Isn't this one of the main point of mergers to increase size and market share thereby increasing pricing power over your customers? This can be done by actively raising prices or reducing benefits that have a cost to provide. This is what UA will do and it should be a surprise to nobody.

I could never understand the cheerleading for this merger from people here on FT, it was never going to make the MP program better or even UA as an airline better from a customer's perspective. Mergers are about increasing the bottom line by decreasing competition and consumer choice. Has there ever been a merger that truly benefited the consumer long term? My prediction is that in a year's time SWU's will be severely restricted by fare class, there will be fewer SWU's given out, E+ will be history, routes will be rationalized, planes will be jammed, prices will go up, but boy oh boy we can say we fly the world's largest airline and they have a cool new paint job.

We should all be thanking our lucky stars that AA is still managing to operate as a stand alone enterprise. Once they merge with someone and shrink their program UA will have no incentive to compete on the basis of a mileage program and will probably create some Delta like program that everyone will hate.

Well, I for one was quite positive about this merger and I had a couple of reasons. First off the just completed merger between DL and NW went really, really bad in my opinion. Then there was CO and they were the star ( pardon the punt ) when they were with ST. And then there was UA, slowly becoming a "classy" airline again. So, my thoughts, the merger will be great. They know how to do it better than DL, they have a great partner in CO and so just building on top of their recently growing strength.
To my surprise DL is getting more and more successful, despite of what I expected. And although besides the downgrade by increasing the hoops for segment fliers and the Regional Upgrades, not much else has happened to the UA/CO merger that indicates a turn to the worst. But it easily is conceivable that E+ does go away ( why are they holding back so long to make an announcement ) and that for many of us will be a dealbreaker.
For me that would be horrible, I just jumped ship from NW, where would I go?
I do, however, have some options out of NRT, but not all of them credit 100% miles. I tend towards Thai, just not sure where to credit my miles to.
Hopefully, UA sticks to E+ and all is good,

Very well said.

But there still seems to be thousands on this board that disagree with you (me not included).

They'll be in for a shock...

I don't think any good has come of any merger in any industry for the consumer in the long run. We are just pawns in the scheme of things.

Thousands agree, thousands disagree, but thousands can also come together to try to stir the ship along a course that they view as more favorable to them, by chanting, "MP + OneP = MP!!", to build a ground swell for E+ and the current SWU, CR1, EQM/EQS 1K qualification rules to stay. In other words, we should request that they keep the better of the two FF programs, which is MP, by far. There is no need to "align" anything, and please spare us the "enhancements". The OneP members have one year to get used to flying more to make top elite in the new UA, but the perks, if they stay as they are under MP, will be much better than those they got as top OneP elites. Seems fair to me.

PARTICULARLY true in your field, yes???

Dave

Yup.

Bruce

That's gotta be the most fascinating freudian slip / malapropism I've ever seen.

While you're 'steering' that ship back to safer waters see if any of these would right the botched metaphor :

Definitions of stir on the Web:

* move an implement through; "stir the soup"; "stir my drink"; "stir the soil"
* move very slightly; "He shifted in his seat"
* stimulate: stir feelings in; "stimulate my appetite"; "excite the audience"; "stir emotions"
* stimulate: stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of; "These stories shook the community"; "the civil war shook the country"
* touch: affect emotionally; "A stirring movie"; "I was touched by your kind letter of sympathy"
* raise: summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic; "raise the specter of unemployment"; "he conjured wild birds in the air"; "call down the spirits from the mountain"
* a prominent or sensational but short-lived news event; "he made a great splash and then disappeared"
* arouse: to begin moving, "As the thunder started the sleeping children began to stir"
* emotional agitation and excitement
* mix or add by stirring; "Stir nuts into the dough"
* bustle: a rapid active commotion

No, seriously, you need to get out more!

e+ is going going gone..... as the program go to CO rather than UA way.

Do you have a link that shows it's ending?

I have heard no official announcements from UA/CO about E+

Here is my reply from the 1K desk after I sent a letter voicing my concerns about, E+, MM, etc.

"...I appreciate your concern about the outcome of United and Continental merger. The merger has been approved, however until we receive the "joint operating certificate" from the DOT we will continue to operate as two separate airlines. We are excited to have begun the initial phases of a merger process that will last 12-18 months..."

The letter went on and did not address anything specifically.

Too late for that...I discovered FT

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