It’s really more than the ‘Thank you for being 1K’. It’s being recognized by name settling in during boarding or having the purser stop and ask how things are going.
Its seeing Priority tagged bags waiting sitting separately when you arrive at baggage claim.

Wow. Now that is true status!!!

I wonder if they realize they'll lose a ton of (high) elites next year and are trying to retain people with kindness.

THIS

the above is an observation and not a complaint

+ those that complain about complaining! :D Ahh, the internet...

LOL I wonder how that’s working out for them.
Hmmmm Maybe I should reconsider spending $24k since they’re being sooooo nice?

This is too funny.

The only time I get the fake gratitude is when I call the 1K number. No one ever says it to me at the gate, onboard, or in the Polaris lounge, etc. But, then again, I probably don't look like a 1K to them since I am always dressed down and exhibit no trappings of success.

My 1K elite "special treatment" expectations were tempered by a recent experience on a ORD-MUC flight, where I was denied my chosen PDB (Coke ), with the line that they were only offering what was on the tray, but that they would get my preferred drink shortly after take off. I also got some attitude with my denial when I told her that I didn't want anything on the tray. I thought that this was a new "enhancement", so on my return last week, I told the FA that I'll just wait until after takeoff so I can get a Coke. She looked confused and said that I could get a Coke right now. I told her that I thought it was a new policy because I had been denied on the outbound, and she said there was no such policy. Go figure!

By the way, this denial of a soft drink PDB has happened to me more than once, so I really did think it was a new policy.

"What do you call it when the assassins accuse the assassin." -Colonel Kurtz, Apocalypse Now.

But I have experienced MS flight attendants come up to me and shake my hand and thank me for being a UA*G.

I’ve had a similar thing happen flying TATL and TPAC Polaris a couple months ago. Requested the famous old fashioned on both flights and said not available. Fly on a domestic F service from DEN to YYZ no problem. Perhaps I’m being unreasonable expecting a common drink in Polaris J :rolleyes: Meanwhile flying SQ last year in Y from SIN to DPS not only was a meal served but they gladly served me a Singapore sling on request. It’s experiences like these that make me wonder if I should move flying out of UA and towards SQ.

I'd hope this was standard. The stories here make it seem that, suddenly, UA is keenly motivated to recognize your status and loyalty, but a month ago didn't really bother. Am I reading that right?

If you don't like what United is doing with what you perceive as "fake" gratitude, then move on. There are plenty of other airlines to choose from.

Action speaks louder than words (being posted on FT).

You know, it's experiences like yours and mine that make me believe that passengers are really nothing more than a nuisance to UA's international FAs. I mean, on every single domestic flight, even regionals, I get my preferred PDB. How hard would it have been to just go grab me a can of Coke instead of giving me lip? I've had some horrible experiences with international J FAs over the years and I treat them like Nitroglycerin now-i.e. very gently. I always greet them when I board, am friendly, smiling, and deferential, and always comply with whatever orders they give me, no matter how silly.

LOL, with the new requirements in place all the loyalty won't change the fact my dollars/miles will do far better on other airlines. I don't fly for the perks but now that I've experienced UA, EVA, Delta, China Air, China Eastern, Hainan, and JAL as well as AS/DL/UA domestically all the thank yous and smiles are are too little and not enough with the new 1K requirements.

Even my Apple traveling son is considering moving away from UA.

Agreed - I’ve noticed the increase in verbal acknowledgment for both 1K and MM for several months, with several of the phone agents also commenting on how close I was getting to 2MM.

There definitely seems to be a new initiative.

I'm sure Kirby likes these "soft" enhancements, as they add no costs to the bottom line.

And likewise, it has no impact on my merits' based decision that UA will no longer work for my travel and spend patterns.
If FT threads annoy you so much, the same advice holds :)

Not at all. United has been thanking me for being a 1K often, at multiple touch points, for ages. I’ve become inured to it.

Or just pile it on “please, it is I who must thank you. It is an inestimable honor to be your customer. I thank God every day that I, a humble peon, have been elevated to the rank of 1K and *G on United. The great sacrifices of my parents and grandparents have finally paid off.”