So I've been thinking about this more. And the above is true for new 1Ks. The equivalent statement for current (and requalifying) 1Ks would read as follows:

"Today, in order to earn two (2) Regional Upgrades, you first need to reach 100,000 elite status miles (EQM) in 2010 and then fly 10,000 additional flight miles on United in a quarter in 2011. Under the new system, you first need to reach 100,000 elite status miles (EQM) in 2010 and then fly 75,000 additional flight miles in 2011..."

There is absolutely no way (none!) that this can be interpreted as a benefit for current (and requalifying) 1Ks. Even 1Ks who will eventually earn 150k (which is neutral...you need to fly 175K to for this to be a net positive) will probably have to wait longer to get 4 CR-1s. Under the old system, you'd get four CR-1s after six months. If you have an even flight pattern, it would take you eight months to fly 100k miles. and earn 4 CR-1s.

I honestly believe that the folks at 77 w. wacker can't figure this out and don't understand why people are so angry. Disappointing.

Exactly.

I think they understand perfectly well: They're giving us fewer CR1s and making us wait until much later in the year to get them. What's not to understand? :td:

Got practically the same boilerplate response to my email to the 1K desk.

Salt wasn't enough, now they've added lemon juice. :eek:

Even though I qualified for 1K almost a month ago, I just got the welcoming email. It includes this statement:

"Congratulations! There's never been a more exciting time to be an elite."

Yes, there was - it was last week!

All I can say is that once somebody tries this model on a large enough scale the genie will be out of the bottle and all FFPs will quickly follow suit. When that happens the kind of benefit dilution we're seeing now will seem tame in comparison.

The days of using miles/segments as measurements of loyalty are numbered. Millions of people are awash in miles that they can't use and us so-called 'elites' are treated as anything but....

I still haven't gotten the e-mail from United! I did get one from CO, though I have shunted most of my earning to UA in anticipation of program integration.

The changes are pretty much a wash for me, but I sympathize with all complaining here - it is definintely a devaluation for very frequent flyers.

I'm not clear on low I will be able to best use my upcoming batch of "UA" SWU's, since UACO is rapidly clearing out UA-branded flights in my home IAH market. I suppose that the CO branded flights (connecting to UA TPACS/TALTS) would be elegible for UDU, but my success rate for UDUs on flights of one carrier for which my associated number is of the other brand has been dismally low(0/8) despite being both CO Plat and UA 1K. It definitely makes a difference in getting the upgrade - better to have the branded carrier and FF number the same.

As others have noted, this bodes ill for future developments.

I don't know. I think there is a chance 1Kvoice is being sincere when they send that example out and say "hey, it's better for you. before you had to fly 110,000 miles first...now you only have to fly 75,000" But perhaps I'm just trying to be an optimist and the reality is they think we really are that stupid...

My husband and I are both 1K's and have had an awful time this year getting upgrades or even international business class awards. Flew NRT to SFO last week in econ plus. I split our awards into one ways as I knew when I booked them that our chances of getting business class were between slim and remote. Got it outbound only.

Also flew Continental to Palau from Tokyo in business class. Having 1K status (Mr Karen2 is also a Million Miler) meant nothing in terms of the order of choosing a meal. We were dead last.

My big hope with the merger is that some of the Micronesia awards with Continental will stay the same and not run up to Star Alliance cost.

I think these changes are on the net slightly positive for me. I rarely qualify as 1K (twice in the last 15 years, and needed DEQM to do it the second time) but almost always qualify as 1P. The new 75K tier gives me an achievable target to shoot for and thus affects my decisions whether to choose UA or non-UA at the margin. Getting to 0P status (75K) in 2011 will mean that I have a moderate shot at UDU (flying out of elite-rich SFO) in 2012 by separating myself from the larger pack of 1P members. In my mind, affecting my behavior at the margin is exactly what a corporate loyalty program is supposed to be trying to do... get me to decide in favor of that company in the cases where it's not totally clear cut one way or another for other reasons.

I feel for those of you whose flying patterns routinely put you into the "donut" in the new program where the the number of CR-1 upgrade you earn will be decreased. However, consider that there are probably many more fliers who under the new scheme will earn CR-1's by getting into the 75K-100K range than there are fliers in the donut who will be earning fewer CR-1's than they would have in the past. I expect that there will be about as many total CR-1's issued under the new scheme as would have been issued under the old scheme. People already complain about how CR-1's don't do them any good because they are not clearing; then it is consistent for United to architect the new program so as to not flood the market with more CR-1's.

Upgrades are a big deal to me as to many other FTers, and I've had excellent success with UDU on UNited this year despite flying out of elite-rich SFO (albeit as a 1K this year, which won't continue), and I'm 2/2 on Continental flights as well. But I also value my status for faster processing through shorter elite lines, early boarding, improved customer service handling during irregular operations and priority on standby waitlists (get me home or to where I'm going!), usually priority if I want to volunteer to be bumped, etc. The announced changes don't significantly impact any of these benefits, except insofar as perhaps as a 0P I might find myself slightly better off than I had been as a 1P. Yes, in the years to come when I might not make it to 75K, as 1P and not 0P, I'll be slightly worse off than I had been in the past when I was 1P along with everybody else who didn't make it all the way to 1K, but I find that change quite equitable.

I rarely travel with a companion. Those of you who often do and complain that fewer CR-1's means that you will not be able to upgrade your companion and therefore both of you will be sitting in the back, please consider that under the old scheme where you got more CR-1's, when you were able to both sit up front, potentially you displaced *TWO* people like me who might have successfully upgraded via UDU or upgraded ourselves using our own CR-1's. You perceive that United is rewarding your loyalty less, and therefore United is taking a chance of losing some of your business; but by rewarding two people like me more (with a greater upgrade success rate), United may gain more of our business. This isn't obviously a net loss for United, and it may very well be a net gain.

Oh, and like many lurkers on this thread, I am neither Chicken Little nor hopelessly complacent. Instead I remain watchfully waiting. I don't consider myself married to United Airlines or Mileage Plus, but I recognize other pastures aren't necessarily greener, and those that are today won't necessarily stay that way, either.

I just had the same reaction when opening that email, then I read this! ^

and it's going downhill fast.

"A more exciting time" is not the same as "a better time".

Same comment for using "systemwide upgrades" instead of "SWU".

It's sincere for non-1Ks. For existing 1Ks it's false. We earn two CR1s after 10K miles, not 110K. There is a minor distinction in that CR1s are now based on EQMs rather than BIS. I guess they don't want me flying their planes. As long as it's an earning fare class my next flight to Asia is on Singapore Air.

And my response from 1K Voice had exactly the same idiotic boilerplate. Don't they understand they are addressing existing 1Ks, for whom the new CR1 rule is absolutely no benefit? What's funny is that they probably have some marketing person who thinks the 75K giving CR1s "earlier" would actually be plausible to somebody paying attention.

Agree completely.

Certainly much better than this awful enhancement. Still not great, but at least a compromise.

+1. Do they even bother to understand a current 1K's turn of fate?