Spiff

CNN Article

"Matt Hewitt flies at least once a week for work, and he usually travels on United Airlines because its routes are the most convenient for him.

But with three of the carrier's unions threatening to strike, Hewitt said he's is concerned about booking flights and taking advantage of the bonuses he's accumulated.

"I'm spending all my frequent flyer miles as soon as possible," Hewitt, a salesman, said Thursday after flying to Chicago from Sacramento, California."

Baze

Knee jerk reaction if you ask me.

JohnSanders

Merely reposting someone else's opinion is of little value.

SealBeach

The people shedding their MP miles as quickly as they can are probably 1 (or fewer) out of every 10 MP members, yet this is the person the reporter chose to profile as a presumably representative MP member. It really makes you wonder.

CoMooter

Makes news...and if this person is just deciding now to burn - what the heck have you been doing for the last 3 three years. Either you think the whole thing will survive and there is no need to do anything drastic (but still keep the MP balance at a reasonable level) or you should long ago have been trying to burn 'em on whatever you could.

For all its warts (many of which we are seeing) I have little doubt UA will be with us for at least the next 5-6 years in some form.

Wiggums

I am sitting on almost 300,000 miles. I burned 290,000 miles last year not because United was under another threat, but because I needed my vacation. The talk about strike is not a concern at all. I am not burning this year and next year.

flyinbob

They have to find the one guy with the most dramatic thing to say. Otherwise, "No, I think everything will be fine" doesn't make much of a story.

Wiggums

True, newspapers wouldn't interview people who are calm and rationale. They show articles about drive-by shootings and enraged people, but they don't run stories on a father shooting an intruder to save his family. I'm a gun-toting member of the NRA and rightfully so.

Indurain

Unpublished Article

"Indurain travels to international destinations about once a month, and he almost always travels on United Airlines because, as he says, "they are cool".

But with three of the carrier's unions threatening to strike, Indurain said he's is unconcerned about future bookings or the miles he's accumulated.

'I'm not worried,' Indurain, a technogeek, said Friday the 13th as he gears up for a weekend trip from California."


This would never get picked up because this technogeek is too boring for the news.

flyinbob

Boring, but with exceptionally good taste in airlines.

BenjaminNYC

YES! Well said!!!!!!!!! ^ ^ ^ ^

CraiggForrester

With merely a few keystrokes Mileage Plus could retrieve the members with the highest redeemable mileage balances (I have almost 1.5 million currently). These are not only members that are not burning their miles but accumulating more of them to enjoy for leisure travel when business trips are not a weekly routine. And United could have politely contacted several of us about our attitude about United's future, the Mileage Plus program, and the airlines current difficulties. I'd certainly have agreed to a quote, and so would the vast majority of you, I believe.

What the story would have then been is that United's best and most frequent flyers aren't worried...they're saving their miles!

I think that that story is certainly newsworthy and far more interesting than what had been published; but the facts have to be presented and spun: and that's what United's PR department should be doing.

-Craigg

Stryker

Dear friends,

I have previously lost a lot of miles when my previous carrier of preference (AN) went under. I know from experience how easily and quickly it can happen.

So, with UA's well known problems, it seems only prudent for me to spend or quarantine my miles at least (and I have a lot of them). So far this year I have redeemed at least 500,000 and have had a great time (with my wife).

I have also booked a further 500,000 or so miles worth of travel over the next 3 months. Either we'll have a great time going to paces like Tahiti and Portugal, or UA will go belly up. At least I've taken some action to get the best result I can. If all goes well with UA and its unions ( ) I can always return the miles or change the dates.

Everyone else, who is sitting back with a smug expression, could end up with egg (or worse) on their face.

SealBeach

I have approximately 500,000 UA miles and figure I regenerate them at the rate of about 20,000 a month (thanks in part to the 100K double miles bonus). I'm not burning or losing sleep about UA miles, and I don't consider myself smug. United Airlines is a deeply troubled company that may or may not survive, and I know it just like everybody else. If UA makes it, I'll be happy, and if it doesn't, I'll start over with whoever picks up the pieces and quickly become top tier on SkyTeam. Easy come, easy go (easy check-in, too!).