Any Fallout from Conversion from 3-Class to 2 Class?
Jul 9, 2017 | 8:24 am
#16
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: LAX
Programs: UA:1k; MR: PLT; Hilton: Gold
Posts: 1,324
From the top 4 priorities you listed earlier, sounds like he's best served being airline agnostic and flying UA, or *A partners, when available and most convenient, and flying all the other great F/J options out there (CX, EK, EY, etc.) for the other times.
Side note: his job sounds both cool and crazy.
Jul 9, 2017 | 8:40 am
#17
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: United Global Services, Amtrak Select Executive
Posts: 4,901
OK, so then this has nothing to do with him being GS per se, and is not a datapoint suggesting that overbooking premium cabins is something made available on the basis of GS status.
Jul 9, 2017 | 7:13 pm
#18
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Syd
Programs: UA 1k 1MM, VA G
Posts: 886
Since it's not a GS perk, and instead a contractual benefit, why chase GS status.
From the top 4 priorities you listed earlier, sounds like he's best served being airline agnostic and flying UA, or *A partners, when available and most convenient, and flying all the other great F/J options out there (CX, EK, EY, etc.) for the other times.
Side note: his job sounds both cool and crazy.
From the top 4 priorities you listed earlier, sounds like he's best served being airline agnostic and flying UA, or *A partners, when available and most convenient, and flying all the other great F/J options out there (CX, EK, EY, etc.) for the other times.
Side note: his job sounds both cool and crazy.
I have called many times on his behalf to help him organize things for his own flights (Problem fixed, goes to sleep after being awake for 3-4 days and wants a way to get home when he wakes up)
Job is very crazy and I think he loves his semi-retirement
ME3 are less efficient time wise at the moment for any of his common destinations of Europe/north asia/ south asia
Flying though FRA/LHR/MUC then onto a private plane to final destination
or NRT/SIN and a short comercial flight are the most common results
Jul 9, 2017 | 7:16 pm
#19
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Syd
Programs: UA 1k 1MM, VA G
Posts: 886
I could easily believe its not a defined perk though, I am happy to stand corrected
Jul 9, 2017 | 9:02 pm
#20
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: SFO
Programs: AS, UA, WN, IHG Diamond Elite, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Gold, CET 7*
Posts: 3,574
That is one heck of a contract! I've never heard of this happening before and agree with the previous poster that his work sounds fascinating...
Jul 9, 2017 | 10:19 pm
#21
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: if it's Thursday, this must be Belgium
Programs: UA 1K MM
Posts: 6,579
He is one of 3 experts left alive in the world on a specific piece of technology
When said thing breaks... he is called up and asked to be at location x as quickly as possible as outages can cost in excess of $100k per hour
When he is called in... its generally because Level1-4 have tried and failed for a day or more to fix it
4 hours is a matter of how long it takes the locally run private air firm to get him from his location in OR down to SFO
Thus... he never knows where in the world he is going and for how long and when... ~$10k one way tickets have been the solution for some time now
When said thing breaks... he is called up and asked to be at location x as quickly as possible as outages can cost in excess of $100k per hour
When he is called in... its generally because Level1-4 have tried and failed for a day or more to fix it
4 hours is a matter of how long it takes the locally run private air firm to get him from his location in OR down to SFO
Thus... he never knows where in the world he is going and for how long and when... ~$10k one way tickets have been the solution for some time now
I would just suggest that when any customer reaches the end of Level 2 support, the company immediately book him a ticket farther in advance, on the chance that it will get more serious and need his help...
Jul 9, 2017 | 10:28 pm
#22
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,887
From a financial perspective, First Class rarely makes sense. Profit per square foot, given the space requirement, is a fraction of business class (which is actually itself smaller than [true] premium economy). The demand just isn't there, except maybe on a handful of routes, which is why you're seeing more and more carriers (even premium overseas ones -- LH, AF, CX, QR) reduce where they offer FC.
Jul 9, 2017 | 10:53 pm
#23
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Boulder
Programs: AA Plat, CX Silver
Posts: 2,361
From a financial perspective, First Class rarely makes sense. Profit per square foot, given the space requirement, is a fraction of business class (which is actually itself smaller than [true] premium economy). The demand just isn't there, except maybe on a handful of routes, which is why you're seeing more and more carriers (even premium overseas ones -- LH, AF, CX, QR) reduce where they offer FC.
QR only has it on a tiny handful of EU routes.
LH has been slowly dropping F for years, especially ex-MUC but some FRA routes have lost it as well. DEN was already mentioned. All MUC-based A333s lost F and none of their A350s have been delivered with F. IIRC their upcoming 777x orders won't feature F either.
Jul 10, 2017 | 7:21 am
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: San Francisco/Tel Aviv/YYZ
Programs: CO 1K-MM
Posts: 10,859
Frankly for LH and AF, the most compelling part of F is the ground service. On routes from North America to Europe, most people in F want to sleep, so the elaborate meal on board is silly, and its just the way back where its really nice.
LH could simply sell "HON service" for however much and you'd get the "HON terminal/lounge" and limo transfers.
LH could simply sell "HON service" for however much and you'd get the "HON terminal/lounge" and limo transfers.
Jul 10, 2017 | 7:47 am
#25
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: BOS
Programs: UA 1K 1.45MM, Marriott+SPG Plat, Clear, Nexus, Global Entry and MEX Viajero Confiable
Posts: 1,777
regarding the disappearing UA PF/GF .. I am going to miss the seat/bed. Meal service was always meh... and in the future I would route through ORD for GRU and use the lounge to grab a good meal in order to maximize sleep time during flight.
More personalized service in F was nice.. but sometimes that was hit or miss and not a factor for me.
More personalized service in F was nice.. but sometimes that was hit or miss and not a factor for me.
Jul 10, 2017 | 12:24 pm
#26
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,887
To expand on this, CX removed F from their Oceania routes. They don't send it to the Gulf and their Japan routes have also lost much of itI think there's one HND frequency that still has F, but it may have been discontinued recently. Their A359 is two-cabin so that's another batch of routes that don't have F.
Originally Posted by entropy
Frankly for LH and AF, the most compelling part of F is the ground service. On routes from North America to Europe, most people in F want to sleep, so the elaborate meal on board is silly, and its just the way back where its really nice.
LH could simply sell "HON service" for however much and you'd get the "HON terminal/lounge" and limo transfers.