FATFlyer

My understanding is that it was not just in F but also in E+ that was upgrades instead of purchases.

FAT not having a shared lounge is not unusual for an airport in a metro area this size. For example, I believe there is no airline or shared lounge in Omaha which is a similar sized metro with a large business travel base. Boise is another example I can think of off the top of my head.

worldwidedreamer

At the same price point, I'd rather fly UA E+ than AI J. Mantra: Air India is the only airline where I've ever had to send wine back because it was so bad. Also...they did not believe that my UA Plat was *G, while the Mrs. UA G was *G. Overall India is a great country with a memorable flag airline.

worldwidedreamer

Except that FAT is driveable (i.e. four hours to major airports like SFO/OAK/SJC/LAX/SMF unlike OMA or BOI which are ± nine hours to other, in aggregate at least, much smaller airports like MSP or RNO.

jsloan

Are you suggesting that FAT business travelers would rather fly to SFO and drive, due to the presence of a lounge in which they'd spend maybe 15 minutes if everything goes according to plan?

I didn't even understand the original point -- what would a lounge in FAT have to do with paid F, when lounge access isn't included in domestic F anyway?

Kacee

I was equally confused, and also by the statement that MSP is a "much smaller" airport.

But more importantly (and with no disrespect to FAT flyers) I think most of us are hoping for a slightly more exotic "new UA destination."

FATFlyer

I am like the others in not understanding how distance to other airports and lounges are related.

But I can throw out other examples of a similar sized metro areas with no lounge if you prefer.

For example, Tucson is a similar size metro area to Fresno and 2 hours from PHX. No lounge at TUS.

EWR764

I doubt UA is going into any 'secondary' Chinese markets any time soon... the flood of TPAC capacity from the Chinese point of origin, the lack of JV partners to effectively feed the routes, high operating cost and lower yields (especially XIY) make the market pretty challenging. It seems that UA has mostly abandoned the strategy for now. We'll see how long CTU hangs on... that market is starting to reach maturity with several years of nonstop SFO service behind it.

Similarly, as fuel increases, BKK/MNL/SGN become less likely, IMO, due to their lower-yielding nature than comparable-duration service to HKG, SIN, TPE, etc. SE Asia, BKK in particular, is pressured by the ME3 and local carriers, and conventional wisdom is that nonstop service won't generate adequate premiums over very aggressively-priced one-stop routings available over China, DXB, DOH, AUH and elsewhere.

A new LAX TPAC destination has been rumored for a long time, which would now replace SIN instead of growing the portfolio, but I know UA and LAWA are in discussions for long-term plans, to include a T9 concourse across Sepulveda and access to the TBIT satellite. I wonder if any longhaul expansion from LAX is wrapped in those talks. From what I understand, LAX-SIN was a) not nearly the same premium performer as SFO-SIN, and b) just a bit too long to be economically viable with the 789 year-round. SFO-SIN gets by because the local market is strong, more UA-loyal, and the SFO hub has better connectivity, driving stronger yields. With ETOPS restrictions in play, I wonder how long IAH-SYD will remain year-round service (or entirely)... the logistics of the flight are costly (maintaining a 787 base at IAH essentially to support one route), which I guess militates against anything but year-round service, to justify its existence. We are already seeing frequency reductions.

I think a less-risky approach for longhaul growth is going to be continuing to connect dots to existing stations. I am interested to see how AA's LAX-GRU does this time around, and wonder if UA might add a West Coast or DEN-South America route. ORD-TLV, IAH-ZRH, SFO-BRU, EWR-ICN, EWR-TPE, EWR-SCL, IAD-MXP all come to mind.

We also could see service resume in certain markets, like IAD-EZE (perhaps seasonal), IAH-LOS, IAH-CDG or SFO-NGO.

Just spitballing a bit on the long-haul side.

EmailKid

You mean EK's 6 daily flights to BKK, four of them 380s IIRC

spartacusmcfly

Yes! Can we get back to more exotic locations. At one point a poll was discussed. I believe it had a limitation of 15 choices. I'm pretty new to FT so don't know how to fire up a poll, but it someone does, here are my contributions to the pool of 15 choices. Let's limit the poll to exciting locations that would also have enough business-class volume to justify the route.

EWR - Cape Town
EWR - Moscow
SFO - Manila
SFO - Bangkok
SFO - Bangalore
SFO - Mumbai

EWR764

Yup, tough to compete against that kind of volume flowing over DXB to the dozen or so destinations they serve in North America.

At least one of those 380s is their high-density 615-seater...

EmailKid

Didn't realize they dropped IAH-CDG post merger. Interesting that they kept AMS, also a SkyTeam hub. PMCO kept IAH-CDG even after joining *A IIRC.

EWR764

J.Edward

Oil. Specifically Royal Dutch Shell.

EWR - CPT / don't know if there's the paid J there, particularly compared to JNB. Also, doubt the current political climate in SA is helping boost traffic be it commercial or leisure.

SFO - MNL & BKK / Always understood there to be plenty of demand, just not high yielding demand for these destinations. My guess is UA could make them work with but not at the cost of not serving another higher yielding market.

prestonh

Heck, FAT didn't even have a full service airside restaurant until after the 2002 terminal expansion. Prior to that you could buy muffins and coffee next to the UA gates, and that was even closed during construction (it took up part of the construction space/entrance in the main corridor). There were a few snacks in the 'news shop' but otherwise it was pre-security for a meal. A lounge in FAT, lol and I enjoyed that airport post expansion.

drewguy

A little curious that PVG would be the priority, although perhaps that's because Cathay filled the IAD-HKG route (would have liked United to take that on).