CMK10

I was sent a bunch of effects from my now dead grandfather that my grandmother thought I might enjoy. This included his United 100,000 Mile Club Card that I thought some people here might find interesting. I think it's from the mid to late 60's though I can't be sure. I'm tempted to try and access a lounge with it, we have the same first name after all

Card

lucky9876coins

Thanks for the pic! ^

I assume that this was for anyone that flew 100,000 miles on UA in their lifetime, or since MP started? Any clue what the benefits were back then?

Very interesting, thanks!

roberto99

This program was way before MP was started in 1981.

catocony

That looks like an actual signature from G. E. Keck (I think those are the initials). Funny, Squire Tilton didn't sign my 1K card.

dhuey

I wonder how they kept track of the miles flown back then, as this long predates the mileage programs. Did they nonetheless have some kind of tracking numbers for frequent passengers?

Sigh

In 1974, one of the people I was working with told me to keep track of my UA miles because he had qualified for the 100K club and I could, too (he didn't mention anything about a number -- just photocopy my receipts).

Foolishly, back then, I was flying what ever airline was convenient -- Frontier, PSA, National, Western (saw Charleston Heston and (separately) the Osmonds on their way to their First World Tour at SLC), Hughes, PanAm, TWA (TryWalkingAcross -- "Don't like our service to Europe, Try Walking Across" ) and did not make any special effort to fly UA -- wonder if those miles from the 1970's could have applied to a MM today?

PanAm916

lol, I wonder if someday there will be a thread about the "old" UGS system and their coveted black cards...

Maybe by then we'll have 1hr transcons with nearly ballistic trajectories.

Nice pic! ^

seagar

I have my fathers 100,000 mile card and it's interesting reading the post about traciking miles. Dad started flying in the 40's and while ill, still talks about the day he finally flew cross country non-stop and not on a DC-3!

About three years ago I wrote United because Dad had ~800,000 miles documeted thru MP since '81 and for the last 6 years (since illness) really wanted Preimier emeitus for nothing more than a once a year flight and the pride he held in United. We documented well over 450,000 miles prior to MP (81) yet even after writing to the COO (with a response) never got the status for Dad. The point is they did not track miles prior to 81.

This effort took over two years and since their denial of Dad to Premier emeritus was refused, or ignored I decided United was not worth. I hit 900,000 three years ago and since have spread miles to others based on fares, Anyway Dad has some great turbulent stories, flying at 12-18K feet thru and around thunderstorms at a time when he claims E+ was not even needed and first was a special occasion where people dressed up. also speaks with pride about the great people thet USED to work for United.

transpac-canuck

Hehe.. This thread talks about how some of those same people may still be part of the friendly skies.

Northbrook60065

Back in the 1950's Pan Am World Airways issued my father one of their "FT" cards which got us escorted to their amazing Clipper Clubrooms. The card also got him escorts meeting us at connecting flights, and later in the late 1960's there were escorts to finesse us through the metal detectors that were suddenly installed subsequent to hijackings by nuts trying to flee the USA for Cuba. But actually, Pan Am's service was pretty amazing just for flying Pan Am.

Then I got my own Pan Am FT card in 1970, but I think all all of the International carriers issued them in the US. My cousin had one from Northwest Orient and I knew someone else that carried them from Eastern and British Airways (Eastern flew extensively in the carribean and Mexico, IIRC). I was only fourteen when I got my card and loved the way I could get champaign and beers myself even when traveling without my dad; although it may have not been the FT card. The world was very then, and I think that airline club hostesses and stewardesses served well-behaved teens anything they asked so long as we weren't being over-indulgant.

But yes: the airlines were keeping close tabs on frequent flyers, but because the industry was SO regulated the FT cards and perks they gave out for free were very QT so that the airlines wouldn't run afoul of DOT Federal Regulations concerning tariffs and what carriers could provide in exchange for fares without violating antitrust laws.

Annandaler

I was doing transcons twice-a-month on UA for several years in the late '60s, as well as tons of other domestic trips on through the '70s. They had an Executive Air Travel Program where you sent in copies of your itineraries and they sent you updated stickers to add to a wall plaque. I still have that plaque, and I still have my 100,000 Mile Club card which gave you hush-hush access to VIP lounges (in the smaller stations, like IAD in the '60s) and early Red Carpet Clubs in large stations, like LAX. This was all basically by invitation (the LAX club was always populated with Hollywood celebs being escorted out of public view). Unfortunately, none of this flying activity carried forward into MP.

The reason for the "hush-hush" nature was the CAB (Civil Aeronautics Board) reguation of fares and tariffs - long before DOT was born. The CAB rules prohibited the airlines from giving one customer a perk (lounge access) that wasn't offered to every passenger on the same/similar fare. Airline de-regulation eliminated the CAB, and allowed the emergence of FT programs as we know (and love/hate) them today.

Northbrook60065

Hey ANNANDALER!

You're absolutely correct...it was the CAB and not DOT. I was just a kid then but I remember my father telling me to keep my yap shut about private club rooms and about being given things like courtesy tickets for Pan Am's helicopter service from JFK to Battery Park (I can still remember that we'd depart from Gate 8 directly across from the 2nd Floor Clipper Club...Pan Am had two amazing clubs at JFK that were swankier than even the Playboy Club). Your memory is right on about the celebrities that were whisked into and out of the clubs. I got to chat to Dick Van Dyke at LAX about a week after Mary Poppins had just started playing in movie theatres and felt like I had met royalty; I saw other celebrities but usually didn't know exactly who they were. But I was never more star struck than when I was sitting in the Club at JFK and recognized my boyhood hero chatting on the telephone. I asked my father if it would be OK to say hello and ask him for an autograph. My dad said it would be improper because he wasn't a TV or movie star and he deserved his privacy. Two years later he was running for president. The man was Senator Robert Kennedy.

cur

I lauged at the signature by the president. Oh how those were the days (yet again I'm too young)

jackp

I am 71 and was a member of the 100,000 Club; still look at the card and the paper weight often. In fact, I married a United stewardess (and she HAD to resign at that time)and we are still married! I have always had a "beef" with United although I was a Premier for many years and still have 400,000 miles in MP.....they will not grant any type of permanent Premier status or even acknowledge the 100,000 member's past patronage. Naturally, I don't fly as much now, but still would like some of the premier benefits as an award for the many dollars previously paid to UAL. Current Premier members of all levels may very well face this situation once they retire or change jobs. United is short changing themselves because many like myself now have the time and money to fly anywhere at anytime....just give us some recognition!

seagar

AGREED..all Dad wants is some recognition. How much is United losing giving Dad Premier Emeritus status even though he'll only fly 2-3x year. Come on United...1.2 million miles when the flights took 2-3x as long and until the 70's one coild not fly overseas.