chitownflyer

After March 1, 2015, I predict there will be a massive exit of elites from United due to the implementation of the devalued and reduced RDM earnings program. For the majority of UA customers, they will be negatively impacted with the elimination of mileage earnings based on distance and the elimination of elite RDM bonus miles. For those desiring a good product and operational reliability, there is Delta. For those wanting a good elite program and RDM accrual, AA has an opportunity here.

RNE

Poppycock. But I hope it comes to pass.

RNE, experiencing cognitive dissonance

CMK10

A shorter list is probably a list of the Clubs that cannot be accessed when flying other airlines: EWR, SFO, PHX and LAX for some airlines are the only ones that come to mind.

RS250Racer

I'm done.

After my experience trying to burn some miles for awards I am completly sick of the staff, the rules that no one seems to understand or care about, and that change daily, the crappy award availability and overall crap performance of this organization.

I know I threatened it on FT before but I am done now.

Deval.
BKK flight axed.
$ based miles next year.
All around awful service.

Been 1K for about 6 out of the 9 years I have been a dedicated UA flyer, always at least a silver or gold member.
$10-15K per year GONE UA, do not care if I have to pay more on Asian carriers at this point I do not want to speak to another UA employee or step on one of their filthy aircraft.

Great job Smisek...UA was not perfect but you destroyed everything they had going for em.

Crazyboutflying

I am waiting out the year. The things I was hesitant about with AA seems to be gone. They post the SWU availability, you can request meals in Bus class, you still get credit for miles flown and I spoke with a FA yesterday who was happy! Not to mention the better service.
I don't want to do the frying pan to the fire thing, but if they give any indication they will not follow in UA's footsteps right away, I'm gone.
I am certainly not the flyer UA seems to value. I spend between 10 and 15K and fly 100+ a year, but I have been loyal to them for 20 years, but no point staying where you're not wanted.

dogloverjb

That's me too. I fly on my own dime and plan trips around cheap fares. And I've been loyal to CO/UA for 30+ years. I've been 1K for years on my own dime. This year I decided to upgrade my fare class on some flights to make the spend requirement they put in place last year. After all the dust has settled I think that next year I will use my RPUs and GPUs, if I can, and will no longer feel like I have to fly UA all the time. Overall I will fly less than I have. I may just buy a few business fares on whatever airline works for me and be free of the shackles of UA destinations, which are ever-dwindling.

My only concern is dropping down a level because it requires more spend to re-attain a level. I may settle for Platinum in 2015 and re-evaluate mid-year for 2016.

wco81

I've been thinking about AA and other *A too.

But when I search TATL out of SFO, OW flights are more expensive or isn't even available (to VIE, PRG, or PMI in Sept). The flights are longer in duration too.

I haven't earned any RDMs or PQMs yet this year, only flew a couple of award flights.

Maybe AS Mileage Plan would be better if there's good TATL award availability on AF/KLM, though if it's anything like DL SkyMiles, then it would be bad for TATL out of SFO.

Or just re-qualify for MP Gold this year and then make the decision for 2015.

LilAbner

On 3/1/2015 me an Daisey Mae are heading back to Dogpatch and not spending anymore time or money on this Jeffed-up p.o.s. airline!!!

I wish nothing but the best of luck to the faithful followers!!!

Tchiowa

1) What did you like most about fkaUA
I live near SF. It's got the best selection of flights.

2) What changes have had the greatest negative impact on you?

Ending the Bangkok service. 90% of my flights are SFO/BKK.
GPU instead of System wides. Too many fare restrictions.

3) What remains about the current UA that makes it hard for you to leave?

Living in San Francisco. Over 1/2 million RDM miles right now. Closing in on MM status.

4) What airlines are you considering switching to?

That's the problem. Despite dissatisfactions with UA, no better alternatives. Used to fly SQ but SFO/BKK is about 6 hours longer and close to $1k more.

5) What benefits / improvements do you expect on your new airline?


6) What aspects of the new airline make it hard for you to switch to them?

Status. I was Solitaire on SQ for over a dozen years. Left them when they cancelled the lifetime Solitaire program. I was about 2 years away from achieving it.

RNE

That's what I'd do.

The oligopolistic forces outweigh personality. Yes, Jeff is a narcissistic jackass who has never had an original thought in his life. And yes, the Board will fire him, but what of it? The Industry is a monolithic juggernaut that transcends personality. The movement from perks to pricks, ops to irrops, friends to foes, and miles to money is inexorable.

A sales VP just popped his head into my office to talk travel. He mentioned that he had to pay $700 to fly to Ohio from Rhode Island (BDL, actually)—on Southwest!

RNE, opining that it's not an airline problem; it's the whole industry.

jsdc

I typically check out fares on Southwest, but they are almost always higher than I can make work on United, and typically less convenient. Since I live in DC and travel frequently to SFO, LAX, DEN, and FRA, I really don't feel like I have many alternatives. I am stuck for now. I had some hopes that Virgin America would fill out their route network to be a viable option, but don't know if that will ever happen.

Hartmann

I have been conflicted on what to do.

We have been hub captive in Houston but are moving to Portland, OR. UA's PDX-EWR morning flight is a good fit for my work schedule and better than DL's PDX-JFK timing (and location).

With UA cutting SEA/LAX from PDX my options for the west coast are limited to connections in SFO, which isn't always convenient.

The mileage earning cuts will impact me (in some cases significantly) but I understand why they are doing it.

My biggest problems are operational reliability, service during issues, and just the product offering being poor. I have had a number of cancelled and delayed flights where I offered solutions and was promptly shut down by agents (both phone and in person). In one instance I was in paid F and delayed enough for really tight connection in DEN. I asked to be put on DL via SLC and was told "there's no space on DL", yet I was able to buy an F seat on DL with no problems with the same flight numbers I fed UA.

AS is really attractive to me. They no longer have a PDX-NYC flight but using them for west coast flights seems like a great way to get around and their product looks decent.

I am wondering if I should just completely switch to a mix of DL/AS...

dulcamara

Did you get the bonuses they're offering for new accounts?

StingWest

I've gone through this exercise every once and a while too. Out of SFO, there are not that many good options TATL. Once, when the UA pilots started striking and pissing me off some years ago, I changed over to VS for 6 months. It was great, and at that time VS had their snazzy new lie-flat seat. You could have a reasonable chance of upgrading for miles only too.

Now I fly about 80% UA and am reasonably happy TATL. I don't put up with the sh*t that domestic flyers put up with and I understand their anger. I fly BA and VS on occasion too - just to remind myself that they have their pluses and minuses too (most notably very high co-pays on award trips and less award ticket availability than UA TATL)

But I've been flying everywhere since the 70's and have learned that at any point in time one airline is down and another is up. Don't like your current mix of benefits? Wait a couple years and the mix will change completely. You may hate UA today and love AA, but in a couple years it might be the opposite.

So for me, even though I hate the arrogance (and ignorance) of the current management, I'll stick it out and see what happens in a year or two. I'm not exactly suffering with occasionally missing an upgrade.

CMK10

Never thought I'd say this fact but, as of June 17th I've flown more miles on Frontier than I have on United this year. 1,059 vs. 727.