chinatraderjmr

Common sense?? Do you really believe the average CX non stop has no award tkts in F? No upgrades? Etc. I'm not saying we ere the only full fare passengers. What I am saying is full fare passengers should be treated exactly like an airlines top elites. Not necessarily better but no way should someone who spends upwards of $10-15,000 on a ticket be made to wait behind ANYONE REGARDLESS of status. This is why the American and some European carriers can't make F work.

JVPhoto

If there's 8 F pax and no one should wait in line...do they board the plane like Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowadly Lion and the Scarecrow?
What about entering the lounge and there's only one agent because the other ran to the bathroom but a nice couple is taking a few seconds to chat to the one that's there...do you get just barge into the lounge and make someone come find you to check your ticket?

chinatraderjmr

Commmonnnn Your taking my post completely out of context - My point is that EVERYONE in F should be treated the same (or in J or even in Y for that matter) BUT when it comes to F, those w status should not be treated any better or worse then those w no status but on full fare F tickets. When you think about it the chances are someone w status has a much much better chance of being on an upgrade or free tkt then those w no status for the simple fact that to earn status, you earn miles, earn upgrades, etc. From a business standpoint, Id sure want the passengers who fly 1-2 times a year in full F and not even a FF member then a status passenger who may fly a lot, but uses all the tricks in the trade to upgrade, usually flys biz or Y, etc

JVPhoto

But it's a slippery slope. Now you're risking that FF get treated with disdain as free loaders because "Oh they must be an upgrader" but "look at this no status random Joe, he's the real big spender here!"
I simply disagree because if you have X pax you're going to need X or X+1 agents/handlers/solutions all available at the same time.

It sounds more like it's a matter of someone's pride getting hurt because a GS who spends $90,000 with UA got the beef and a few more smiles than the someone who spent $10,000 to get to LHR but its being assumed they used a GPU from J.
I expect good service all around when I'm in F but if little things happen or push comes to shove I would resign to the idea that I may have to be ever so slightly behind an LH/LX HON or NH Diamond.

villox

Should you treat someone who buys ONE full fare ticket the same on a particular flight as a person who also bought a full fare but also did so 20 times previously? Imagine you did so 20 times previously but then on the 21st flight you cashed in your miles to buy it instead...you think there should be no differentiation for that kind of loyalty?

entropy

I disagree with chinatraderjmr, I do think that loyal passengers should be treated just as well as people paying full fare. Furthermore, its classic DYKWIA to think that you're a more entitled passenger than everyone else in the cabin.

With regard to the OP, its actually United partners that end up "saving" mileage plus since they tend to be materially less stingy with int'l premium space than United is. One of my most frequented routes is YYZ-TLV, and as many here know, EWR-TLV is next to impossible in I/IN/R, while AC does release bits here and there, and you can often find space via any number of connection points in Europe, and TK does tend to have decent availability.

JVPhoto

When I flew NH F and had the whole cabin to myself it was simply unacceptable that the FA didn't sit with me while I ate. It must have been that I only spent nearly $10,000 on UA to get the miles for that redemption.

itsMoe

I'm not sure I follow your logic. Why is this the right way to do it? Other than you asserting it very forcefully, your whole argument seems to boil down to "the pecking order should be solely according to whoever spent the most money".

But why?

mduell

Interesting perspective, since so many on this forum rail against such a transactional approach where you're only treated in proportion your current fare coupon rather than longer term loyalty/spend.

chinatraderjmr

Either Im not making myself clear (quite possible) or I'm just being misunderstood. Im not saying the full fare passenger should be treated "better" Im saying ALL F passengers should be treated the SAME, regardless of status. Its true that I don't believe a top status passenger should be treated any better then his/her fellow passengers in F, but my reasoning is quite simple......They are BOTH equally important (as opposed to in J or Y where I do believe the top status passenger should get all the extra perks involved.

In F you have your top status passengers who may be on an upgrade or free ticket (or may not be) but have the status to show they certainly spend the $$ flying most of the time and then you have your no status passenger on a full fare ticket. My point is they should be treated the exact same, status should not matter in F (and this coming from an EK IO) Speaking of which there is top status and then there is TOP STATUS!! Anyone can become a 1K with UA, a Plat with EK, etc and spend minimal amounts of money (Even UA's $12K min spend for 1K is really only the cost of 1 r/t F ticket) But if you have real TOP STATUS like UA's GS or EK's IO then the airline knows one way or the other they are making big money from you. Regardless, in F those passengers should not be treated any different then anyone else

chinatraderjmr

The problem with long term loyalty/spend is twofold. Loyalty counts for nothing unless you spend the money to go along with it. a "loyal" passenger can be someone who flys every week, but on a ticket that costs $119.00. As far as spend, there should be no problem there as someone who spends big money would not have a problem with a transactional approach. While we complain and complain about how 1K means nothing any longer with UA, or Exec Plat with AA, etc, we need to also look at ourselves and think of all the posts on these boards from people who brag of making top status while spending almost nothing. Thats a big reason the airlines clamped down and re worked these programs almost from scratch. Im as guilty as anyone else..Ive been a 1K for 24 years (since starting my company) and while I have had no problem or complaints paying full F the last 10+ years, I started getting 1K by buying the cheapest tickets I could, upgrading them and spending less in a whole year then the price a pair of full F tickets may cost.