You need to read the whole thread. SAPGUY is telling people they shouldn't complain and posture about them keeping E+ going forward and if you are dissatisfied "they should move to another carrier." All I said was I commend people for letting UAL know what they will lose if they kill E+ because if they hear from enough people, they will be less likely to kill it. But, whatever.

As for having information versus speculation. I have it in writing from UA that A DECISION HAS NOT BEEN MADE AND THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE IT WILL GO AWAY. Based on this, making UAL aware of how much people value the project seems wise. But, perhaps, you and SAPGUY are of the same ilk and think those hearing 50/50 are overreacting!!

I'm afraid you're right unfortunately and considering the switch to AA myself. I would have hoped that UA senior management would be sufficiently astute to avert such mass exodus by seeking to identify and preserve at least some of the most valued MP perks, but they seem to be feeling arrogant at this time given the years of capacity cuts resulting in historically high load factors. This will eventually change and they may be sorry if the alienate and ultimately lose a material amount of their most loyal customers.

Like I said, UACO has a unique opportunity to create a truly leading airline that will seamless and efficiently take passengers from one area of the globe to another because the two airlines' route complement each another so well. However, given that two airlines and management styles will need to be merged, there are lots of decisions that need to be made. Making money being the bottom line for all businesses, there will be temptation by the merged airline's senior management to be "creative" to try to maximize profit. Unfortunately, this goal does not always have the customers' interest at heart. For instance, they might consider E+ -- which all UA MP members just love, and even competitors have acknowledged to be a major strength of UAL -- and say that it would cost too much to fit CO's fleet with E+ or that revenue could be increased by putting more seats into UA's fleet in lieu of E+. Just like that, E+ would be on the cutting block.

However, if we agitate sufficiently to let UACO management know just how much E+ means to us (heck, as a lowly 2P for a few years, I stuck with UA simply because of E+!), they might think long and hard before sacrificing E+ at the altar of corporate greed. My sense is that it is better to prevent than to try to rectify because things that have changed seldom go back to exactly the way they had been before... Mass exodus would cause UACO to change or reverse course but I bet you that something would already have been lost in the process. I, for one, am very happy with UA of the last few years because it took me wherever I wanted to go in relative good style as a top elite. I will miss that if things should change drastically as a result of the merger, so let's make our voices heard!

Just called 1k desk to try and extend an SWU (unfortunately I have 8 left :( although I was lucky enough to be in paid c/f on LH and SQ for all my long hauls this year). They told me the policy has changed and they will no longer extend any SWUs. Anyone else find something similar? I hope this is not another devaluation data point.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you need to call MP CS, not 1K, in order to extend one SWU.

I'm hoping nothing has changed, I want to extend one SWU after I requal for 1K next Sat.

We flew coach one way and business the other. For meal choices in Business, no consideraton of UA status. For lounge, we got in anyway as Star Alliance. Certainly no special arrangements avail for seating in coach. Not combined yet at all. I would not expect to get upgrades either. That I would really like. Looks like 2012 for that. Our luggage met the Continental requirements and they don't charge for first bag in international anyway.

Thanks for making mahasamatman's point.

Nothing has changed if you requalified for 2011.
Your JAN.2011 should be extend to April 2011 only .

I have been travelling since 1 Nov. Just returned on 30th Nov,Today I was aduiting all my Airline & hotel accounts and my JAN. Expiring SWU were auto extend. I had requalified in July 2010.

Check your account. If JAN,. 2011 SWUs have not been extended to April 2011, just call MP Desk. Not 1K Reservation.

I believe that it is only ONE SWU that is extended. Have you experienced otherwise?

Lurker :)

Call MP, not 1K desk. Two days ago I had one of my remaining SWUs pushed back until the end of April.

This doesn't make any sense to me. Clearly, they have to go one way or another; it would be terribly difficult to manage a mixed fleet and deal with selling E+ on flights that might get a plane swap with no E+. But UA and CO have roughly the same size fleets, so they either have to retrofit the front of the Y cabin on all the UA planes, or retrofit the front of the Y cabin on all the CO planes. It's the same amount of effort! But the economics aren't good - one way they lose a bunch of revenue seats, the other way they gain them. The E+ upsell is peanuts to what they can get from a revenue passenger sitting in the seat if they can keep their planes full.

Unfortunately, it seems like it would be more practical for them to retrofit the UA planes since they have to go in for a complete repaint anyway. CO planes need minimal changes to reflect the new paintjob.

Your point about competitors noticing E+ is very important. CO knew about its existence before the merger; E+ is not a secret. Even if CO mgmt wasn't privy to UA's E+ economics (they probably weren't) they surely had done their own analysis years ago.

If it's taking UA 2+ years to retrofit C cabins on 70-80 planes, I can't imagine how long it's going to take to fix this E+ issue. It's going to be painful for a while, not knowing whether your E+ seat is going to exist when you board.

Do you have any numerical analysis (even if speculative) to back up this assertion?

I do not see the disagreement, as you just stated what I had surmised, and why this is a key decision point for UACO. A mixed fleet is probably a no-no, so they can either do E+ across the board (converting the CO fleet) or do no E+ at all (removing it from the UA fleet). Since mechanically the two options might cost the same to implement, other factors, such customer satisfaction would need to weigh in if E+ is to be preserved at the expense of more revenue through increased seating capacity...

Sorry, I realized after I posted this that there was the potential that it came across that I didn't understand your POV, when in fact I don't understand CO's. I think they knew from the beginning what they intend to do (not necessarily eliminate E+ but definitely not expand it to CO's fleet). I can't see this being a good decision.

The Handwriting Is On the Wall
 

Smisek is first and foremost a cost-cutter. If he is willing to mercilessly cut the compensation (benefits-adjusted) of his employees, there is absolutely no doubt that he will trim UAs "bloated" elite benefit programs. E+, while garnering loyalty, may not actually have been beneficial to UA's bottom line, and he has previously stated that UAs SWU program is "overly generous". I just can't see how this will be in any way positive for current 1Ks, or any elite for that matter.

The only possible saving grace will be if the other carriers see an opportunity to poach UACO elites and offer some powerful incentives to switch.