wanderingkev

I am in my 15th year of the program , for sure there have been changes ,in summary I would say.
For the good of the member
-Pre Flying and booking benefits around awards
-Pre boarding which is a big deal given American boarding habits
Not so good
-As you say the greatest thing about GS which changed about the time you got in was the quality of IRROPS handing it used to be very personal now it is more robotic,I have had some ridiculous re books recently.
-Loss of the dedicated GS line
-The Mercedes that shows up consistently when I don't need it and never when I do is a mild form of irritation sometimes

Lounge crowding and crappy food are not functions of GS downslide ,that is overselling,lack of investment in the passenger and an under regulated oligopoly
About 5 years ago I switched my priority flying allegiances significantly , I am in the QF program as a legacy which is not a good program but the miles are earn are on Cathy,JAL and EK and I am treated consistently better and fly more comfortably when I fly these carriers.On UA I fly certain routes I like that clearly keep me in good graces when it comes to status , but my spend is way down compared to what it was.
I went through a dark patch with UA but I found that wishing a second tier airline would act like a top tier one wasn't good for our relationship, things got much better when I came to peace with that

LordHamster

They let you do the "companion" for 3 people? If so that is huge! I'm looking to fly to Beijing with my wife and 2 kids soon and would love to do it this way.

tarheelnj

Do any of the UC's still have conference rooms? Assuming you have the budget for it, I've booked a conference room when I really needed space to work and was in a crowded lounge. It's been a while, though. The UC listing on the UA website still shows the conference room icon in the header, but none of the UC's are showing a conference room.

Mike Jacoubowsky

If he's flying out of the 60-69 gates at SFO, I'd agree it's a nicer experience than the lounge, but those gates are the exception, not the rule. They should be the model for gates everywhere, in my opinion. But, UA would sell a lot fewer United Club memberships if that were the case.

Regarding the OP's post as to the worth of GS, I'm inclined to agree with those who say someone with his means can/perhaps should buy the experience he desires. Depending upon a loyalty program to deliver it, at the level of service he desires, will sometimes work out great, and other times not so well. Buying a la carte creates greater accountability between experience paid for and what's actually delivered.

Mike Jacoubowsky

Before you make the leap to DL, consider the words of their new President- https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/d...-upgrades.html
Edited to add that the full text includes assurances that DL still intends to reward elites for their loyalty. My point is that DL, AA & UA are all of similar mindset presently.

porciuscato

These were not forced. There was PN space available. This is not anything new or different.

LordHamster

Well it is new to me, forgive me as I'm not as familiar with all the intricacies of the program.

Are you saying that your GS status was able to get your 3 companions the upgrade at the "saver" rate that would otherwise have cost the regular rate of miles? If so, I didn't know this was possible and it is still quite nice. I always thought you could only do that with a single companion.

drewguy

However severe the overcrowding of clubs is, how does it relate to credit card promotion? the explorer card gets two passes a year - hardly leading to a massive number of extra people. and the Club card is basically the same price as joining the club without it.

The problem, if there is one, is oversold memberships.

findark

I think this nails the value of GS. I see a lot of people floating the assumption that someone who gets GS on their "own" dime doesn't care about saving money because they're obviously rich, etc. But if you want to extract value from loyalty, the massive savings of the above are really hard to argue with.

IMO certainly worth suffering things like "crowded lounges" and "mediocre food". But if the savings of a trip like that don't really weigh in against an experience that falls short of the best, then UA is definitely not your airline.

All GS may:

• book any number of Economy Saver award tickets, for any pax, with their own miles, as long as there is T space
• upgrade any number of Economy Saver award tickets, booked with GS miles, using GS instruments, as long as there is PN space

Additionally, they can either:

• Force IN or O space for one companion if traveling in the same cabin on a paid ticket, or
• Force PN or ON space for one companion if traveling in the same cabin on a paid ticket.

halls120

That decision has to be the single most ridiculous change UA made to the program. Having the ability to consistently connect with an experienced, knowledgeable CSR is what I miss most about losing 1K - it must be worse from the standpoint of being a GS.

How a business can be so narrow minded and focused on shareholder satisfaction to treat people who spend $50K or more a year is beyond rational explanation.

porciuscato

Actually it was 4 companions and I didn't even tell the agent that I had a paid ticket myself. As long as

1) the miles for the award tickets came from a GS account
2) the upgrades came from a GS account (some say it has to be the same account, but I've actually used my upgrades and my son's miles)
3) there is PN space available

You can upgrade, even if you're not flying yourself.

DELee

I know CLE has a conference room - I used it in August when I went through. Just need to talk to the front and they'll let you use it.

David

3Cforme

Bastian didn't say Delta is done with free upgrades. Continuing the interview:

Quotes from someone who actually watched the talk --

Ed: "we are selling upgrades but we monitor that to make certain that there is a line we dont cross...it's a line we carefully watch between free and paid..."
Moderator: "and you do want really loyal Delta flyers to get up front for free sometimes..."
Ed: "Absolutely..absolutely....and thats an important part...and I agree with you that is actually one of the best benefits of the loyalty program..."

That's really no change from the long-standing policy to sell F/J cabins, with generally the same goal as UA.

First Class Monetization, or FCM: The Definitive Thread

symphonicman

Especially with that much CC spend and international travel, don't overlook the value you can derive from premium cabin travel booked with miles...DL or AS status plus UA status plus a miles or chase/amex points bank to use when you can find value and I bet you will be happier than GS overall. Just don't bank SkyMiles.

Colin

just buy the cheapest nonstop business class fare at the time you want to fly on any airline. if there are choices, pick the airline with best product or that earns the most valuable miles.