Kacee

You don't think it's better than 1K? Or that there's a better status level (greener grass) at any other US carrier?

SFOdelayed

Aussienarelle

Thank goodness for the rest of us!

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On my SFO-HKG flight yesterday , I had wandered down the back and was talking with the FAs when a gentleman came in and asked if they had anything to eat. They were about to serve the midflight snack to Y but it was meat.

The passanger was a 1K (in Y) and he orders Indian vegetarian (or something like that), it is in his profile for special meals but catering had not bordered his meals for the flight. 13 hours is a long time without a meal when there are two + snack in Y.

I was very impressed by the proactive FA who asked for his reservation to ensure the meal was noted (something about a code) and then he was going to file a report. He also put some "goodies" together for the passenger.

So exemplary service by the FA, with limited resources in the air, but how does United screw that up for a 1K?

5khours

Not to take this to far off topic, but given....

• No more GF
• No more GFL
• Relatively inexpensive domestic F fares
• Never book paid or award economy tickets anymore
• Rarely need to speak to any kind of agent
• Access to United Clubs with Chase card
• Totally noncompetitive international premium product (last two trips were CX and JL F)
• Massive devaluation of mileage redemption for premium partner awards
• Have Pre-Check, GE and ABTC
• Used to be GS, now Platinum.....

I have to say that other than getting to board 15 seconds ahead of other F pax, I see zero difference in treatment or benefit in being GS even compared to Platinum.

GSunitedloyal

BearX220

For the life of me, I don't understand why people flip, flop, and fly so hard to achieve a label that gets them so little, so often from an airline that cannot execute consistently for anyone -- not even its allegedly most valuable customers.

Correction: any customer. Nobody should be vulnerable to ruined reservations, invol downgrades, and the high hand from CS. The idea that these are somehow OK tricks to pull on GMs or regular bog-standard people, or that they are rightfully vulnerable to UA screwups because they don't fly / spend enough, is pernicious. (The sentiment above from GSunitedloyal -- "If it wasn't for Global Services I do not know what I would do!" -- speaks to this directly. Isn't that another way of saying that United is intolerable unless you have GS as a kind of prophylactic shield against its everyday awfulness? What kind of business model is that?)

This. I have concluded nobody can fix United.

SFOdelayed

AceReport

As a UA Gold who is not hub captured (any more). I would attest to the TOD and low F fares as being a large part of this. I often buy-up a few weeks or days ahead of a flight for both myself and MrsAce. I have to assume that there are many others doing the exact same. UA is doing it's best to monetize those seats and I'm one of the people that the tactics are working on.

I have not been status on UA for that many years but I would compare my current mid tier with the customer service I used to expect as a non-status pax 10 or 20 years ago. It seems to be the trend. That said I think UA is worse on consistency then DL but better than AA. The feel I generally get is that a minority segment of UA staff hold on to a certain culture of 'I only do my job not someone else's' and they continue to define their role more narrowly every year. There are IME a majority of UA staff who will go far out of their way to help a situation/customer. It is an enormous organization so there will always be some recalcitrant elements but DL seems to be on the ball with the way staff treat guests across the board, not sure what the fix is but that's my perspective.

bldr1k

It is the result of them selling First at very low prices on many routes as well as TODs on many routes. For example, DEN-SJC on the 31st an M fare is $579 one way. Discounted first is $353. With my last company I would just switch the refundable to FC once I knew the trip was definite. In my new job I can't do this. 3 years ago I would get upgraded 100% of the time in this situation.

The net result of this is that I no longer buy expensive refundable fares and always buy the cheapest advance fare. Excluding international (where I purchase business), my domestic spend on United will be 25-30K less this year than last year.

5khours

Sorry I must have missed something. Could you explain how this is a benefit to someone who never books paid or award economy tickets?

Kmxu

For family members booked in economy and upgraded with GPUs, or for a companion traveling in Polaris (convert T to XN and then applying GPU to award ticket; or something like that).

s0ssos

As others noted, it becomes where you are chasing status for status sake. Sure, there are some benefits. But like levels in games, the most desirable benefit is bring able to say you are at the next level.

5khours

Was there something ambiguous about "never books paid or award economy tickets?"

spin88

As someone who "chased" GS and made a point to take certain trips on pmUA so as to keep GS, the benefits were worth it. Flying 200+K miles, mostly domestically, GS (a) addressing IRROPS proactively, inducing finding me a J/F seat where the issue was UA's (b) upgrading me (at the time I often traveled on last minute Y tickets, high c/mi, but in Y per company policy); and (c) gave me very usable miles, that allowed me to take a family trip (or two) overseas in J each year. Putting up with the particular issues UA presented was worth it, because the benefits made it worthwhile to concentrate my travel on UA.

For me the option was not did I stay GS on UA vs CK/360, the question was whether I flew UA or simply flew whomever offered the best deal/schedule/product at any time.

UA IMHE gutted the benefits of GS in 2012, IRROPS got far worse and the handling far worse too, UA stated to sell upgrades and I found myself in the back on some high fares where TODs took those seats, and UA cut award availability and also dramatically increased the miles required for an award. This combined with gutting the product quality make flying UA not such a good deal. I started flying DL and VX and just paying for F on longer flights. I actually found that I was getting a better experience as a Gold, then PLT on DL than I was as a GS on UA.

There are a certain limited number of customers who not only fly on high fares, but fly on a LOT of them (high spend + high c/mi) AND are potentially "reachable" by UA. Nearly all of these folks are not "chasing status" they are looking for an airline that fits their needs and makes them feel like their business is appreciate. These customers (and the 1Ks flying on higher fares) are not fungible, and United does itself no good when they end up flying DL or better foreign carriers over United.

5khours

+1. I spend a $100k a year on air tickets. UA used to get nearly all of it. Now they get less than 10%. I used to love UA. They had a great hard and soft product and a great FF program. But spin88 hits the nail exactly on the head.....they simply are no longer a good choice for high spend customers who fly a lot.