arctikjon

Slightly inflammatory thread title... but I mean it (for domestic flights anyway). Sorry its long but I may have had a drink or two.

So big perks for UA elites are (primarily): 1.) CPUs 2.) Free Bags 3.) Free Access to E+ 4.) Bonus miles??

Of the items stated above #3 is the only real perk in my eyes. Starting with #2... how many of us really care that much about the bag issue? For starters I suspect most of my FT brothers/sisters dont check a bag anyway. If they did there wouldnt be such a whirlwind of disaster in the boarding area in groups 1&2 as we all try to secure overhead space. We all carry our bags on because we dont want to wait for them to be delivered at baggage claim. The real secret is we all want to be the first person in the Emerald Exec Aisle to get the one vehicle that's not a minivan. In the event we do want to check a bag the company is going to expense that anyway. #4... bonus miles I guess are swell but if its just going to lead to further inflation of reward ticket prices are they really helping?

That brings us to #1... the almighty CPU. If you are a silver, forget about it. You wont get one... maybe ever. Back when I was silver I think I cleared one once flying from Orlando to Chicago on a Saturday morning. Of course I was on vacation with my wife and baby so this upgrade completely screwed our seats up and the winner was the kettle who got auto assigned my old seat (he got my ticket to first class). If you are gold, please see the description for silver, though you will be high enough on the upgrade list to think you may actually have a chance, but you would be wrong. Plats + 1Ks actually stand a chance but there are plenty of times when 1Ks dont clear. When it comes to domestic flights even the longest transcon is completely tolerable in coach (read E+), so really all the strife about CPUs is silly (plus most regional jets dont have first anyway). In my opinion if there is any desire to inspire product loyalty then benefits should be something the masses actually use. Play your cards right and you might even make a couple bucks (Look Jeff, I am trying to make you some $$$).

Here is an idea!
1.)Eliminate CPUs for everyone except GS. Global Services is too big a carrot in Large account negotiations to screw with their upgrades (which they pretty much always get). Keep existing RPU process for 1K + Plats

2.)Keep the 1K instant upgrade fares... they are a solid deal for 1Ks

So now you are saying "well you just left 40% of the first cabin empty since no one is getting a CPU!" Which brings me to...

3)Let everyone bid on unsold first class seats. Crazy out of the box thinking I know but its not the worst idea. At the time of check in allow each pax to submit a bid in the event there are open upgrades (secret bidding, not suggesting an ebay style auction here since that would promote everyone checking in at the last possible second and would be stupid). At the upgrade window the system would take the top bidders for however many seats were left, charge the card on file and reissue the tickets for the upgrades. Boom United just monetized all unsold first seats. Some days I might feel like dropping 60 bucks for a shot... somedays I might not care though I would always push a $1 bid in there in case no one wanted to pony up that flight.

Listen United, no free lunch!

In return for us giving up the CPU game ( and at the same time creating a whole new revenue stream) certain other things should be bestowed on the loyal idiots still left flying your Regional Jets (and occasionally mainline aircraft when we get REALLY lucky).

1.) Free Drinks. Flights less than 2 hours give us 1 free beverage, 2+ hook us up with a second. Maybe 3 hours and beyond a free snack box would be a snazzy perk.

2.) Dont charge us for Wifi. In the event we are actually on one of the 3 planes with wifi on it, how about gratis access for elites. (Maybe just Gold and up?) I could probably expense it but really its not worth the line item on my reports to send 3 emails and watch The Office on Netflix (or read FT).

3.) Fix the boarding process. For real its sad I see this as a perk. If you dont want to make new signs let me help you out... Group 1 - GS/First/1K, Group 2 - Plat/Gold, Group 3 - Silver/Credit Card Brigade, Group 4&5 - the 37 people who are not in the previous groups. Assign them in check in order for christ sakes and stop pretending like the whole window/center/aisle business makes any sense when you have 60% of your pax in group 2 anyway so most people are already climbing over someone.

At least in my opinion I feel this offers FF's tangible benefits every single time we fly vs maybe just winning the CPU lottery. Again I stress this is only in regards to Domestic flights as losing the flights I do get upgraded on is completely reasonable since they are not that long in duration anyway. CPUs on international flights are a much bigger deal and provide a better value proposition there.

Flame on.

mahasamatman

At SFO, it would be Group 1 - GS/First/1K, Groups 2-5 - the 12 people who aren't in the previous group.

arctikjon

Ha! Fair Point. SFO makes me cry.

SFO Only:

Group 1: GS Last name A-M
Group 2: GS Last name N-Z (flip these every other flight so its fair)
Dont need a first class call since they are all covered in Groups 1+2
Group 3: 1K
Group 4: Plat
Group 5: Everyone else, all 12 of you.

mgcsinc

It's not outside the box, it's already done by other airlines. Because I won't pay to sit in F, it would be bad for me. I therefore don't support it in the least.

uastarflyer

Amen OP. PMUA had it right, no CPU.

arctikjon

Ah ha! So you confirm my statement about the value in first for domestic flights. If you wouldn't pay for it then it has no value!

Our organization thanks you for your support.


Side question, what domestic airline lets you bid on unsold first seats at check in??

blahmeh14

And eventually, they realize that they could make more money selling the two or three Y fares for the seats that could fit in place of the F seat that was bid on and remove F completely... therefore becoming a budget airline. In my opinion, United has F for a reason and that is, simply put, the retention of high volume (fare class H+) business customers. If they go about the route of eliminating CPUs, it will signal a dramatic change to their target demographic and discourage the use of higher fare classes. According to some FTers, whether or not that shift in demographic has already begun is debatable (ex. TODs)...

cosflyer

+1, back to the days of 500 mile certs!!

mahasamatman

A position I've advocated ever since the advent of UDU.

RandomBaritone

This lowly Gold thinks it's a pretty good idea.

MK19791980

I won't be surprised if CPU's are eliminated in the future, and they'll probably do away with instant upgrades on certain fare classes like B and M

bmr12

This is already happening, only UA is running the auction and giving different bidders different prices. CPU effectively only happens if UA thinks the number of bidders is less than the number of seats.

mgcsinc

My CPU rate (without instruments) is over 50%, I think. This year so far it's 66%! I'm happy.

Y'all can start flying Copa (LAX-PTY-IAD anyone?) if you want to have a little auction with every flight.

I didn't say there were any. And there won't be unless the CEO's get together and have a conversation they shouldn't be having.

demkr

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 7_0_4 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/537.51.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0 Mobile/11B554a Safari/9537.53)

I'm ready to be 0 for 3 for CPUs this week.

arctikjon

I can assure you this conversation is being had regardless. The reason CPUs exist is because someones back side needs to be in the seat enabling another ticket or standby in coach. It made some sense to prioritize who gets those seats by flyer status (once upon a time). Fewer and fewer business travelers are permitted to purchase First class fares on domestic flights, and many cant even do it on international flights. (Presently my rule is 6+ hour flights can be in business). Coupled with more companies using things like bulk fares to find low priced coach seats for biz travelers and you can see that the demographic has changed already, we are not the cash cows we were. At least giving them a shot at monetizing first class seats gives them less reason to remove first altogether as you clearly point out. I would guess on transcon going bids would be $80-$100 per seat over all your flights this is not chump change. If in the process you could give your elites some other perks that many would actually prefer.. why not.

Nope... you said there were...