hobo13

Yet there's another thread in this forum in which post #2 claims that 'most' Premiers like the PQD plan. Clearly, somebody is disconnected from reality.

DaviddesJ

It's certainly worth a few hundred dollars a year in free E+ seats for you and a companion.

My daughter (Premier Silver) got a free upgrade from SFO to MEX for herself and a companion. That's worth several hundred dollars, at least.

If you get thousands of dollars of benefits and you complain it's not "meaningful" enough for you, it's easy to see why people think you are suffering from an inflated sense of entitlement.

halls120

Well, as a silver, if you buy a Y- or B-class full-fare economy tickets, you do get an instant upgrade.

mre5765

Killing silver would indeed be an "easy fix". However, the point of silver is to get FFers enamored with status. I know when I made silver (then called Premier) I thought it was cool, and wanted more. Once I made silver and got those four 500 milers in the mail, I made sure my 25001th mile and beyond was on UA so that I could use the upgrades. No longer was price the only determinator. It had to be price and UA. Was a 1P then for nearly a decade until I made 1K for the first time.

So killing silver would in the long run gut gold, plat, 1K, and GS. Good for us perhaps, but I think the geniuses at UA would conclude the elite aspect of the program was not buying UA anything and benefits would further erode.

BTW, remember the seemingly perennial DEQM promotions of years past? I wonder if there will be DPQD promotions.

hobo13

The 'long run' is not part of COdbaUA thinking.

EMan

If we simply change our UA Profile's address to outside the U.S., will the "2014 Changes" be a moot point?...........Or, am I missing something?

y2k1jetta

How many unique posters on the UA forums? How many unique users on this thread. Are you kidding me, that is probably less than .1% The extreme minority here care about the change. Real numbers. Lets see passengers flown in 2014 to see who really is affected?

You saw this coming when Delta announced it and you didn't switch airlines to AA or WN? Like I said the real road warriors have no problem with this change. I am not entitled and have reset my travel day expectations as the industry in general has lowered these, not just UA. I now cross my fingers like everyone else for CPU, wasn't like that before but it is what it is.

UA exist to make money, period. I have no problem with that and can switch airlines at anytime. For now, I can't. I flew WN in 2007 - 2009 exclusively and when they changed their FF program, I never stepped on their metal again. Don't even consider it, that's not complaining, that's action.

STS-134

When I first made Premier Silver, I got free E+ access at booking, two free bags, and even a couple CPUs. Now I'm 0 for 7 this year on CPUs as a Gold, and were I still a Silver, I'd only get one free bag.

dsquared37

There are plenty not affected now who are concerned about 2015. There are others who can easily make the spend and have said they'd book away from UA. Which thread are you reading?

Apparently, and thankfully, it isn't me.

DaviddesJ

Well, I guess if it's not valuable to you that must prove that it's not valuable to anyone. Despite any evidence to the contrary.

Do you believe other people even exist? Or are you a solipsist, you are the only real person and all of the rest of us are just figments of your imagination?

STS-134

Someone clearly doesn't get hyperbole. Here's the meaning in case you're unfamiliar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbole

I guess what I should have said (for people unfamiliar with hyperbole) was: Silver is a shell of its former self. The benefits are nearly meaningless compared to what they were before.

DaviddesJ

If what you mean to say is, "There are still many very valuable benefits of Premier Silver membership, but there used to be more," then, "None of the benefits are meaningful," is a ridiculous way to try to express that idea.

UA-NYC

Agreed - Silver is a shell of what it used to be. Silver in 2014, for 25K PQM? Better for some relative to a $95 credit card; others, not so much.

Silver for 2015, for 25K PQM AND $2,500 on UA metal flights (more or less) minimum pre-tax? Much less so.

BearX220

There seem to be some folks who just dropped in here in the last day or so, haven't read 2500+ posts or participated in the whole rolling discussion, and yet think they know how this whole community feels about PQD. It might behoove those parties to "read in" a little further before they speak for us.

Even the spendingest OPMer worries about PQM if he or she has any brains, for at least three reasons. One, PQM is a highly fungible, potentially arbitrary "black box" calc, far less straightforward than miles, and CO had a history of "black box" benefit determination that didn't exactly work in elites' favor. Two, the goal posts are obviously going to move over time, just like every aspect of every FF program gets devalued over time. Three, when your OPM days come to an end the change will rock your world if creeping devaluation hasn't done so already.

FT is a blood sample. You don't have to flush all the blood out of someone's body to see if they have hepatitis; a few cc's will tell you all you need to know. Most UA FFers have no idea this has even happened yet, but when they do find out there will be holy hell to pay.

I wouldn't hold my breath. I doubt UA thought the PQM rules through to the point where those questions can be answered. More reasons to worry about the "black box" aspects of this thing.

Vulcan

I wouldn't hold my breath. I doubt UA thought the PQM rules through to the point where those questions can be answered. More reasons to worry about the "black box" aspects of this thing.

The other issue is that UA is now a big company with multiple layers of people that need to be consulted and kept in the loop for even minor changes. This takes time, lots of time, as indicated by the UA Insider's infrequent posts.
Finally, when Scott was with CO, he apparently had more power to make decisions and keep us more current. With his 'assimilation' into UA, his replacements, IMO, are at a lot lower level (No disrespect intended, just my opinion after meeting those people personally) and, thus, we get info 'all in good time'.

Edited to add: FT opinions/views are probably viewed by the powers that be in UA as unimportant (or at least 'less important') to the company now than in the past. I can only think that the person that said that certain elites are overentitled has a big voice in the current modifications of the program. He (or her) is betting their job on the outcome.