Me too. But others on this board seem to be reading it in the more favorable (to current 1Ks) way. UA could start digging itself out of its self-made hole by "clarifying" this change in the most favorable way. No loss of face; just a misunderstanding.

Hey UA 1Ks,
Just know that when CO Platinums get their SWU, they are valid longer than for 1Ks:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/15180884-post261.html

These are the SWU earned in 2010... rather than expiring 12 months out like SWU awarded to 1Ks, they don't expire until 2/29/12, a fixed date.

That's not how I read the official CO page announcing the change:

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...OnePassChanges

"System-wide upgrades issued in 2011 will be valid 12 months from the date of issue."

Edit: what you said only applies to 2010-earned CO SWUs, going forward it's the same for both systems.

After 20 minutes on hold with the M+ elite desk, the word from on high as it were is: No one will earn CR-1s in 2011 unless and until you reach the 75K EQM/90 EQS threshold, at which point you get 2 CR1s. After that, you receive 2 more CR1s at each subsequent 25K EQM/30 EQS threshold.

Lame to say the least.

Agreed. If our prior year results counted toward our CR-1 earnings in the next year I would be fine. So a couple examples:

Flew 120 segments, 60,000 miles in 2010: No Cr-1s for 2011 until you hit 75,000.

Flew 75,000 miles in 2010: 2 CR-1's earned in January 2011, and 2 more for each additional 25,000 miles flown.

Flew 100,000 miles in 2010: 4 CR-1's earned in January 2010 and 2 more for each additional 25,000 miles flown.

That's a nice way of handling it. I would accept that explanation. In fact I though one UA exchange of information did present it something like that. But if that's what they meant, they need to start recruiting better MBAs focussed on marketing and communication. Heck, just hire some one from the U.S. based 1K desk to explain it to us. No need for an MBA to screw it up and cost you millions of dollars lost in top flyer loyalty.

While I would like that, I don't think it makes sense as an explanation of what UA intended. Because for the miles you flew in 2010, you already earned CR-1s in 2010 for it, so why would UA also give you CR-1s in 2011 based on your 2010 flying?

See my post above. It's clearly not what UA intended.

Bottom line is that what you fly in 2010 has no effect on earning CR1s in 2011.. You want 2 CR1s in 2011? Fly 75K EQM/90 EQS. Want more? Fly another 25K EQM/30 EQS beyond that. Period.

The best way is the allow 2011 1Ks to earn their CR-1s at every 25k miles starting at 1 January 2011 and to allow non-1Ks to earn their CR-1s whenever they reach 75k miles in 2011.

If you "don't want to" dare anyone to do something to hurt your company, then why are you doing exactly that?

Yeah I think the e-mail was pretty clear in stating what the phone people told you. I think the new policy sucks, but has been stated quite explicitly, such that a change requires an actual change and can't be shoehorned into a "clarification." :-/ Not that I think UA would do either, because UA seems clearly intent on "equalizing" MP and NonePass by giving MP members the shaft until MP is no better than NonePass. Unless AA actually started offering EXP matches...then UA would probably respond with some changes.

Right. Except what they clearly want to do is give out fewer CR-1s next year to those who fly less than 150K EQM/180 EQS.

Thanks for repeating what has been discussed on this thread for the last couple days!

I like this better. ^

It has always been the case. If you want CR1 for the current year, fly on the current year. For 2010, it was 2 CR1's per 10k BIS miles per quarter in case you are not aware of it.

UNITED PR made the first post to this thread. 760+ posts later, despite the uncertainty and apparent need for clarification found in so many subsequent posts, he/she has not made a single additional post. "Hit and run"....absolutely amazing.

Yeah, I feel the same way I am at 70k and would have fit in another 5k this year if there were a 75k tier.

On the upside, next year's 75k tier should work out great for me.

I feel like you haven't followed the thread very closely even though you "thanked" as219 for repeating info in it...there was a reason in context for everything he said.

Let's compare SWUs and CR1s
SWUs: 6 at 100K/120EQS, 2 more every 50K/60EQS
CR1s: 2 at 75K/90EQS, 2 more every 25K/30EQS

See the comparison, I can say now earning SWUs are much easier than CR1s among most of us. They are even when reach 150K/180EQS.
I am afraid this is just the beginnng. They just use less impact CR1s to test our response, and the next target might be SWUs!!!

Could you imagine that might happen in the future:
SWUs: 2 at 100K/120EQS, 2 more every 50K/60EQS
CR1s: 2 at 75K/90EQS, 2 more every 25K/30EQS

I am glad AA still keep 8 eVIPs so the chance to change from UA would be slim but certainly not impossible.

Just my 2 cents.