Mike Jacoubowsky

My miles finally posted, and became DEQMs sometime between 1am and 8am this morning, putting me at 53k... enough for 1P. Guess I gotta change my sig?

Now I just have to figure out whether exit rows are showing up for me or not. If any 1K or 1Ps out there are bored and have nothing better to do, it would be interesting to know if 11/7 #863 SFO-SYD shows any exit row availability. Or, for that matter, MEL-SYD-SFO 840/870 on 11/17.

My status does show as 1P on the UA website.

Never mind! I still have no access to exit-row on seat maps for any flight, at any time. Just checked a bunch of random, including some almost-totally-empty flights, and exit rows are all 'filled." Sigh. Another call to UA MP?

COSPILOT

But when you call you will possibly get a US call center. That 1P perk sure made me smile the first time I called as a 1P. In fact all calls have been routed to US call centers since I hit 1P earlier this year.

By the way, #863 is showing 33b and 33j only. Everything else is taken.
840 - 33a is taken, rest is wide open.
870 - 33a and 33k is taken. 45k is also taken.

Mike Jacoubowsky

Thanks, that's what I needed to know. On the 747, it really doesn't appear to have the greatest exit row options anyway, at least not according to seatguru.com. We're in row 25 anyway, which I like because there's nobody behind us so I can recline my seat without wondering if I'm crunching somebody's laptop screen.

Main thing will likely be that my boarding pass is going to show 2P instead of 1P, so I'll likely be boarding with my lowly 2P cousins. Probably not such a bad way to ease into the ranks of the humble 1P.

gobluetwo

Fyi, similar to your situation, I had to wait for DEQM from a flight segment to post a week after the flight in order to pass the 1P threshold. However, while MP status was correct, the reservations system had apparently not updated. I checked in as a 2P for my flight the following Tue and the phone agent (US-based, btw) said that the systems hadn't synched yet. It was not until Wed that the res system updated and I was finally able to see exit rows and check in as 1P (after calling to have my MP # pulled and re-added - just in case).

gobluetwo

Just another datapoint - goblueMIL was a couple hundred miles short of 1P (49,740 or thereabouts), but was advanced status.

weero

Yes it's outright disgusting .
I don't see this as a contradiction: with massive capacity cuts, maintaining the numbers of 1Ks means to triple them on the services to Asia and Oz etc. 1K is nothing anymore.
And it worked - UA encouraged me to try other airlines and alliances and I did enjoy the experience. So next year, I will fly much, much less on the unloved *A and give a whole lot more business to OW and SkyTeam.

Unless of course UA introduces the 2K or similar.

kkg

I became 1k only a few days before my flight today (was 1P when purchasing the ticket a month ago), and 1k status is reflected without calling MP to remove and re-enter my MP number. Maybe UA's computer is better now.

gobluetwo

Dramatic much? I don't think you can say that the ranks of 1Ks overall are swelling based on what you're seeing here on FT. The real test will be once Feb 2010 rolls around - how many 1Ks will you be seeing at that point? My guess is fewer than you see now. I tend to agree with mahasamatman that those with elite status will be fewer in number compared to recent years.

escog

Just another data point - I'm at 99,192 miles, and I got promoted to 1K. I do have another flight booked in November, so I'm definitely going to make it.

vandalby

Agreed strongly with this statement. I can't believe anyone actually thinks there will be MORE elite passengers next year than there are this year (or, frankly, 2008). It's a pretty naive statement to make and demonstrates a total lack of understanding about what's going on with the airline industry.

So, now 1K is actually 99K. Do people really think there are SWELLS of passengers locked somewhere between 99,000 - 99,999 EQMs out there? That this is causing some massive dilution of the ranks.

Sure, maybe it's a slippery slope...when do you stop...98K...97.5K? Agreed that possibly it sets a bit of a bad precident. But arguing that this is causing dilution is just way off base.

hiflyer66

In the words of Snoop Dog: Hells Naw.

The last I heard, we're in the midst of an agonizing recovery--10 point something percent unemployment and most corporations clamoring to cut costs any way possible (most have done so by cutting out even essential travel).

Thanksgiving traffic, the bread and butter for volume will be down 4% this year. While that may not sound like much, that represents what could be the loss of a narrow profit margin.

The idea is just laughable that United is diluting the ranks by going out on a limb and awarding early 1K status to those within 1,000 EQMs. Anecdotally, the 1K lines at Sydney (a tiny segment like Hong Kong that is, evidently, inelastic) may appear to be very long, but, system-wide, there will be a marked decrease in 1K passengers overall.

So, this early status awarding may be a good gesture on the part of United to maintain a loyal following. Many of the corporations generating 1Ks over the past years have been downsized. The management (and number crunchers) of United obviously are making a
very calculated move to maintain loyalty among the top percentage of revenue generating flyers (whereas many who have been there previously have dropped off the scope).

Sure, a tiny fraction of the elite population may be put off by this perceived dilution of the ranks, but it's a different world out there now. Despite the anecdotal length of the lines in certain markets, the top of the pyramid is much smaller.

The perceived dilution is, in reality, due to fewer flights and mainline routes bumped down to express carriers.

MarkedMan

So, I'm not given to large scale complaining about these sort of things, but someone can surely do the math here. 10% fewer 1Ks, let's say. How many fewer seats, because of both of these factors? Work it out and you'll know how much better or worse it will be to be a 1K after Jan31st. Internationally, until they restore second flights on key long routes out of SFO, say, you're looking at up to 50% capacity cuts on direct flights at least. We ain't losing 50% of 1Ks. Those left are scrapping for preferred seats of one kind or another. If you've been on those flights, you can't miss it. May get a bit better after Jan31st, but I'd say not by a whole lot. Unless of course several folks jump ship

mduell

1K-ultralight @ 98,674 EQM

globetraveler

So my friend is sitting at 49,275 EQM's (as of yesterday) but he has not been granted 1P status as of yet. Would anyone mind sharing how long the status upgrade took?

WineCountryUA

Realize this is not an entitlement and other factors may be playing into UA's decision to grant early status.