USAF Flyboy

This about sums it up perfectly! ^

The problem is that all airlines are miserable in Y. E+ and the rapidly shrinking ability to upgrade to C in Intl is the only thing that keeps us 1K's from sinking into a horrible pit of despair...

nwff

That's great! I'll think of your post the next time I see a PJ-wearing patron in that IAH UC.

eflyte

I found it interesting that one of the featured travelers is a university science professor (my biz). Although many of us travel a lot for work we are not usually in the wheelhouse for GS given that most of our travel is funded by grants or institutional funds which usually have pretty rigid class of service restrictions associated with them (I actually think that UA appeals to many of us for this reason and because of UAs relatively generous portfolio of domestic and intl UG strategies). Wonder how much the journalist was involved in selection of these interviewees, vs UA who might have offered up individuals from specific sectors they wanted to 'reach out' to? Either way this comes across as not much more than weakly veiled marketing.

BearX220

The reporter undoubtedly relied on United to source "example" GSers. Airline PR types would have asked them in advance if they minded being profiled. So the case studies suit United's agenda first and foremost.

spin88

The test was of DOMESTIC F seats. I don't know the scale they are looking at (is this for the Airbus or also for the 737s (as sCO is using "temp seats")).

And I might add that it was not just GS, some 1Ks were invited as well.

Hadrian35

That's the gritty investigative advertisement I've come to expect from the WSJ.

NickP 1K

Was thinking this also; I've NEVER stepped into a line for rebooking EVER; always call 1K line - pre merger and post and gotten great help (or hung up re-dialed and got BETTER help). My mantra now is if no other flights out to LEAVE the airport get to a hotel I have my travel arrange and have them do the reboot or I call 1K desk if on personal travel.

You hit the nail on the head. I get BETTER service on OZ, NH, TG and SQ just being a regular biz class or first class pax than being a 1K on UA in a biz or F cabin. That's the problem with UA.

On my 10 years ago life: I was primarily in Europe and HON Circle on LH ; PRIOR to being HON Circle I was treated by LH staff in LHR and FRA + MUC exceptionally - HON circle was even better but the baseline product was miles ahead of UA being a 1K back then.

Hmmm, miss the 1K rooms; used to use the DEN one a lot!

zigzagg900

I agree. Maybe throw in a few extra global or regional upgrades to add value to the 1K status.

I don't agree with the article's assertion that 1K's get poor treatment. In general I've been treated very well even during IRROPS where gate and reservation agents have been courteous and helpful. My upgrades clear about 90% of the time, that means 90% of the time I'm sitting in the exact same cabin as the GS guy or gal who boarded before me.

Be comforted in knowing there are many, many others looking through their own candy store windows at US

kenhawk

Agreed. Murdock's WSJ is certainly not what it used to be.

flavorflav

I was thinking the same thing. I love DSM and have flown a bunch in and out of there. But this story would have been far different if it had been about the perks of GS in Des Moines, where there is no lounge, no GS checkin, no elite security line and certainly no Benz. And being GS doesn't keep your flight on a sexy E145 operated by ExpressJet from getting cancelled. (Of today's six DSM-ORD segments, two were 20+ minutes late arriving and a third was cancelled. Par for the course.)

That's not a quarrel with the story. But I chuckled to see that the person in the story's lead - a story about the highest of the high rollers - wasn't a movie star flying p.s. twice a week but a livestock biotech exexutive flying on regional jets out of Iowa elbow-to-elbow with the guy who makes 1P on segments.

ETA: Maybe there is a triple top secret GS lounge at DSM. Twist the barrel at the Templeton Rye display and a secret door opens....

jgsx

In the last two weeks, I've had the following happen as a GS. All were domestic flights

-CPU to first on every segment, even on flights with only F1

-A GS agent call me as I was approaching a security line while running very late, hold an early morning departure flight, have the closed door reopen when I got to the gate, vacate my F seat, then show me to my seat

-GS proactively invite me to a GFL after my flight was delayed for about 90 min

-Having a whole team of GS agents cheer me on to catch a close flight. After calling the airport to let them know I was still ten minutes from the curb and wouldnt make my flight, the agent insisted that I would make it. As soon as I stepped out of the cab, a waiting GS agent asked me to follow him, handed me my BP, walked me to the front of the elite line. Once through another GS agent was signaling to hurry and go that way, pointing to yet another GS agent already signaling to come on. I jogged down and thanked him as i apprached my gate. As soon as I got to to the gate, another GS agent thanked me by name, scanned my BP, then walked me to the door, which then closed immediately.

-A GS agent called my cell to ask when I'd make it to the gate before boarding. As I approached she recognized me immediately and then pre boarded me prior to any announcements

And this is business as usual. Guess not all the GS get the full treatment.

Boraxo

Yes and no. Once I called 1K line before flight cancellation was even announced onboard at DCA (saw it on my iphone) and got re-booked on another flight from IAD a couple of hours later - everyone leaving the plane was told all flights that night were sold out including AA flights. More recently my flight to IAH was delayed 3 hours which would have caused me to miss my connection to Africa. 1K line was completely useless and no "proactive" treatment by UA.

Not sure where you are located, but from SFO you certainly wouldn't score 90%. However I do agree that 1Ks are definitely treated better when things go awry. On one flight there was an equipment change, Mrs. B was re-assigned to a crappy E- middle seat. I switched with her, and the GA somehow found me an exit-row E+ seat. More recently, on my 3-hour delayed flight (above) the GA put me at the top of the F wait list on a later flight that actually departed earlier than my original flight. Ended up in E+ aisle seat and just made my connection. So IME the GAs are pretty good to polite 1Ks.

Speaking of proactive (NOT), I was automatically offloaded on my connection by SHARES due to the original flight delay, I guess it just assumed I would not make it. Must be nice to be GS and have people tracking your movements - even better to have a cart waiting instead of doing the 20m dash from terminal C to E. Fortunately my original C/F seat wasn't reassigned, so all ended well. But it is stuff like that you someone would catch.

BearX220

I think that just highlights the two-Uniteds problem that irritates 99% of the airline's customers. Fawning priority treatment for a few, including those who know the workarounds; indifferent service, often including lying, for the vast majority (including most elites from a pure-numerical standpoint).

I can understand why the 1% think this is great, but I can't understand how highlighting the gulf in a national newspaper helps United's already-terrible image with the public at large.

NiceLanding

+1

Furthermore it feels like that priority treatment has dropped from maybe 10% earlier down to the 1% now (or perhaps from 1% down to .1%). Continuing the "worst of both worlds" merger theme, the CO management has actually exacerbated the elitist divide that they used to complain about at UA, thereby alienating most of the former elites without doing anything to help the remaining masses.

entropy

PArt of that surely has to do with SHARES making re-accommodation a lot harder...