I started the process today...
 

...by finally getting around to calling Chase and cancelling the last UA account that I had (I believe at one point I probably had 3-4 for various uses) and which probably goes back 20 years to old First Chicago as far as I can tell.

Fascinating discussion I had today with the Chase lady who, while not saying so outright, clearly has been fielding more than a few calls on this subject matter. From the very guarded and cryptic nature of the comments I received I also got the impression that Chase's 'partner' clearly was testing/monitoring what Chase's agents said or did not say in regards to responding to these types of calls.

Very illuminating...

Shame is I have about $2500 or so in UA credits that will probably force me to fly at least a few flights on UA metal this year (probably credit them to my LH account if I can). But unless there are no choices, my travel dollars are headed almost exclusively AA/DL or their alliance partners from now on. I already have booked over $5K+ in tix in the last two weeks on the other two carriers, and I plan to keep it that way until further notice.

It feels great - and liberating - to be finally winding down business with this airline!

Hey, haven't you heard? WN pilots make up their own destinations now! :)

Can you shed any more light on this conversation? I would find it very interesting. I called Chase a few months to close my Explorer card account and the rep indicated he had coped with many cancellations relating to UA service and loyalty changes. He said he thought something would have to be done to stem the defections, but nothing's happened as yet obviously.

I would rather have that than a bunch of full Barbie jets.

Travelers to AUS get screwed on Friday's if they miss their connection because every later flight is packed full. You can't get protected on later flights in case of weather or MX delays. The odds of being delayed are much higher on an RJ as experience proves this.

AA has almost 30 mainline flights from DFW to AUS on Fridays.

What does UA offer on Friday's from most connecting hubs?

UA has 11 flights from IAH to AUS (7 of them are RJs)

UA has 3 flights from ORD to AUS, all are RJs

UA has 3 flights from IAD to AUS, all are RJs

The bottom line is UA has lost most of my business for 2014. I'm less than 1,500 miles from my Million Miler status, and that, sadly will be on an RJ700 that I'm forced to fly to SFO to connect to SYD.

I'll gladly be EXP on AA in 2015 and my lifetime Gold on UA since UA decided to leave the capital of Texas to the regional carriers.

Forced to fly? Who held the gun to your head?

I flew SFO-AUS a number of times lat year, on AA through DFW, on VX direct, and once on UA through IAH.

If you want to avoid the RJ SFO-AUS, that is completely under your own control.

:rolleyes: OP mentioned he's connecting on to SYD, but you're right, he could have easily flown AUS-DFW-SFO on AA then UA to SYD.

Or he could have flown non-stop on Qantas from DFW to SYD (and had a much better flight).

He is choosing to fly on UA, and hence an RJ, so no sympathy from me.

Right, because we know so much about how much the ticket cost, whether he was required to fly UA by his work, and other variables. We sure are quick to blame the person here aren't we? I sympathize with anyone who has to fly that long a flight on an RJ choice or not.

Agreed. If he has to deal with a corporate travel dept, many options may not be available. And on top of that, flying UA to LAX and then transit to QF incurs a massive misconnect risk...

Which is why I do not fly the direct UA flight on this route.

Even if 'forced' to book on UA, there are plenty of alternatives routings.

Regardless, I think we can all agree that RJ's on routes like this are not desirable.

I think you're missing the point still. OP is not flying just to SFO, he's going onward to Australia. Yes, he could fly AUS-IAH-SFO-SYD or AUS-DEN-SFO-SYD to avoid a RJ on the long flight but when you're adding even more hours to an international trip it becomes frustrating. We also don't know OP's travel policy, maybe it's "cheapest routing" or something like that. So for you or I or anyone to say "you weren't forced" without the facts is a waste of time and possibly erroneous.

Fair enough.

In the end we are all just trying to figure out which airline is the best of the worst. Since moving to AA my wife would tell you I have been much happier. Though that came to an end last week when I was delayed in LHR for an 8 hour mechanical. This was the worst experience I had since moving to AA 2 years ago. When I was flying on COdbaUA I seemed to run into those kinds of issues more often. AA definitely does screw up, but for me they do it much less often and take care of me much more often than COdbaUA ever did. BTW...as a multimillion mile flyer of COdbaUA I still have not received one email or call asking why I don't fly them anymore. That tells me how important I really was.

What's keeping me w/ UA? Lifetime Gold with E+ & free checked bags. Because my travel has lessened, those 2 things are the 'golden handcuffs' that keep me on UA (upgrades basically disappeared after 3/3/12, or it would be 3 things).

If my travel comes back I'd do a challenge or whatever over to AA. A # of UA FTers that I know & respect made the switch & have been happy w/ AA.

If I lose E+/free checked bags as Gold (which some have suggested might happen), then it would be bye-bye UA & would then fly whichever is cheaper or is more convenient. I was aiming for 2MM w/ UA (I'm 200K short), but when they took away the lifetime United Club membership as a bennie, it immediately dropped my interest in working towards that.

Cheers.

Sure...

When I called up Chase I just asked that I wanted to get rid of the account (I have a number of other accounts with Chase) and just transform the account into another type of credit card product of theirs. I was asked why, and I just replied that I wanted nothing to do with UA so was ending my account as I no longer wanted to build miles in their program. I should also add that I was very dry about this and no 'flowery' comments towards the wonderful job SMI/J or the HOUCrew has been doing.

But still, that's when the conversation got a little weird.

I was first advised by the Chase rep (she was very nice) that they could not change the account (which I have done in the past with other cards including other UA accounts) into another Chase product. After my reply of "huh?"...she then said that she had to be "very, very careful in her language now", and not only could not change the account into another Chase product, she also could offer no advice nor recommendations on what to do with the account. She stated that since it was a 'partner card' it would be a conflict of interest for her to advice any course of action in what to do with the account.

My lawyer antennae were now fully extended because this was not the typical direction on this type of discussion where usually the bank is offering everything under sun to stay or turn the account into something else. Frankly, the caliber of the person was not usual either, as this was clearly someone on the 'A Team' and was very sharp and well spoken - not what I am used to usually when calling up a bank.

I just ended up cancelling the account, but it did not take too much processing time to figure out that the reason for this very bizarre - and legalistic - discussion is that UA is very aware of people cancelling their accounts and do not want Chase benefiting or taking advantage of the situation.

My guess is that there has been enough of a outflow to have caused multiple meetings between the lawyers of both organizations as of late on how Chase should be dealing with Chase Customers wanting to walk way from UA.

In short, yesterday was another clue that UA is well aware that many long term customers are leaving due to all of their fabulous 'enhancements'. So aware, that they are trying to make sure that their valued MP 'partner' does not help aid in the exodus.

Again, it feels very liberating to be finally putting some distance between myself and an airline that has intentionally and knowingly declared war on their customer base.

I held off too long to finally move away...