kevinsac

I have been very pleased with most of the service I have received as a 1K. However, I hope that many, many 1Ks believe that they are now worth next-to-nothing, and go to another airline!

TonySCV

GREAT story.

I just wish these ding-darn ORD-LAX-ORD weekend flights weren't always sold out so I could standby and get something other than a lone middle seat in E-. At least my status put me at the front of every standby list I wanted to get on though.

Garrett Choi

Heh! I agree that I feel that, for the most part, I am treated "very well" as a 1K. But I remember literally a decade ago when I used to travel with my boss when he was a 1K and I was 1P. Specifically, I remember times when the pursor would come back (to Y) and introduce him/herself to my boss and ask if he needed anything special on the flight. You felt like you were a member of the top elite frequent flyer class. It doesn't anymore.

as219

As a leisure-traveler 1K lite, life couldn't be better. I mostly travel on off-peak times and book well in advance. Haven't failed to clear this year on any upgrade request, and have been able to switch flights around without (too) much trouble. There have also been times when, had I been anything less than a 1K, I'd have been seriously stranded/delayed.

1K status matters. Big time. ^

MBS MillionMiler

My treatment as a 1K has been supurb as well...No complaints. In particular on the ground and on the phone. 1K baggage has been a great perk, and the domestic and international res agents are phenomenal. In flight, it's hit-or-miss, in 4.5 years as a 1K I'm yet to get a card from the captain, nor be specifically thanked for my business...But at least (so far) I haven't missed an upgrade, and this year so far: got a double upgrade op-up, and was protected in F on a 3-cabin flight where I missed my original 2-cabin F flight, because C was sold out on the next available flight.

The 'spillover' effects have been great to my loved ones as well. I'm yet to get slack from calling the 1K number when my fiancee had irregular ops a few weeks ago, and when my future in-laws came this week and United 'misplaced' their bags, 1K baggage took care of me (them) (us). They also tried to help, albeit unsuccessfully, to protect them when their flight was canceled (which led to the baggage delay).

All that being said, my biggest thing is upgrades. NOTHING else, plain and simple, especially on transpac flights. Hope the awesome new C-class with the HUGE reduction on the 747 doesn't change that. Then and only then will I revisit whether I want to continue to plunk down extra $$ to fly UA domestically and internationally.

espostor

Couldn't agree more. I'm a 1/3 company, 2/3 leisure traveler, so my spend isn't off the charts, and I've been treated wonderfully.

Garrett Choi

It seems to make a pretty big difference where you are also. SFO is a natural connection for me, and my upgrades have cleared about 2/3 of the time.

as219

This is true... It helps me a lot, I'm sure, being NYC-based. My domestic travel is half to ORD, half to So Cal, which means that in spite of UA's "abandonment" of NYC, I'm still in pretty good shape: Always ugpraded to ORD, and p.s. in C to the Coast. ^

GoingAway

I think 1K level status is more important than ever, given general service levels. I get decent CSRs on the phone every time, often superb ones - I don't pay award related fees - I get no-fee standby confirmations - my upgrades clear on a very regular basis - I have the chance of a hotel, etc in case of even wx ops - I get moved to/near the top of the list if I need to waitlist for a flight due to irreg ops (and boy is that a necessity these days with full planes and bad wx) - I get vouchers that are quite nice for IFE not operating ... and the list goes on.

There is a level of protection (not foolproof, just a layer) that makes my flying experience that little bit better, and with the way travel is these days, every little bit of positive can make a huge overall difference.

Thunderroad

For the most part, I agree with the other posters re my satisfaction with being a 1K.

The one respect in which I differ is that, as also an EXP on AA, the reservations and related customer services as an EXP are much better. The AA CSRs are generally much more knowledgeable, as well as more empowered to make adjustments where necessary. (For instance, they'll go the extra mile, so to speak, to find award ticket availability--with UA CSRs you sometimes have to point out the various options for getting from A to B.) With UA, it's more hit and miss whether you get a great or lousy CSR. I've seen some speculation that the difference in this regard is that UA has an entire formal tier of higher level customers, the GS members. But I think the difference comes down to training as well as the AA system allowing its CSRs personnel more flexibility.

There are of course disadvantages to being AA EXP as opposed to UA 1K. At some point I'll post a comparision (to add to those already at FT).

JohnnyP

As a United 1K, I have nothing to complain about. However, if you ask me if I feel "special", I would say no. I haven't seen agents go the extra mile for me or necessarily treat me better/differently than other passengers. During irregular ops even I have not witnessed this proactive action that others have spoken of here on FT. Of course, the computer does (upgrade clears, access to E+, etc.).

In sum, I'm not unhappy as a 1K, but I'm blown away either.

iluv2fly

Lobby UA? Why the heck should they tell us anything? It's their business, their business model, their proprietary information. They would be nuts to do that.

1K's are second-class citizens. UA has made it very clear. There's no crying in baseball.

Garrett Choi

I submit that if they changed their business model, they might increase elite flyer loyalty. Whether that makes a difference in their bottom line or not is debatable, but it seems like it would be a lot cheaper than upgrading International C.

Here's a related question, what if 1K's were sent to the ICC, etc. and only GS members got special services (like US call centers, etc.) BUT, what if GS received super-elite benefits (like guaranteed no-waitlist using SWU's and stuff). Would you support that? I would! Even though I'm only 1K! I'd try pretty hard to qualify for GS, though! If that meant flying my a** off (figuratively or literally) on UA Metal, then I would!

espostor

From United's perspective, I think the profitability of the population of 1Ks runs across a far wider range (from "we hemorrhage valuable resources whenever we serve this person" to "this person contributes excellently to our profit margin, but they're not quite GS") than any of the other status levels, so this might be too broad a statement. Certainly there are some *very* profitable 1Ks that are not GS and United would be hurting itself were it to treat them as "second-class citizens."

Someone (more than one person, hopefully) at United is in charge of studying the profitability of 1Ks. I don't want to speculate on any upcoming overt changes to the service levels for 1Ks, but there are definitely subtle ways United can minimize "over-delivery of benefits for low-margin activity" and one of those ways is to focus "extra mile" type service on the most profitable folks as much as possible. With some training of key customer-facing folks, United could do this without eliminating any published benefits. I think it would be a smart move.

espostor

Flying your a** off is only half the battle for GS. The other half is spending your *$$ off.