cricketer

I agree that they should at least email GS to say "hey, we're not forgetting about you in all of this" - but I'm not sure how much they would or should really say beyond that. It's an invitation only program in theory, and they get to invite whomever they believe it's worth inviting. There's no reason to believe anything other than that they will do the same for 2021. The criteria will likely be modified, and it makes complete sense to me that they would define that at year end.

goalie

Bolding mine: Didn't el jeffe say the same thing about E+ and then "miraculously" change his mind?

LIH

Didn't Kirby actually admit (while he was at AA) that the GS program had really lapped them for HVFs? Didn't he explicitly state that they missed the importance of a program like that?

manstein58

I emailed the GS desk to tell them that we we had here was an utter failure to communicate to a valuable customer group. This left the very real impression that this group was undervalued, etc, etc, etc. I received a tepid response that we would receive some news later in the year and that "earned" GS's would get 1K membership under new system. As I passed those milestones already, this was no comfort. United Corporate Communications Team: See me after class!

united 1k flyer

calling it now United Global services will be no longer after this year. It is way to expensive of a program. If I had to guess it is probably 3-5x the cost of a 1k membership for United due to all the benefits that can take away paid business class tickets and not to mention all the GS staff and dedicated checkins.

n8-the-gr8

Agreed that the GS staff and check-ins are expensive but in the next 1-2 years, I doubt United will be selling out their international premium cabins like they used to so the marginal cost is much more minimal than the opportunity cost of displacing a potential paying passenger in a world where there's tons of demand and businesses flush with cash to send all their execs in paid business class all over. Sure they can do same-day paid upgrades and the like but if they want to extract a premium from those upgrades, plenty will not take the offers.

HoyaSFOIAD

There’s an awful lot of catastrophizing on this thread. The old flying adage of “aviate, navigate, communicate” applies well here. First and foremost, they need to continue to ensure the company itself can avoid a near-to-medium term worst case scenario such as bankruptcy and or truly horrific workforce reductions. Second, they need to figure out how to set themselves up for longer term sustainability in a travel environment that will be nothing if not unpredictable and dynamic. THEN they need to communicate. It makes perfect sense to me that they would communicate with the vast majority of MP members first. There’s plenty to still figure out regarding what to do about GS and frankly, I don’t see how they could possibly have the clarity or information at hand yet to make such a decision. I have a hard time of finding it anything beyond abundantly silly to handwring about GS status when most of us can’t even leave our homes save for the necessities.

Where I do agree to some extent with some on here is that UA is lacking the EQ that would be a nice to have right now.

villox

One of the best posts I’ve seen on FT in a long time.

Boghopper

sorry, don’t buy the “oh poor precious executives” routine. They are perfectly capable of acting on, and understanding, their self interest, What part of “aviate, navigate, communicate” includes a giant giveaway for 1k and below and nothing otherwise? If things are so scary and uncertain how could they have possibly made such a momentus decision? The answer is that they are red in tooth and claw and not concerned at all about the quotidian concerns of mere mortals. The decision they already made has far larger implications than for what others have said is a mere 5% of their revenue. Their contempt is clear, and no surprise now that Kirby is at the helm. The “communicate” part of your rubric could be a simple message to gs members telling them that they value their business in their uncertain times blah blah blah. The fact that they can’t even bring themselves to spout the usual corporate pablum speaks volumes. We self loading cargo are completely captive to the genius of their route network. Or so says master Kirby, my guess is that gs has a big haircut coming. Whether that’s good for the business is not to be comprehended by mere mortals like me, but I’ll be telling people who would qualify for gs to hedge their bets and qualify for top tier in two programs rather than bother with gs. If gs sticks around and is worth having there’s always the usual status challenge early next year.

who’s taking bets on whether MP gets “kirbyized”? Never waste a good crisis. In the new world order HVFs are the ones who get conned into paying for priority security AND priority boarding AND checked bags AND seat selection. Ancillary revenue is the new El Dorado.

manstein58

Thoughtful as far as it went but missing the bigger point. Basic "we know you're out there" communication is a key but overlooked corporate skill. That United made the effort to placate a large swath of its MP base without even tipping its hat toward its most valued customers- a short note saying we have not forgotten GS would likely have sufficed- is screwing up simple blocking & tackling

small ring

If GS disappears, as forecast in many of the previous posts, I think I might actually be relieved. I have been GS *every* year since it began. I can tell you that I think I will be a bit relieved. On MANY occasions, I have picked the least optimal flights in order to stay in UA metal. Also, I have missed out on higher quality products (ie better business/first) just to stay in UA metal ... and usually at a higher cost.

Clearly, I do not have the discipline to quit chasing GS on my own ...

fumje

Regarding speculation about cutting GS --

At its core, GS is an incentive and marketing program. It provides generous benefits to flyers who generate a high level of revenue.

However, everything about demand for air travel has changed. Right now, no one is generating the revenue for UA that they used to do. Although I certainly agree with others that some clearer communication to acknowledge customers' uncertainty would be a good touch, fundamentally they're going to have to take some time to figure out what the future looks like. If next year demand is still severely repressed, it isn't so likely that the GS program can continue without significant changes. However, if next year has some kind of return to the previous normal, I wouldn't be surprised to see them carry status for a year and treat this one as a wash.

HNLbasedFlyer

If GS aren't flying - then that person isn't particularly valuable to them. Someone valuable in the past is not indicative of who will be valuable in the future - especially in these times.

UA knows corporate travel won't return to 2019 levels for what will be years. A massive scale back of the program makes sense only to be reserved to people actually flying or committed corporate contracts when the crisis is over.

I think the GS program is due for a massive overhaul on who qualifies. If there are 20,000 or whatever GS today, they know those same 20,000 aren't going to be flying at the same levels in the future.

HoyaSFOIAD

I touched on it in the last paragraph. The EQ part. Agree at least a hat tip would have been nice. I fall more on the side of the fence that I’d rather them be making sure there will be, in fact, a hat to tip.

ironmanjt

Excellent point, but remember just a few days ago all elite members were totally fine with waiting to see how this all played out - because things are so uncertain.

Then, UA made a decision (probably provoked by DL) to remove that uncertainly for 99%+ of elite members. To do that without thinking about the top 1% of your customers is a communications misstep.