Yeah - I think UA's realized they're giving big discounts to some companies and some GSs at those companies w/ little personal $ skin in the game are shrinking profit a too much.

No reason to reward a captive audience! https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35908873-post589.html

But some of the response suggest UA may have use too broad of a brush if the corporate members were not 100% captive and have ability to chose other carriers. For the 100% captive this might be a viable response but if not, it may backfire unless other factors keep them captive (route, schedule, ..). Or if UA offer sufficient discounts to drive out the alternatives / competitors.

Never underestimate the power of self interest.

I still think the demographic here on FT isn’t representative of the larger GS universe.

The four GS I know from my previous team all lost it this year with well over $50k in spend and not one of them cares / “pursued” it / will change their flying at all because of this.

We’re unique birds.

I would say the same thing except for having the opposite conclusion. People on FT are so airline loyalty captive, that FT posters here want every reason to not leave UA. Even the folks who lost GS, would rather have a challenge and spend 18k for GS again when they were deemed not worthy in UA’s criteria.

For FT, having some mystical loyalty status is catnip for that airline.

For rest of the world and consumers, price and schedule are the most important reason to fly; which brand of airline is second.

I’d add in comfort of the seat to some degree for those buying business but I think you’re 100% on this. Every time I start talking points with non FT people you can see their eyes glaze over in seconds - and these are very frequent travelers.

Don’t get me started on people who think elites are driven away by domestic F meals.

True. Over 100 people at my company got dumped as GS. None of us are required to fly on United. I’ve moved all my flying to a competitor. And shifted all my credit card spending off my United Club card. Most of my coworkers are doing the same thing. It’s not difficult at all, and frankly, I’m finding the competition to provide better service in many respects. Does United care? I doubt it. They currently aren’t having any trouble filling seats. It’s all business. They made a business decision and their customers accept it or move on. Loyalty is a buzzword that really doesn’t mean much in either direction. What matters more are the benefits gained in both directions. When one side (or both) feels they are losing more than they are gaining, “loyalty” disappears.

I’d suggest if you’re that familiar with the spend and elite status of 100 coworkers AND know their future plans your company might be a BIT of an outlier…which to me would suggest UA probably looked at this unique case in detail before making their decision.

End of the day UA has kept their decision-making process quite murky, which seems to be exactly what they want.

I’ll add that when frequent fliers realize that their business to an airline doesn’t really matter regardless of spend, and is replaceable, then they have finally found frequent flier freedom without constraints.

The issue is always, “ I have x amount of spend and must mean something to that company”is such a fallacy in logic, that the sooner we realize this, the better off we are. The chase of status is hard to stop.

You won’t know what’s out there until you leave the comfort zone.

It didn’t take long for word to get around when United made its shift in GS invitations. I work with several thousand frequent flyers. Many are members of the invitation only status levels of American and Delta. I’d say almost all the rest have at least the status equal to 1 K at multiple airlines. Myself included. On my flight today, there were four of us sitting in first class on a non-United 737-800. Two were members of that airline’s invitation only status program. Two were former GS. If I were still GS I would have flown United today. Instead, I flew on a competitor. I got home at roughly the same time and the ticket price was about $20 less than a United ticket for the same travel.
Is my company an outlier? No idea. But I do know United’s reputation took a hit with the people I work with. Not so much their decision to change their murky GS invitation rules. But the fact that they waited to reveal the policy change without any forewarning and at the end of the year was seen as a real screw job. Since all of us can choose to fly on whatever airline we want, United will have a much harder time maintaining our business in the near term future.

Last Friday Feb 2nd I was the only GS on the flight, busy Friday night into SFO. Same flight in January, 8 came forward. This recent flight was oversold and zero upgrades. N of 1, but perhaps the herd has indeed been thinned.

This week you’re hard pressed to find a premium seat on SFO-EWR in either direction throughout the week. With premium demand this high doesn’t seem they are stressing.

I was looking to book today and found the same thing. J0 on the majority of flights all week. If anything this bodes potentially well for those who do get GS.

Agree with all of this. I have fully switched to AS, which some people said was cutting off my nose to spite my face. Adorable sentiment. AS has been fantastic, the matched me to their highest status, and if there’s an irrops issue, welp, United can be my backup. 12 transcons on AS so far this year. Good experience, not a single issue.

I guess I'm one of those people you refer too -- yes we are the 1% -- and we are also the exceptions.... As someone that lives in both Japan and the US and commutes monthly -- our needs are unique -- and GS status with UA offers one very compelling benefit that saves us a ton of money -- XN to PN saves us $10k per trip -- it's a simple financial transaction to us -- and UA clearly values that.... We take 12 trips per year and cost UA virtually nothing I guess -- we are the customers they want - for now..... They assume they will get all the other business they are used to - but they've identified the business they could easily lose -- very short term focused -- but well played....

It’s nice you consider UA a backup now, but with transcons often sold out a week in advance lately you sure can’t count on that.