villox

I'm not sure why them implementing these changes for 2014 is "too soon" - unless you'd already booked a bunch of leisure travel or MRs for early 2014 and now think them a waste. United has always only granted status based on what you fly in any given year. You stop doing it one year and you're back to a kettle for the next even if you start up again.

Thunderroad

I agree with the overall sentiments you've expressed here and elsewhere re UA, but differ with your reasoning in this instance.

What other airline is going to step up? Effectively we have an oligopoly now. Less competition means more changes we won't like.

jlivengo

****Ding Ding Ding*****

Although not exactly what your were intending. People at the top are saying this will thin the heard. People at the bottom are saying it's now cheaper to go for the subscriptions. For the international flyer, I'm screwed either way - no upgrades, now everybody can access E+, board with group 2, take up the premier line, and so on. The product is so devalued that there is no point to maintain any sort of loyalty. That extra trip or 2 I might have taken...gone.

UA, I think you'll lose more revenue from this move than you'll make. You need to increase the value of being 1K or Platinum if you want people to stick around.

villox

United COULD offer a challenge to get to status like AA does, which would seem to fit the scenario you described whereby you are telling them "I'll book on you if you give me status", but they for whatever reason has decided it's not worth it.

Not every decision by a customer is rational of course and United must control for these in aggregate. That's why they have policies in the first place. Nothing would force your clients to book UA F just because United decided to dole out status, and they can see that that customer didn't even fly the requirement last year.

I support airlines giving out status only to those customers who have demonstrated loyalty, and not ones who promise it.

PV_Premier

not saying its too quick for UA, i am saying its too quick for me to stomach having my benefits cut in half (or worse) or spending 2x as much to keep them at the status quo. it is a statement of personal gripe, UA is going to do what it is going to do and noone here is naive enough to think they are going to change it.

BearX220

I know it, and agree with you that we suffer under an oligopoly's thumb... at the moment. But these things run in cycles. BA's stifling domination of the UK and LHR led the insurgent Branson to start VS. We have a fairly indifferent telecom oligarchy in AT&T/Verizon/Sprint, but now upstart alternatives like Vonage and Republic. I know what the barriers to entry are in the airline business, but I hold out a glimmer of hope that we are living through the darkest days right now, and the future may not completely be a totalitarian hell of brutal Soviet-style service, halfhearted 80-percent-is-good enough operations, and hostage customers praying for deliverance.

bocastephen

That's a penny wise pound foolish proposal when you have a potential client with annual spend exceeding 100k per year who is interested in your company. Throwing them a bone for 1 year is not a money losing proposal here.

This is a byproduct of UA management taking the position that our customers have no other options - but the reality is they do. These customers went to SQ full time and now left UA permanently for US domestic travel, another premium cabin customer banned us from ever booking her on UA again, calling the product and service "garbage" (and I got blowback on that one after convincing her to try it in an effort to wean her from DL/AF) and our run-of-the-mill business customers now just either book the lowest fare or stick with US, DL and AA.

So, while UA management might not want to accept the truth, all customers have a choice they can exercise.

hyho61

This move is sure to annoy LH, their TATL revenue partner. A change to include LH, AC, Swiss and Austrian TATL tickets for PQD would be good solution. UA is doing this primarily for boosting their ticket sales on international flights, but I dont see any reason for excluding LH since they share the revenue anyway.

flyin´ruddl

Feeling sorry for you US-guys, but on the other hand we foreigners were constantly disadvantaged, be it with not having co-branded CCs or certain types of vouchers "in the 50 states...". That´ll mean significantly less 1Ks in the future, no?

F.R.

HonestABE

Last week, as I was returning from a business meeting in Denver - on a packed plane (the norm these days) with an entirely indifferent crew - I manufactured a new slogan for United:

"It's the least we can do!"

bocastephen

We have choices and competition available right now. First, we don't know what the new AA is going to look like post integration, but who knows - they might buck the trend and go against the DL and UA approach especially if they dumb down the overal domestic product to US standards ("hey, that US flight attendent is wearing pajamas!")

However, one must be flexible in order to embrace choice. Many of us shiver at the thought of going from king-of-the-hill 1K on UA to a Kettle on WN, B6, VX or - gasp - Sun Country, Frontier or Allegiant. For west coasters, you can't really go wrong with Alaska. Most of us are stuck because we're unwilling to change our perception of air travel and our expectations that come from travel.

UA decided to get creative, and some of us with location options will get equally creative, but for those who are either stuck with the 10K limit and refuse to drop to Platinum (easily done on a Chase card with manufactured spend), there are other options depending on personal flexibility.

Adelphos

I only fly UA occasionally, but as a DL flyer who has faced this issue, I would say that devaluing low fare classes isn't a real way to go. I don't pay much attention to fare classes; on Delta, I buy everything from the cheapest fare class transcons from JFK-SFO for sub $500 to full fare LGA-IAD flights for $1,200 last minute. I will also buy full F domestic fares occasionally if they are priced right. The point is I direct most flying to Delta no matter what fare class and would like all this flying to earn MQM. A lot of flyers are hybrid leisure / business travelers; airlines should just be trying to reward good customers regardless of what kind of flyer they are (which means taking spend into account, not the types of fare purchased). I meet the spend requirements for pretty linearly with miles flown (if I fly 25,000 miles, I will have spent $2,500, if I fly 50,000 miles, I will have spent $5,000, etc). I generally like these changes as they remove most of the "gaming" from the system.

Alphaguy

Ironic, since I was going to move over to UA next year after the merger hits the fan.... now I might just as well stay put or switch to Air Canada... As a lowly silver or gold in a megaairline, the upgrades are unlikely, so might just as well get free club visits...

Clarkcc1

Has the justice dept approved the AA/US merger yet? I think we've seen enough from what has happened with DL and UA to put the brakes on the last big merger or we're all 'doomed'... does anybody know how to put their voice in on what consumers think of the proposed merger?

geofflaredo

So - let's make this real another way. Below is a breakdown from a real receipt, from a IAD-NRT-BKK-NRT-itin. If i understand the new rules and what i've read in this forum, the PQDs for this flight for one flyer should be 1910. base fare plus the carrier-imposed fee/international surcharge of 400. right?

Fare Breakdown
Airfare: 1,510.00 USD
U.S. Customs User Fee: 5.50
U.S. Immigration User Fee: 7.00
U.S. APHIS User Fee: 5.00
U.S. Federal Transportation Tax: 34.40
September 11th Security Fee: 5.00
Japan Passenger Security Service Charge: 9.80
Japan Passenger Service Facilities Charge: 20.00
Thailand Passenger Service Charge: 23.30
International Surcharge: 400.00
U.S. Passenger Facility Charge: 9.00
Per Person Total: 2,029.00
USD