When is it going to be something we like??
 

Okay so for one reason or another we all have or had some interest in flying UA. I'm just curious and for the sake of an interesting topic to discuss why a company can treat loyal customers in such a way to offer a much less then pleasant travel experience, yet people still fly them.... Flyer Talk is full of seasoned million milers and mileage run hobby fliers alike. My questions are; How long have you regularly flown UA? Why did you chose UA originally? How long do you intend to stay, or have you already bid farewell to "something we're going to like", SHARES, RJ's and all the fun we call The New United?

I have been flying UA exclusively about 15 years, a mixture of business and hobby flying mileage runs. I have had Premier Exec /Gold status the majority of the time. I'm based out of SLC, so naturally DL should have been my first choice, but I chose UA for Ch9, as well as having the new 777's at the time, I hope I can relate to a few of you... I never had a problem with UA, even during the Tilton era. Although at the time I did not enjoy the lack of innovation at UA, while the other carriers were starting to deploy upgrades to their product...still no big deal. It's funny, I remember times of actually getting sick of 737's (Shuttle by United) then Airbus jets (Ted),but while enjoying the occasional 757 flying into SLC...I had no clue how bad the dreaded Crj200 was going to be, or worse yet the merger related issues of SHARES. Oh how I miss the good days with short hops on Guppies that had friendly crews, and Ch9 on almost always....Anyways enough of memory lane... I have no clue why I'm still flying UA...maybe the banked miles, maybe I feel comfortable knowing the system...or so I thought... Now every trip is something new, and rarely for the better. I just don't know how much longer I can deal with it.. The thread about the splitting PNR's made me want to make this post.. It really is crazy how some of us remain loyal with what the product is now.. When is it going to be something we like??

I've been flying UA/CO almost exclusively for over 12 years.

I chose UA/CO when AA ceased service to my local airport in 2000. AA returned approximately four years ago after a new airport was built.

I only have three choices out of my airport and I refuse to fly one of them (DL) but that's a different topic. I'll continue to split my time between AA and UA.

Because it offers the most convenient flights to most places I want to go. That's how the vast majority of people choose an airline, you've got to be pretty dedicated or not value your time very much to take a less convenient flight just because you are "loyal".

I don't find it so crazy that people remain loyal given the current product, but I do find it totally amazing that people say they hate the arline and are never going to fly them again but then continue posting over and over about their experience of eating the awful beef wrap and complaining at the same time at how small it is, or complaining that the awful yellow handle wrap sent to 1K's says made in China and the last 3 times they used it their bags came out last.

The whole point of loyalty programs is to alter your behavior, not reward you for doing something you were going to do anyway, and I believe MP performs that function for a great many customers -- inducing them to spend more than a competitor charges, or buy a UA connection over a (DL, etc.) nonstop.

I think UA underestimates the "binding" function of MP, and the extent to which it induces people to overlook bad products and services and fly UA anyway. With MP being gutted like everything else at United we are about to learn its actual influence.

+1

And don't forget turning every thread into pmCO v. pmUA.

I fly UA because:

1. AA ticked me off one too many times, so I switched to CO.
2. UA bought CO.
3. I now fly intra-Latin America often out of SJO. Prices are very high down here. I can use my miles to avoid that pain on Copa (preferred) or Avianca.
4. Lots of time and money invested in becoming 1K, and I generally like the perks.
5. Despite the threads of complaint to the contrary, the people at UA (with a few notable exceptions) treat me with respect, professionalism and genuine concern.
6. I have never wanted to go anywhere they don't fly.

I was CO captive in Houston while working there full-time and CO/partners got me where I needed to go in oil patch. Retired last year and returned home to Hawaii right when the merger was happening and it couldn't have been at a better time. As a consultant who commutes monthly (occasionally more often) out of Maui back to Houston and/or wherever they send me, the UA/CO merger has worked out perfectly for me. I like my upgrades and flight options, which are far greater than CO could have offered out of Maui/HNL.

Except for one cancelled flight last summer and one 6-hr delay last fall, UA has generally gotten me where I need to be on time and I've probably consumed 40 ice cream sundaes in last year :)

+1


I also want to point out this thread is not a UA/CO bashing thread..I was just more curious about people's behavior when dealt a bad card.. Looks like not everyone gets bad hands though.

That's a point, not the point. Increasing the happiness of your best customers pays dividends that are not purely transactional. There used to be more business travelers who could be induced to get a $1000 reward by spending an extra $3000 of their employer's money. There's less of that these days because the employers have gotten smarter. So people aren't going to spend $3000 more to get $1000 in rewards, and giving people $3000 in rewards to get them to spend $1000 more is a losing proposition.

Lets see...

Probably an 80+% upgrade rate domestically (all but one CPU), 100% international (GPU) when on suitable fares.

Exit row window 100% of the time my domestic upgrades haven't cleared.

Some delays and cancellations (mainly due to weather), but all have been handled extremely well, never arriving at my final destination more than about 1 hour late.

Generally good service from crews, although sometimes this can be variable.

Good schedules out of both SFO and SJC (via IAH) to most places I need to go.

What's not to like?

I was trying to think of a third example to include, and couldn't come up with one at the time but that is the perfect topic to include in my list.

Flying an airline without Ch9 but with Wifi you could listen to live ATC, I suspect. I wonder if there's enough bandwidth or if it would be blocked. Of course, if you can't listen during takeoff or landing that might be most of the enjoyment.

very difficult to do in reality, if you want to track the particular aircraft you are on. At each ATC contact point there are multiple feeds (not all of which may be available on the internet). Staying sync'ed through your trip is likely to be unsuccessful.

+1. Extremely tough. I've tried and been utterly unsuccessful.