Aside from all the discussion of whether DEQM will actually happen or not, it seems as though it would be in United's interest (certainly at this point) to make an announcement one way or the other.

If it's going to happen, people who have been holding off bookings would go ahead and make them -- "money in the bank" and all for United. No sense in having those people wait any longer, possibly give up on their DEQM hopes, and change their plans, fly another airline, etc. Also, the longer you wait, the fewer people are likely to be able to take advantage of it, so the less revenue you get from DEQM sign-ups.

If it's not going to happen, UA probably won't lose much (if anything) at this point by announcing that fact, as I doubt there are many people who would book travel today just because they think DEQM might happen. Maybe a month ago it would have made a difference, but at this point you have to be pretty skepitcal about DEQM. I have a hard time believing that any significant number of people are considering the DEQM possibility as a factor when purchasing their tickets today. For me, the outside chance of a DEQM offer would have a negligible value at this time, especially without knowing what the terms might be.

And if UA announces that it's not going to happen, the people who are likely to travel but have been holding off on specific plans to see what the DEQM offer would be would finally go ahead and book. Granted, that's probably not a huge number of tickets for UA, but it seems to me that making in announcement either way is in UA's interest.

We finally get three letter searches.....
 

And the Bard shows up ;)

Huh? :confused:

What company announces their strategy (especially their "nope we're definitely not going to do that") strategy in public.

As throughout this thread, I suppose we all see such things from our own perspective, but IMHO the last thing UA would want to do is announce that their NOT going to do a DEQM. Why? Consider this logic: Assuming they've long ago decided to forgo the financial windfall that many here think the registration fee represents and instead simply fly the number of seats which can be sold (follow me so far?). Wouldn't the next logical step be to delay sales of those necessary flights as long as possible - forcing them into higher fare buckets and more restrictive fares? Why in the world would UA incitize folks to book sooner, at lower fares, than they otherwise would?

Let me try a less emotionally charged excample. During the height of the BK UA offered the opportunity to purchase 1k for the year by buying a prepaid credit card in a rather trivial amount (wasn't it just several thousands of dollars). They made a big deal about it and no doubt a few folks ponied up the advance payment to secure 1k from January 1 regardless of their prior year earned status. Notice that you don't hear anything about this offer anymore? Why is that do you suppose? Again IMHO it's very simple - UA isn't in such a desperate need for cash at this particular moment in time - therefore that offer was taken off the table (without a press release I might add). Were some folks pushed off of UA as a result - no doubt, but the calculated decision was, "let's take a little less cash up front and a bit more down the road".

One thing (maybe the only thing) we all agree on is that a DEQM offer is less likely with every passing hour.

Why would they want to announce it isn't going to happen?
Keep you guys on the edge of the seat? :D

If DEQM is not going to happen then I doubt they'll announce anything.

On the bright side - if all the people who say they are going to leave UA in this (and other) threads would actually do it, there would likely be plenty of Nx and Xx inventory for the rest of us to use.

Award Seats good, upgrades good!:D

My point was that by now, I think they've exhausted any potential "anticipation" factor and that it would be better for UA to eliminate any uncertainty so that people will go ahead and make their travel plans now with UA. Having people wait to buy higher-priced, last-minute fares only works if those people end up actually purchasing the tickets in the end, and if you "leave them hanging" too long, they may decide not to travel or to use another airline with a cheaper fare.

Like I said in my previous post, I doubt anyone is really using the DEQM possibility as a reason to fly UA right now, but there do seem to be at least some FT'ers who are holding off buying UA tickets to see what happens with DEQM.

Plus, letting people know that DEQM won't happen (one way or another, doesn't have to be a big "public" announcement) may encourage some people to plan their travel for the rest of the year to hit the next milestone without DEQM.

They don't actually have to "announce" it, per se -- just acknowledging that it's not going to happen when people ask would do the trick (at least here on FT :) ).

Last year was the only year that the promo was announced so early, and it was announced mid October of previous years. I do think United should make it clear whether or not they will offer the promo so people can make the apporpriate travel plans.

deqm
 

Given how expensive United flights have become this year, UA might not need DEQM cash as their pockets seem flush right now. Currently it's cheaper and more enjoyable for me to earn UA status on SQ than flying UA especially as it's so hard to get an standard miles upgrade out of HK right now. The thought of a HK-NY mileage run in E+ even with DEQM is not a pleasant way to spend three days :(

Or rather, MR plans. :D

Isn't it possible that the point of the promo was not so much to encourage additional flying as it was simply to bring in cash? Seriously, there can't be that many people who put off booking trips in Q4 until they know whether the promo is being offered or not...

It doesn't make a lot of sense for a company to announce everything they're not going to do.

chitownflyer wasn't asking for United to announce everything they're not going to do, just whether they would offer this one promotion or not. (UA has run the promotion every year for 4 years or so now, and people have been calling to ask if it will be run again this year, but agents have not known the answer to the question. So, that distinguishes running this promotion from general, hypothetical things that UA might "not do.")

DEQM or not, if the flights are actually necessary as you described, people won't wait until the last minute to book them and thus be forced into higher fare buckets. DEQM would only affect whether people book optional flights, and from the looks of it no one here is really booking those optional flights just to gamble on DEQM. So I don't see what UA has to lose by announcing "no DEQM this year."