that the F seats don't pay for themselves and that UA is in a balancing act of trying to deliver the earned benefit of CPUs while ensuring premium cabins don't lose money.

In the case of Economy Plus, the balancing act was Premier Silver members losing the benefit of complimentry Economy Plus until check-in (to give UA the opportunity to sell more of those seats for $$$), but the result was that UA kept Economy Plus which they were keen to do away with at one point.

In the case of 'TOD' upgrades, the balancing act results in less CPUs, but that might prevent a repeat of the Ted experiment. Upgrades will be sold sometimes, but that subsidizes the CPUs.
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 2:27 pm
  #21  
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Originally Posted by NiceLanding
And plans to do something to specifically address it? Or even cares?
From the IT folks - YES, from the MP folks - NO, especially they have a don't care attitude. It is like "that's what we do, if you don't like it, too bad so sad" (No, these are not their words, but someone ask about hard to find saver awards, then the women from MP just said then spend more money on credit cards so that you can get more miles to redeem a standard award)
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 3:08 pm
  #22  
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Originally Posted by Ari
....In the case of 'TOD' upgrades, the balancing act results in less CPUs, but that might prevent a repeat of the Ted experiment. Upgrades will be sold sometimes, but that subsidizes the CPUs.
I think many understand / (sort of) accept this but
- pricing discrimination against elites is not understandable
- pricing levels in the true TOD range when fare-ups would be significantly higher and elites on the waitlist have paid more than the total (original fare plus TOD) of those that purchased the upgrade

Neither of those (which may be IT errors but still persist to this day) treat customers in a way to encourage a continued business relationship.
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 3:32 pm
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by Ari
Essentially, he said that the F seats don't pay for themselves and that UA is in a balancing act of trying to deliver the earned benefit of CPUs while ensuring premium cabins don't lose money.
While I can't say for certain that this is the case here, companies can make poor decisions when they do their cost-accounting wrong. For example, how do you determine if the F cabin loses money? If you only include direct revenue from purchased F tickets and upgrades, then you'd never want to fill the cabin with CPUs.

On the other hand, if those people you upgraded were giving you incremental revenue in E, rather than flying another airline, because they value those "free" upgrades, then maybe you really are making money on F, but wrongly assigning all of the revenue to the E cabin.

One wonders if a CFO who refers to "over-entitled elites" is sufficiently objective to have done a proper analysis.
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 4:05 pm
  #24  
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Well I am back at ORD on my way to AMS after spending the night back home in SFO last night.

I'm still amazed at the show United put on and the way they treated us during the event. When an Air Line becomes part of your family there is nothing better than to become part of theirs.

Again thank you and especially so to Carlos, Shannon, Irina and my favorite tweeter of all Rahsaan.

Originally Posted by CMK10
Great meeting you too sir even if you outclassed me with your fancy duds on both days!

What a time, I actually almost didn't come because I was recently laid off and was hesitant to outlay the funds and time. I'm so glad I did. Thursday ranks as literally one of the best days I've ever had and Friday wasn't bad either. I saw old friends, made new ones, ate well, drank even better, and did things I never could have imagined doing (apparently I have a great gate annoucement voice). When I get home I'll have photos to post.

Seriously, thank you to United and to all the people who worked on this!
The pleasure was all mine. It was a privilege to meet you and to get to know you.

Last edited by iluv2fly; Nov 17, 2012 at 4:35 pm Reason: merge
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 4:12 pm
  #25  
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Here's one of the slide deploying. I've got lots more. Working on sifting through them and getting them into a format which is reasonably presentable.
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 5:14 pm
  #26  
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Originally Posted by ORDnHKG
* Downside - The entire event seems like organize for the SMD4 folks more than UA DO people from FT. When we checkin at ORD, all of us got envelopes instead of a blue UA card with FT handle and first name unlike those checkin at Hyatt. None of us got any name tags, no identification, no one knows who we were. I asked Carlos later if I can have one of those printed for me, he just said it is out of ink, nothing can be done, even I told him I wouldn't mind to get one by mail as some kind of sovenir for the event for myself. When the 787 park at C18 before we went to different gates, I asked one of the guy if it is possible to see the 787 inside or even just go down to the tarmac for some photo opportunity. He just said it wasn't on his schedules. I understand SMD4 folks already seen and have dinner in front of the 787 in IAH, but whatabout the FT UA do people ?
When the SMD4 people got off the 787 and go to different tours, all 15 or so of us from FT were just left there doesn't know where to go, until we have to find our ways approach someone from UA.
* This was the first United Do, and in reality (this time at least) was tied into SMD4. The 15 (whatever the # is) from FT & then 15 from MP that got invited by lotto were add-ons (bad phrase), but still welcome/invited/they wanted us to be there. But because some of this was tied into SMD4, that impacted other things. And yes some of it probably was a glitch for those FTers (and MPers) that were not on SMD4, and some pertained to airline ops (like not being able to go onto the 787 after it landed because it was scheduled for elsewhere).

I knew SMD4 flight wouldn't touch down until 10am which is why I wondered on the early start time for United Do folk. I think trying to sort both groups (vs. a unified United Do that United controlled completely) added some complication to the event & some uneven scheduling. For example, if I had known we really weren't leaving until 11:30am for downtown, I wouldn't have gotten up at 2:45am to drive to the Do so early. Having said that, I realize I'm talking about first world problems.

When I arrived at the Hyatt Schaumburg around 9am United registration didn't have my badge/etc, but said it was at ORD & they'd get it to me when the folk from ORD arrived, as it was probably at ORD. They gave me and other non-SMD4 folk brekkie certs while we waited (the brekkie certs said SMD4 so no idea if they were truly for us or not, but they were provided). When I went back to the registration desk before the bus left for Willis, they had the blue United name tag w/ my handle/name & the envelope w/ my Friday Willis tours assigned.

They also had a boxed lunch for those on the bus to downtown. It was actually a pretty good boxed lunch - big sandwich, bag of chips, cold pasta dish, apple, cookie & soda.

Originally Posted by adastra
I was on the airport ops tour, which was a whirlwind of awesome stuff. I made it off the jetway and had a yellow vest and earplugs pushed into my hands, and minutes later we were down on the tarmac around B3 to see off an A319. We shadowed some of the jobs that the ground crew do before departure, I walked the wing as it pulled back (what a perspective!), and then we moved on to another departing plane. We saw the gigantic underground system that processes luggage for ORD, which is pretty extraordinary. I saw a lot of zipper pulls on the floor (and out on the tarmac), and considered picking up some replacements for all of mine that have disappeared over the years.

We went back up to B6 and joined a (former CO) service agent to see how SHARES works and help her close out a flight to PDX. She offered to let us play around in SHARES, but I didn't know what I wanted to do and we knew we couldn't make ourselves GS or do any upgrade shenanigans. The flight to PDX had a minor mechanical issue, and I imagine the sight of several incompetent-looking people in yellow vests wandering into their plane probably gave some passengers reason to worry.

We got a rush tour of the service center, then we went to lunch in a hangar and split up into groups to play with heavy machinery and tour the maintenance facilities. We pulled a 757 a few feet (and got t-shirts that brag about it). They blew out an evacuation slide while we ate, but no one was allowed to slide down. This part of the tour was probably the highlight of my week - I sprayed the de-icer, loaded freight cans with a deckloader, and drove a baggage belt up to a 757 mockup. I even braved some scary ladders that were certainly not built for 5'4" girls. I also enjoyed a full tour of a 757 with the engines open, and then the opportunity to look around inside and get pics in the cockpit. I've done it before, but it's always a little eerie and fun to be inside a totally empty commercial plane. And no, no one climbed inside the overhead bins this time (at least while I was watching).

Friday's Q&A sessions were interesting, and I'm excited about the ideas that the IT/eCommerce folks are apparently floating around for the new sites that launch in 2013. If even 50% of their ideas come to fruition, I think we could be looking at a really great user experience. I was also pleased to have an answer about using miles for the UA Club - it should be back, perhaps early next year. I told them that they had a 4/2013 deadline for my renewal. I think they thought that this over-entitled elite was joking.

The whole week was pretty sleep-deprived and crazy, but that was all well worth it. We were kept well-fed (and liquored up, with the warning that we wouldn't be able to play on our tours if we appeared drunk), though I willingly gave up half my lunch on Thursday to go play with the de-icer. I can eat anytime, but when will I ever get to go up in the boom and spray things?!

My video was shown on Friday right before Jeff's speech and Q&A, and we also got to see a montage of my competitors. I'd been told it had been a tough choice, and I can totally see why. I don't know what put my video above the guy who has relabeled all of his CO aircraft models... or the video with the talking plane... or the guy who has built some sort of model UA airfield... but I did. I'd love to meet these other geeks, though, because I think we probably have quite a bit in common. Oh, and UA folks said my video (and the montage) should be going up online soon, so you can finally see it.

Anyway, THANK YOU to UA for the amazing experience and for choosing me as the #AVgeekiest ("I know you had many choices in videos, and I thank you for choosing mine."), and to the MegaDO organizers for such a jam-packed fun week. I also met a handful of you guys, and I hope to fly with you again.
Thanks for the update on the airport tour! Also agree w/ you re: IT/e-commerce guys. And I remember your question re: mileage/United Club. Loved the part of your video when you were building a plane w/ legos. And loved the 'montage' of the various entries.

Originally Posted by idealflyer
Wonderful of United to show us how things work on the inside so we get a different perspective on how catering is done, beverage carts are set up and in flight safety demos performed. You could see a lot of initiative went in and many of the employees and FT staff volunteered their time and should be recognized for that.

Now to put in my 2 miles..err cents. No real complaints, simply enhancements to make event better next time. I was hoping once we got our gate passes that we would get to meet the 787 arrival and possibly a brief walk through the plane. Instead after checking in, we got a tour of baggage lost and found and then left on our own for 2 hours to wait for Mega Do flight. Too bad a gate pass was not enough to get you into lounge to wait meanwhile either.

Also, Schaumburg is boring and remote. Still can't figure out why host hotel and buses go there. In the end like several others, had to take $35 taxi to airport from there because schedule originally showed O'Hare as drop off and pick up, but not after our respective tours. It would have helped to get a schedule of times where and when activities were planned too.

Once I learned evening reception was downtown and following morning at Willis Tower, I got to enjoy the extra sleep from staying downtown at Radisson Blu and could walk to UA offices. I felt the unnecessary schlepping between Schaumburg to downtown in evening rush hour and then again following morning in rush hour is a bit too much. Maybe they just wanted everyone to feel the experience of jet lag?

All in all, fantastic event with great finale with Jeff walking into a room full of frequent flyers at the Willis Tower Sky Deck. ^ ^

Will post pictures online, if you would like to see send me PM and I will forward link.
Thanks for some of the info re: the catering tour. Like you (and others on the airport tour), had I been there I would have liked to see the 787 inside. FWIW - I heard the SMD4 folk weren't thrilled about their oh-dawn-hundred having to be at the airport to catch the very early morning flight to get to ORD, but it was the only way they'd be able to get the 787.

I do think that UA was so tied up w/ logistics re: the overall Do & the SMD4 that they did drop the ball a bit wrt to those FT/MPers who were on United Do re: arrival times for registration & then having to wait to go on the actual tours (and for those at the airport, not giving a United Club lounge pass to wait). However, let's be clear everyone. We're talking first world problems!

Re: Schaumburg & back/forth into the city. SMD4 folk were staying there because the hotel partner was Hyatt, and both downtown & ORD Hyatts were booked so Schaumburg was the only property that could handle the # of rooms required for the SMD4 folk. I don't think the SMD4 organizers, the United Do organizers or any of the SMD4/United Do attendees were thrilled about being out in the hinterlands, but "it is what it is" (or was, given the event is over). Also, post-Thursday night event & post-Friday event, some of the buses did stop at ORD to drop off people.

Why make everyone send you a PM for link to photos? Just post a link. That's what I intend to do once I get mine uploaded.

Originally Posted by ORDnHKG
+1

Glad someone agree on what I felt.

Like checking in so early in the morning at ORD, I initially thought they would have some sorts of light breakfast for us, but no, we didn't get to have anything to eat or drink not until we were bussed to the hangar (I was doing the airport tour)

Then after all this I totally get what they were doing, as the SMD4 folks already get fed on the plane from IAH-ORD , and the previous night they had dinner in front of the 787 at IAH. So UA probably thinking they are not going to all it all over for us (FTers joined at ORD) since we didn't pay them for a dime, where SMD4 folks were paying for the whole tour.

I wonder why too, I understand Hyatt is a SMD4 sponsor, but they could simply use Hyatt ORD or Hyatt downtown instead. I think the SMD4 participants actually had a list of schedules, as they clearly know when and where they are going. Just like when we left the airport tour, they just said the reception is at downtown, so I questioned what room in the Hyatt, then they mentioned it is in a room looking at the river ! The downtown Hyatt is huge, I know better there is a name of the room, as I had worked there for conventions. So when I got there it took me almost half hour to learn the event is at west tower villa ball room (I did ask the front desk and concerige, and they couldn't find the United event on their list !). Once again it proved we were like almost the unwanted children.
See above re: logistics & why the Schaumburg Hyatt was chosen. I'm perplexed on why it took 30 minutes to find the ballroom once you were at the Hyatt downtown. Did you not arrive w/ the others from the various tours? Hey, if you were totally unwanted you wouldn't have been chosen to attend Again, first world problem.

I do agree that United could have provided a few more details for the non-SMD4 attendees re: timing (especially for morning the first day), but FWIW even the SMD4 attendees schedules didn't go into details as to which room or where specifically an event was held (ie, their schedules said Hyatt reception xx time.). If it makes you feel any better, there was a bit of a disconnect on communication re: pick-up time at Schaumburg on Friday am, so the SMD4 organizers were scrambling to let the attendees know the earlier pick-up time.

FWIW - I've been on 2 SMDos & now the United Do. There are always some hiccups, just like there are w/ travel in general. The key is to be flexible & just enjoy the overall experience (and in the case of the United Do be glad we were chosen to attend vs. those who didn't make it through the 'lotto').

Originally Posted by FortFun
I don't remember too much detail about future plans, but I'll start this and others can tack on.

IT/eCommerce:
-- working on serious ground up re-do of website, think they said back half of 2013, though I might be misremembering
-- just got additional funding to work on the upgrade system, in order to produce a unified approach that follows all the rules. Seems like that's at a pretty advanced stage.
-- they have some "really cool ideas" about how upgrades on LH are handled. Sounded more preliminary, and we didn't get a chance to follow up, but it was in the context of a discussion about better partner integration.

MP:
-- two suggestions from the crowd that they appeared to like:
1) more choice in application of MM benefits (e.g. allowing single people to chose UA club instead of spouse/partner sponsorship)
2) having MP statement line items include reference to record locators
-- opportunity to use miles to pay for UC seems destined to return
-- no change of rollover PQMs (pretty emphatic)
-- interesting discussion of W fare requirement that included pointing out how the dynamics have changed such that it's well above the bottom fare now. They said that issue is fully understood, and basically said this is not going away.

That's all I remember off the top of my head.
What he said.

Originally Posted by Ari
That didn't stop some people.

Yes.
There were expressions of regret, explanations of failures and fixes, and justifications for some of the most contraversial policies. Essentially, they say that they want to make things better, but that everything goes through a cost/benefit analysis. In other words, they are striving to improve themselves in every way possible, but legacy MM'ers shouldn't be checking their doorstep for a gift basket from UA filled with Sweet Spot upgrades.
What he said. (On a dif note - I do miss the Sweep Spot upgrades!).

Originally Posted by FortFun
To be fair, my recollection of this is that Jeff was discussing the existence of UFCs/TODs per se, rather than any distinction between the amount offered to elites vs. non-elites.

The MP folks basically said that was an IT issue, and was not the intent.

Jeff's position, FWIW, was that they have to generate revenue out of at least some of the seats up front, and that the airline making money is good for everyone (us included).
What he said.

Originally Posted by NiceLanding
While I can't say for certain that this is the case here, companies can make poor decisions when they do their cost-accounting wrong. For example, how do you determine if the F cabin loses money? If you only include direct revenue from purchased F tickets and upgrades, then you'd never want to fill the cabin with CPUs.

On the other hand, if those people you upgraded were giving you incremental revenue in E, rather than flying another airline, because they value those "free" upgrades, then maybe you really are making money on F, but wrongly assigning all of the revenue to the E cabin.

One wonders if a CFO who refers to "over-entitled elites" is sufficiently objective to have done a proper analysis.
Actually, if you had attended the Network session you would have a much better understanding of how it all works. It was one of THE best sessions of the entire Do.

Cheers.

Last edited by SkiAdcock; Nov 17, 2012 at 5:33 pm
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 7:47 pm
  #27  
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Originally Posted by SkiAdcock

When I arrived at the Hyatt Schaumburg around 9am United registration didn't have my badge/etc, but said it was at ORD & they'd get it to me when the folk from ORD arrived, as it was probably at ORD. They gave me and other non-SMD4 folk brekkie certs while we waited (the brekkie certs said SMD4 so no idea if they were truly for us or not, but they were provided). When I went back to the registration desk before the bus left for Willis, they had the blue United name tag w/ my handle/name & the envelope w/ my Friday Willis tours assigned.
Good for you, those of us met at ORD at 8am only got envelopes, that's why I was really puzzling about the blue badges later on, I mean I saw those people that are UFC (United Flyer Community) and even those from seatguru got the blue badge but not us.

I was surprised there was no freeloader joined in for the airport tour (our group totally blend in with other passengers in the terminal since none of us had any identification), and they didn't check any names not until end of the tour when we were boarding the shuttle back from the hangar to the terminal.




Originally Posted by SkiAdcock
See above re: logistics & why the Schaumburg Hyatt was chosen. I'm perplexed on why it took 30 minutes to find the ballroom once you were at the Hyatt downtown. Did you not arrive w/ the others from the various tours? Hey, if you were totally unwanted you wouldn't have been chosen to attend Again, first world problem.
No, because I live in Chicago and among a number of us decided to actually go home and rest a little bit before going to the Hyatt. (like for me it makes more sense to take the blue line and then then bus to go home (45 min), and from home I take the red line to the Hyatt (20 min) That's why I was kept trying to find out what room for the reception after the airport tour.



Originally Posted by SkiAdcock
FWIW - I've been on 2 SMDos & now the United Do. There are always some hiccups, just like there are w/ travel in general. The key is to be flexible & just enjoy the overall experience (and in the case of the United Do be glad we were chosen to attend vs. those who didn't make it through the 'lotto').
I agree and I did enjoy the majority of the event and what UA did for us. I know I sound bitter or maybe you would call me ungracious. I just want them to treat us equally, acknowleage their mistakes and recover from it. Like that blue tag thing all I asked Carlos was if he could mail one to me (he said no ink), but instead he just said no it is not going to happen. Carlos's attitude was totally different from Dean (PMUA FA who handled UA family day at SFO every year except this year for FT) and others who held previous PMUA events. (I went to a number of PMUA tasting events at Elk Grove)

Last edited by ORDnHKG; Nov 17, 2012 at 8:11 pm
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 7:47 pm
  #28  
 
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Originally Posted by SkiAdcock
Actually, if you had attended the Network session you would have a much better understanding of how it all works. It was one of THE best sessions of the entire Do.
Would love to have been there, but unfortunately was not one of the chosen.

Having attended that session yourself, do you now feel that the upgrade system is generally working as intended?
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 10:14 pm
  #29  
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Originally Posted by NiceLanding
While I can't say for certain that this is the case here, companies can make poor decisions when they do their cost-accounting wrong. For example, how do you determine if the F cabin loses money? If you only include direct revenue from purchased F tickets and upgrades, then you'd never want to fill the cabin with CPUs.

On the other hand, if those people you upgraded were giving you incremental revenue in E, rather than flying another airline, because they value those "free" upgrades, then maybe you really are making money on F, but wrongly assigning all of the revenue to the E cabin.
That's exactly why it is a balancing act. There is no question that they understand that customers defect as CPU rates decline, otherwise Jeff wouldn't want to deliver on CPUs in the first place-- he would have done away with them.

Originally Posted by NiceLanding
One wonders if a CFO who refers to "over-entitled elites" is sufficiently objective to have done a proper analysis.
FWIW, Jeff did admit that they haven't gotten that balancing act right just yet, but we have no idea what that means. Maybe it means they have been selling too many upgrades and think they are losing more incremental revenue in E from elites than they are getting from selling those upgrades, or maybe it means they think they can sell more upgrades than they are selling right now without losing so much in incremental revenue in E that it offsets the gain in selling the additional upgrades. It is a tough equation and they make no apologies for the fact that they want to make the most money possible. But they are aware of both sides of the equation.
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Old Nov 17, 2012, 11:38 pm
  #30  
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Originally Posted by SkiAdcock
I happened to be sitting next to some of the UA people,.................... Cheers.
Thanks for your great report! ^
You made it very lively for many of us who were not able to attend! ^ ^

Originally Posted by Ari
Essentially, he said that the F seats don't pay for themselves..
any discussion in this context about the future of global/3-class F?

Last edited by iluv2fly; Nov 18, 2012 at 4:05 am Reason: merge
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