I am a segment flyer and will lose the most.
I have earned 2011 1K, so in previous MP program if I can fly 100 EQS and at least 10000 EQM each quarter in 2011 I can get 6 SWUs and 8 CR1s.
Now I can only get 2 CR1s.

Would you say that Global Services are most representative of typical elites - spend least personal money, get most personal benefits?

Right there with you - this is going to be a hard one to adjust to.

Seems like the new UA is aligning itself with Delta - soon, if we are lucky, by 2012 we will have Plus-pesos where SWUs and Miles will be impossible to redeem.

As mentioned in this thread already we need to let United know how we feel about the changes.

Agree and disagree. Yield and RASM which are the 2 metrics used mostly are based on mileage, not on segments. DIrect flying for the same fare nets a higher yield than connecting flying for the same fare. While mileage and revenue have a very loose correlation (unless yield not a variable but a constant, in which case, there is a direct relationship,) segments to revenue is a far looser one. Point to point fares, segments is better than mileage as yield is usually higher this way, but connecting (or running) dilutes the $ per ASM.

Low fare segment running to achieve status is not that difficult, and other that filling unused seats (reducing spoilage at low, but still some income) at low profit fares, isn't really systemically profitable for a carrier. Direct, and high yield if possible traveling nets close to the same miles as segment running at a vastly reduced segment number, for the same $$...that behavior is in the interest of a carrier...to utilize the seats in a way that maximizes revenue. The empty seats now made of the NYC-IAD-CLE-ORD-XNA-IAH-TUS-DEN-SFO-LAX-SAN run will maybe be filled with a NYC-LAX-SAN run, the artificial demand for all the other legs will be gone, and the schedulers can reallocate those aircraft to routes where real demand exists. Remember 6 months ago when routing rules were made stricter? Same concept.

Thanks United (oops, I mean Continental)!

I'm excited about these changes.

Why? I hate flying your third-rate airline. I only fly you the minimum I have to in order to earn my CR-1s each quarter. All of the rest of my miles go to your far superior Star Alliance partners (e.g., Singapore Air).

Now I don't even have to fly 10,000 butt-in-seat miles each quarter to earn CR-1s. I can fly on your partners, earn the CR-1s (albeit fewer than before), and never have to fly on your aircraft again.

This is great!

P.S. Be sure to give the MBA who thought up this asinine idea a huge raise. If you don't how will you get any more such idiotic ideas?

120 Segments for 1K? Well... now I'm screwed. 100 was hard enough. Guess I'd better find a way to fly enough miles?!

i'm in the same boat. talk about being screwed after years of loyalty.

Well, it does seem like a bummer that CR-1s are harder to earn. But with UDU, are they really that necessary? I do fly the p.s. route 10x/year and have always used miles to upgrade with a 9/10 success rate. I've never used a CR-1. Clearly they do seem valuable to many though.

I'm in the position of "wait and see." This first phase of alignment may be a step in the wrong direction for 1K members, but it does bode well for 1Ps. I'm hopeful that new, genuine benefits will show up for 1K flyers.

I'm hoping for some real enhancements and reassurances:
�.keeping Economy Plus. If we lose E+, it will be a deal breaker.
�.keeping Channel 9, and expanding this service to CO metal.
�.fewer 1Ks. That makes UDU more valuable.
�.keeping the UA boarding policy. Please don't touch my red carpet. Let's not have CO's all elites board at once chaos.
�.more SWU instant clearance. Application to lower fares would be nice too.
�.even larger upgrade window for 1Ks and GS
�.complimentary snacks/beer/wine for 1Ks in Y cabin
�.domestic lounge improvements
�.keeping Economy Plus. If we lose E+, it will be a deal breaker.

Blechh!!. While we all have specific circumstances that make different aspects of MP important to us I think in general the mix of benefits in MP has been positive for the widest array of FF's. I fly 110k to 140k,mostly domestic transcon and am certainly not happy about losing CR-1s which provided me with upgrade certainty even with a high level of hits through UDU. But I almost always fly paid business internationally (usually z) and SWUs were useless to me, so I don't care what they do with those. The real issue is the devaluing of the MP experience and our new lords and masters from CO implementing an airline designed to look more like WN than the UA we all are loyal supporters of. Like any business though CO is going to gouge us the most because we are where the money is and that is what will benefit their bottom line fastest. Many of us are captive fliers on UA, living next to IAD what other airline am I going to fly that offers me the most direct connections to the most places that allows me to minimize my travel time and maximize my home time. I don't want to have to travel through DFW or ATL to get anywhere. So I, and probably most of us, are prisoners of the modern hub and spoke air system, trapped into the one dominant airline in our home market. We will be the ones from whom the new UA looks to gain the maximum since we have the least options. Not saying it is right, because it isn't but this is just the first assault of many.

These new "enhancements" are really downgrading 1K status, especially if you fly out of SFO/LAX-JFK because these PS flights can only be upgraded via CR1 or SWU. Will they downgrade PS flights so UDU applies instead?

The dAArk site beckons. Damn loyalty when it's a one way street. When the W fare differential for transpac is 40-50% of the ticket price for the opportunity to play upgrade roulette, Starnet blocking and a myriad of other issues, it's time to bail.

Just sent my email to 1PVoice and posted @UnitedAirlines on twitter. Looks like the FB page is getting lit up as well. Anyone else doing anything about it?

A 70K flier loses a bit since they'll now be a 1P-Lite or whatever the 50K level is going to be while the 75K folks will be above them in the upgrade hierarchy and will also get CR1s. If I was at 70K EQMs I'd make a run for 75K.

Speaking of the future, United should tread lightly while reducing FF benefits for its customers. I say this in view of the reported cancellations of thousands of airlines reservations of passengers who refused to endure the body scanners and/or groping by TSA.

Those cancellations are going to put a major dent in airline profits, especially United's financial statements because United is now the largest domestic air carrier.

Between being degraded and abused by TSA (causing people to not fly) together with devaluations of United's FF benefits, I would think that United would be concerned about the future with respect to not alienating the FF benefits of its best and loyal customers.

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While it will not affect me personally, I am unhappy with the attitude of UA and their "See how the elite program updates benefits you"...it is obvious to all elites that this diminishes the benefits previously provided. There are no increased benefits to anyone except those flying 150,000 miles per year (more CR1s)...but CR1s are useless to me!

I am waiting for the other shoe to drop!

I would say that GS is not the typical frequent flyer, and their ratio of members on this board to those in the gen pop are *Not* proportionate, which goes to show that FT is not a representative cross section of flyers, or even elite flyers. Sure, some members here are above the mean of frequent flyers/benefits, and some are below. That's why I use the term "as a whole" a few times, as I intended not to single out anyone's individual flying patterns as representative of FT members, but as a mode for the group "as a whole."