dilanesp

Yeah, there's a pose in these discussion boards that makes it sound like UA is flying nothing but 777's with 10 across seating. The majority of UA's fleet is not 777's, and the seats are comparable to its competitors.

bmw303

Disagree. Take DL for example. The hard product and the soft product (service) I believe is considerably better. United has tried to improve, but is still a bit below Delta's standard, and far below that of many foreign carriers. United however has had (in my opinion) the stronger rewards program (relative to Delta) which mitigates the worse product. Once E+ goes the way of DL however, there really is very little reason for you to be a UA Gold vs. Star Gold vs. Gold anywhere else.

jsloan

That’s a fair point, although plenty of DL flyers will disagree. I’ve flown DL a few times over the last couple of years and never really came across impressed. (My favorite was the FAs who didn’t even bother to do a cabin check prior to landing at MSP, so the guy next to me in the exit row kept using his laptop, on his open tray table, until touchdown).

If DL works better for any particular person, by all means, they should switch. And I can see a definite reason for someone to value UA Silver or Gold status over DL Silver or Gold due to the E+ policy — if I have to start paying to guarantee E+ on UA, I’ll compare the all-in price with DL’s all-in price, and there will be less of a built-in advantage for people.

But for many people on this board, flying anyone other than DL means either spreading their flying out to several airlines or spending a lot more time in transit. There’s a reason the upgrade list on SFO-ORD is often over 100 names long. Few people are flying SFO-MSP-ORD on DL instead of SFO-ORD on UA.

John Aldeborgh

Why are they reducing the benefits of the MileagePlus program? Because the level of competition has been reduced through the various mergers. Plus, most people book United out of habit or because the devil you know is better than the one you don’t. And yes of course, because it’s the cheapest or most convenient.

Air travel has become mass transit, a commodity. Basically loyalty program are window dressing with the exception of the very top spenders (Global Services) who keep the front cabin filled. With a credit simple card fee of $75 or a E+ subscription for a few hundred you get most of the benefits.

if you can get beyond the emotional need for status and apply some creativity in choosing your credit card the loyalty programs offer little advantage.

Repooc17

Are we still talking about C+/E+? Most non-US carriers have PE.

Soft and hard products between C+/E+ are not materially different on board. Where Delta shines is the experience throughout the cabin; for example, the entire main cabin, including C+ would get a meal on transcon flights (other than red-eye); Delta also boards C+ as a separate BG ahead of the rest of the main cabin. The hard product is largely the same.

tallasadoor

Fair points about overall fleet, and I dont mind a 17" seat for a 3 hr flight with E+

Looking at this selfishly, I do 90% intl, and the 773 and -9 are uncomfortable, even in E+ .

AeRoSpaceman

While this is true, you do not get free premium snacks and alcoholic beverage(s) on UA E+.

FlyerTalker70

p.s. you do get this perk on certain routes like EWR > SFO

MSPeconomist

When DL first introduced C+, an elite could bring up to nine people (self + eight) on the same PNR into C+ seats, or self + one (separate PNRs, by calling). Some people were unhappy because unless tickets were purchased far in advance on many flights, elites (especially business travelers) buying more expensive tickets closer to the travel date were completely closed out of C+. So DL changed the rule to elite + one.

There has also been some discussion about whether companions should be allowed to keep their C+ seats if the elite is upgraded to FC since the reason for the free courtesy C+ seating was primarily to please the elite by enabling companions (and especially couples) to sit together in C+. There's also been some discussion about whether the companion with the courtesy C+ seat should be entitled to the preferred C+ seat (perhaps deliberately selecting to sit far apart in two aisle seats) versus whether the companion privilege should mean seats together, with one of the pair taking a middle seat on aircraft with a 3-3 configuration.

Kacee

IME DL FAs can be extremely lax about enforcing cabin safety rules, and I don't like it at all. That said, IME it's overall a better domestic product than UA's.
I've been doing some no status flying on AA and it's been surprisingly okay.

VFR

I suspect that kicking companions out of E+/C+ is going to be a non-starter. "I'm sorry, your partner was upgraded to first class, but we didn't have a seat for you there, so we had to move you back to E-."

DL still seems to sell out of C+ a few weeks before departure on most routes I fly, so we might still see some tinkering, either in the form of changing C+ upgrade rules or adding more C+ seats, from Delta. They've also done a lot of branding work to convince folks that C+ is an "upgrade," since they seem to know that upgrades to F on business routes are not particularly common.

My suspicion is that UA will change to an "E+ fare" instead of just having E+ seats, because an upsell at booking seems less like nickel and diming: "I decided to buy E+ because it was only $60 more and I thought it was worth it to be comfortable." vs an upsell at seat selection: "I just paid $200 for this ticket and now they want to charge me $30 per flight for just a little more legroom?" More appeal to infrequent/uninformed travelers, less appeal to frequent travelers/FlyerTalk posters.

RobOnLI

On a LGA-DEN flight today the lead FA announced that E+ wasn't full and if anyone would like to sit in an E+ seat between rows 7-21 to contact an FA and pay $129. What they didn't announce was that only middle E+ seats were available. I didn't hear of anyone taking them up on the offer. Flight time 3hr48min today.

I don't know how the price differential would have worked if you bought this outright per findark original post. Would it have been cheaper to buy ahead of time? Buy as part of a bundle? I have no idea since I get E+ for free.

I do see United making changes to free E+ if they follow through with this. Probably will be free to GS/1K at booking and then everyone else at a later period (maybe when they're CPU window opens?). Just a guess. I have no inside knowledge.

-RM

bmr12

I suspect you’re right, and when they do, it’s “Goodbye, United!”

jjmoore

This is absolutely the biggest downgrade in MM / GS benefits I will go through. Ending up in Y- on long haul int'l without paying hundreds of $$ into a seat with 3-4" extra leg space as a GS / 1K will be a slap in the face.

Now as a MM, I will be sitting in the rear of the plane unless I shell out $$. Next thing on the docket will be to remove free checked baggage, which would render MM / *G useless once I lose my 1K status in the future.

Being based in MCO, at least I have options, and may think about adding some AA to my routines, as they have quite a few direct flights to the west coast, and have a hub just down the street in MIA.

narvik

It hasn't happened........................................y. e.t.