Feb 5, 2015, 5:25 am
Last edit by: mkr
THIS IS A THREAD FOR WHICH ALL MP MEMBERS WILL BE ABLE TO RESPOND ...THANKS.
The goal of the survey is to benefit all of us.
This thread is to ask ALL MileagePlus members who read the MileagePlus Forum to please respond to this
short 3 question survey. It will only take a few minutes..
PLEASE PM YOUR MP FTer FRIENDS TO ASK THEM TO ALSO POST IN THIS SURVEY....THANKS.
This thread is to ask ALL MileagePlus members who read the MileagePlus Forum to please respond to this
short 3 question survey. It will only take a few minutes..
PLEASE PM YOUR MP FTer FRIENDS TO ASK THEM TO ALSO POST IN THIS SURVEY....THANKS.
The 3 questions are in Post #1
WIKI UPDATED FEBRUARY 24 (already over 275 posts)
PLEASE READ THIS WIKI AND POST #1 BEFORE RESPONDING TO THIS SURVEY. THANKS.
WE NEED YOUR INPUT....PLEASE TAKE PART.
IF YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE WHO HAS ALREADY RESPONDED, KINDLY CHECK YOUR POST TO MAKE SURE YOUR REASONS FOR MAINTAINING OR CHANGING YOUR STATUS LEVEL ARE CLEAR IN QUESTION #2. KINDLY EDIT, IF NEEDED. THIS IS TO HELP IN GATHERING OF DATA FOR THE SURVEY, TO BENEFIT US ALL. THANK YOU.
The data will be compiled and posted in this WIKI after approximately each 100 respondants during the year to keep it simple for someone (me) who has trouble figuring out where Boarding Line 1 is
DATA WILL BE UPDATED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WIKI
UA monitors these threads. They will not release their statistics on MP membership changes, so let us work together to compile our own data.
PURPOSE OF SURVEY
The aim is to get a very large number of data points in the coming weeks/months to see percentages of those who dropped, maintained, or increased in status through their 2014 earnings activity for 2015 status in MP because of many reasons.
The survey asks persons to state their individual reasons for their 2014-15 activity for attaining a certain status level for 2015. The survey will determine in a objective, structured, measurable and efficient way, what were persons' experiences in flying on UA in 2014 in light of various changes in the MileagePlus program or other UA flying experiences that have affected the amount of flying they did on UA in 2014. This MAY have affected their Premier status. Kindly PM your UA FTer friends to ask them to post in this survey. Thanks.
The Feb. 1 changeover date is to include those persons who responded to a "Buy Up" offer in January to maintain their 2014 status.)
IF YOU RESPONDED TO A BUY UP OFFER AFTER FEB.1, PLEASE INDICATE THAT IN YOUR RESPONSE (UA's BUY UP OFFERS EXTENDED UNTIL 2/28.
. (Some persons have other reasons for changing their 2014 flying on UA other than complaints about UA or MileagePlus.... such as the amount of business travel changing).
It will take just a few minutes for you to respond. Data will be updated in this WIKI after every 100 responses. Please read Post #1 before responding to this survey. Thank you.
(There is a separate thread for 2015 in which a brief, 3 question survey is being taken in regards to persons' plans for 2015 for earning 2016 Premier status (and reducing, maintaining, or increasing the amount of your UA flying) in light of the new PQD requirements for 2016 and new policies regarding earning Reward Mileage, or your other unique reasons. Kindly expound on your 2015 plans for 2016 status in that thread. Thanks.)
HERE IS THE LINK TO THAT THREAD:
[2015] Version: What plans do you have in 2015 for earning 2016 Premier status?
DATA
I am working on the data for this thread and will post more information later. So far, I have counted 200 respondants through Post #204 (including those who reported for 2 persons). 46% have dropped in status from 2014 to 2015. 40 % have stayed the same. 14 % increased status.
The most noticable trend so far among FTers who have reported to this thread is that of the (92/200) 46% who reported dropping in status,
(53/92) 58% were 1K in 2014. Of that 58%, 50% dropped to Gold or Below.
Here is the 2015 status breakdown of the 200 persons so far reporting included in the survey statistics : GS 3%, 1K 35%, Platinum 19.5%, Gold 18%, Silver 12%, GM 12.5%.
No GS dropped below 1K. 6 GS dropped, replaced by 3 new ones.
16 Platinums dropped, replaced by 9 new ones. So there was a slight decrease in Platinums...combined with the number of 1Ks who dropped below Platinum, shows a trend of a smaller group that MIGHT eventually show up in the sizes of Boarding Group 1...(if the data from this survey would be interpreted to somehow signal a drop of MP members across the system...We can only speculate on this, as FT is a small percentage of the entire MP population, and not everyone on FT will respond to this thread. OF COURSE THERE ARE OTHER FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE SIZE OF BOARDING GROUP 1 AT TIMES... SUCH AS IRRROPS, SDCs, DEPARTURE CITY, ELITE HEAVY ROUTES, DESTINATION CITY, DAY OF WEEK, TIME OF DAY, etc.)
But it is interesting to see such a drop of 1Ks to be below Platinum who have reported so far in this thread.
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REPEAT: There is a separate thread for 2015 in which a brief, 3 question survey is being taken in regards to persons' plans for 2015 for earning 2016 Premier status in light of the new PQD requirements for 2016 and new policies regarding earning Reward Mileage, or your other unique reasons. Kindly expound on your 2015 plans for 2016 status in that thread. Thanks.)
HERE IS THE LINK TO THAT THREAD:
[2015] Version: What plans do you have in 2015 for earning 2016 Premier status?
Many posters are providing excellent reasons why their status dropped, stayed the same, or increased from 2014 to 2015.
However, many posters are not providing any reasons.
IT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL TO US ALL if future posters would expound in more detail for their reasons for their status as of the changeover date on Feb. 1, 2015...see examples in Post #1.
Please read Post #1 before posting in this thread. Thank you.
For those who have already posted their status, it will be very helpful to us all for you to go back to edit your posts to expound more clearly to give us all some better insights for your reasons for your status. In particular, for the 46% who dropped status from 2014 to 2015.... It would be very helpful to us all for you to expound on your reasons. This may help to see if any trends are being established (at least among those MP members who choose to post in this Forum... a small sample of all MP members). No significant trends for reasons have yet emerged in the early life of this survey.
It is possible that number is somewhat indicative of all MP members across the UA system, but it is unknown. UA certainly will not share their statistics with us. How representative are those who post in this FT Forum of the entire MP membership?....unknown...we can only speculate.
The more persons who take time to report in this thread, the greater number of data points we will have.
[IS UA's STRATEGY TO THIN THE RANKS OF PREMIERS AND HOPE MORE PERSONS WILL "BUY-UP" their upgrades rather than using CPUs, RPUs, and GPUs ? Or is UA thinking that more persons will now buy higher fares? Hard to know...there has been a lot of speculation in the past in the MileagePlus Forum about these possibilities.]
If these numbers are somewhat indicative of MP members across the UA system, then we ought to begin seeing some indications of this in the size of Boarding Group 1 in the coming weeks and months. If Boarding Group 1 seems to be shrinking, this may indicate a larger drop in 1Ks to Gold or below, and a drop from the ranks of Platinums. (OF COURSE SOME CITIES ARE VERY HEAVY 1Ks and Plats...but be observing...see if you notice any overall shrinking of sizes of Boarding Group 1,)
Most posters so far have been Premier members.
Some posters are providing excellent reasons why their status dropped, stayed the same, or increased.
However, many posters are not providing any reasons.
AGAIN...IT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL TO US ALL if future posters would expound in more detail for the reasons for their status...see examples in Post #1. This will help to identify if any trends for reasons are emerging.
Thanks. I will update WIKI at some appropriate point when more data becomes available in the future.
[Survey]: From 2014-15 Did your MP Status Increase, Decrease, or remain the same?
Feb 11, 2015 | 4:58 am
#241
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: California
Programs: UA GS MM SPG Platinum (Lifetime Platinum)
Posts: 436
But it is interesting to see such a drop of 1Ks to be below Platinum who have reported in this thread.
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I think that the 1K folks are the ones who have seen the biggest drop in realized benefit versus expected benefit.
Upgrades used to be 90%+ for me personally, and now hover around 10%. This alone was the biggest benefit for me to have loyalty to their program. Removing that leaves me not having any real realized benefits over a gold / Plat member.
Why spend the extra revenue and give the extra loyalty for nothing in return ? - I watched the remaining 12 seats at -2hrs on a PS flight last week go to cheap Buyups with NOT ONE person on the upgrade list getting upgraded.
Those are the actions of a company with no appreciation of their 1K flyers.
************************************************** ********
I think that the 1K folks are the ones who have seen the biggest drop in realized benefit versus expected benefit.
Upgrades used to be 90%+ for me personally, and now hover around 10%. This alone was the biggest benefit for me to have loyalty to their program. Removing that leaves me not having any real realized benefits over a gold / Plat member.
Why spend the extra revenue and give the extra loyalty for nothing in return ? - I watched the remaining 12 seats at -2hrs on a PS flight last week go to cheap Buyups with NOT ONE person on the upgrade list getting upgraded.
Those are the actions of a company with no appreciation of their 1K flyers.
^^^
After being 22 on the uograde list to kick another year off I echo your statement. My AA EXP brethren speak of their upgrade success and I throw up. Delta even lets you carry over the difference miles from one year to the next.
I'm on a booking class H ticket tonight on a 757 and F class is full with only one check mark. Did there somehow become an influx of rich folks in the world or are these HODs?
Feb 11, 2015 | 9:20 am
#242
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: AUS
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 108
2013: 1K
2014: Platinum
2015: Gold
My plan was to keep dialing back the status and see if I find it tolerable. So far, so good. It's not like I even got that many benefits from 1K - I never used a single GPU that year, so obviously I don't see a reason to put much value on them. I'm shifting the extra miles over to other airlines on a case-by-case basis, judging by price and convenience.
2014: Platinum
2015: Gold
My plan was to keep dialing back the status and see if I find it tolerable. So far, so good. It's not like I even got that many benefits from 1K - I never used a single GPU that year, so obviously I don't see a reason to put much value on them. I'm shifting the extra miles over to other airlines on a case-by-case basis, judging by price and convenience.
Feb 11, 2015 | 10:29 am
#244
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: PBI / FLL / YUL
Programs: UA 1K, DL Silver, AA Plat Pro, B6 Mosaic, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Courtesy Card
Posts: 2,000
Also, for me, 1K again in 2015. PQDs were not an issue due to last minute bookings and outrageous fares, especially on short domestic routes. Other people's money.
Feb 11, 2015 | 10:43 am
#245
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Denver, CO
Programs: UA 1K 2.3MM, Hyatt Gold, Hertz PC, Hilton Gold, Marriott Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 371
'95 to 2011 = 1K
2011 to 12 = Gold thx to MM status
13 to 15 =1K again due to travel, although buying premium tickets on other carriers with better service and pricing!
2016 = Not a single ticket on United so far, just shy of MM Platinum so conflicted as to whether I should bother.
2011 to 12 = Gold thx to MM status
13 to 15 =1K again due to travel, although buying premium tickets on other carriers with better service and pricing!
2016 = Not a single ticket on United so far, just shy of MM Platinum so conflicted as to whether I should bother.
Feb 12, 2015 | 4:36 pm
#247
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Durham, NC (RDU/GSO/CLT)
Programs: AA EXP/MM, DL GM, UA Platinum, HH DIA, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hertz PC
Posts: 33,856
Remained the same, ought to naught. Though I am planning on doing a status match to Premier Silver later this month or the next so it will slightly increase.
Feb 13, 2015 | 9:28 am
#248
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 22
2013 - Gold
2014 - Platinum (Missed 1k by ~6k PQMs)
2015 - Platinum
I'm not sure how my travel is going to change this year. The mileage calculation for United and Delta are now both the same (at least starting March 1st). So if Delta decides to start making their award mile trips cheaper, then I will stay United, otherwise I'll probably switch off of United. The service is/has gotten better over the past two years now doubt, but I have colleagues that switch over to United as Diamond Elite on Delta and they keep saying that the 'service' and 'upgrades' as a 1k on United are laughable.
2014 - Platinum (Missed 1k by ~6k PQMs)
2015 - Platinum
I'm not sure how my travel is going to change this year. The mileage calculation for United and Delta are now both the same (at least starting March 1st). So if Delta decides to start making their award mile trips cheaper, then I will stay United, otherwise I'll probably switch off of United. The service is/has gotten better over the past two years now doubt, but I have colleagues that switch over to United as Diamond Elite on Delta and they keep saying that the 'service' and 'upgrades' as a 1k on United are laughable.
Feb 14, 2015 | 11:23 am
#251
Original Poster
Suspended
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Just outside Big D, or many other places in big metal tubes
Programs: WN Rpd.Rwrds, AA, was longtime CO very top Elite tier, Overentitled UA Lifetime 1K (since 2012)
Posts: 1,334
Survey update...thread reminder
Thanks to all who have been responding. Please PM your FTer friends to inform them of this survey and ask them to participate, and have them do the same with their FTer friends... so we can get a very large number of respondants in the next few weeks/months. I will attempt to update data in the WIKI after every 100 respondants to make it easier to compute.
Thread reminder...please expound in more detail for your reasons for dropping, maintaining, or increasing your status from 2014-2015. it is not necessary to write several paragraphs, but one can expound in more detail for reasons using shorter descriptive sentences...see Post #1 for some example reasons in description of answer...everyone will have their unique reasons.
Kindly also take some time to respond to the second survey regarding your 2015 plans for earning 2016 MP status. The aim for that survey is to see if any trends are developing as a result in the PQD changes for earning Premier status for 2016, or because of the changes in earning reward miles with UA and partners as of March 1. Persons have been reporting many other reasons for their MP status plans for earning in 2015 towards 2016. Please add your helpful feedback to that survey so we can get a very great number of respondants in the coming weeks/months.
Here is the link to that survey:
[2015] Version: What plans do you have in 2015 for earning 2016 Premier status?
Thanks, and best wishes in 2015. mkr
Thread reminder...please expound in more detail for your reasons for dropping, maintaining, or increasing your status from 2014-2015. it is not necessary to write several paragraphs, but one can expound in more detail for reasons using shorter descriptive sentences...see Post #1 for some example reasons in description of answer...everyone will have their unique reasons.
Kindly also take some time to respond to the second survey regarding your 2015 plans for earning 2016 MP status. The aim for that survey is to see if any trends are developing as a result in the PQD changes for earning Premier status for 2016, or because of the changes in earning reward miles with UA and partners as of March 1. Persons have been reporting many other reasons for their MP status plans for earning in 2015 towards 2016. Please add your helpful feedback to that survey so we can get a very great number of respondants in the coming weeks/months.
Here is the link to that survey:
[2015] Version: What plans do you have in 2015 for earning 2016 Premier status?
Thanks, and best wishes in 2015. mkr
Last edited by mkr; Feb 14, 2015 at 11:38 am Reason: add link
Feb 14, 2015 | 12:55 pm
#252
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 2,925
Are you implying that you won't be 1k in 2015???
If not, that has to be an interesting story. What gives?
And, as for me, retained 1k. 1K since 2010.
Fly on my own dime, mostly TATL, and did not have problems meeting any of the requirements. Did not fly any other int'l carriers because I like the sUA flight crews that are on the routes that I mostly fly. They have been very nice to me over the years.
If not, that has to be an interesting story. What gives?
And, as for me, retained 1k. 1K since 2010.
Fly on my own dime, mostly TATL, and did not have problems meeting any of the requirements. Did not fly any other int'l carriers because I like the sUA flight crews that are on the routes that I mostly fly. They have been very nice to me over the years.
Last edited by FLYMSY; Feb 17, 2015 at 4:28 pm
Feb 15, 2015 | 10:48 am
#255
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: STS/SFO
Programs: UA MM, AS MVP Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, National Exec Elite
Posts: 184
2013 1K
2014 1K
2015 1K
103,614 PQM this year, flew SFO-LHR in paid Business (P class fare) to get the additional miles and PQD needed to retain status (which I want mainly for IRROPS handling, as I am less than 50% on CPUs out of SFO).
2014 1K
2015 1K
103,614 PQM this year, flew SFO-LHR in paid Business (P class fare) to get the additional miles and PQD needed to retain status (which I want mainly for IRROPS handling, as I am less than 50% on CPUs out of SFO).