2 SWUs for each 50k after 100k.

2 more SWUs at 150K, plus whatever "elite choice reward" comes at 125K. I can't imagine investing more time and money, including $499 or whatever to buy in for DEQM, in order to go from 100K (1K) to 150K for those incentives, but YMMV.

I'd only do it knowing I had enough travel already booked to hit 150k. As it is, without DEQM I'll wind up at around 130k. But 2 SWUs is easily worth $500 to me.

Got me thinking... Offer the DEQM for a few years, get some of your customers used to the higher level of service for higher levels of status, and then don't do it and see if some of them will actually do some extra flying to get back to their preferred status... Interesting possibility?

I asked for examples of "upscale brands," not "upscale retailers," if indeed Macy's and those you named are truly "upscale." (Bergdorf's, Neiman's, and the like for clothing retailers.) Prada, Armani, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Hermes, etc., companies that zealously protect their fancy names, do they state their prices in "slick ways" (blah, blah, blah fares quoted are ow, blah, blah, rt required, blah, blah, before taxes and fees, blah, blah...)? UA may not aspire to be so "upscale," but going "downscale" doesn't seem like a very promising option for them either. [/QUOTE]

Meaningless response.[/QUOTE]

Banana Republic, Victoria's Secret, and Ann Taylor are both. Moreover, a retailer is a brand, even if it does not sell products under that brand. One does not necessitate the other.

Oh, and of the brands you mentioned, they neither focus on nor advertise their prices, anyway. Brands like that count on the fact that people who buy them don't care about prices.

Given your lack of elaboration or explanation, so is yours.

Whatever, it's clear that neither of us is going to convince the other, and this discussion is entirely OT, so I'm going to drop it now.

You think it costs the UA brand little or nothing to advertise in ways that more upscale companies generally eschew; I think it costs UA's brand something that may not be worth what they get for it in return. Those who get my attention by dubious means are less likely to get me to buy from them when I come to the "true" price than I might have been if I didn't feel I had been suckered into looking by a price other than the "true" one. But that's me, it may not be you.

When someone said they found the way UA advertised their teaser fares offputting and some of us chimed in to agree, you jumped in to rebut us. I asked if you would go about it the way UA does and your response was that you would do whatever produced the greatest profit for the airline, which says nothing or pretty close to nothing. This discussion is no more, nor less OT now that you are "going to drop it" than when you first chose to engage with it.

I do agree that neither of us is going to convince the other of whatever it is that we are in disagreement about here.

Not that it matters but, in my opinion, none of those brands are remotely "upscale", I dont think Macys is even considered the top brand by the company that owns it and other chains.

I did it last year because I wanted to see if I could do it without business travel and without spending a lot on MRs but still on a budget. If DEQM were offered this year, I would have gone out of the way because its nice to have the option to use SWUs. In the past I have used them for my parents and it makes life easier on them in C or F. Besides, they can travel on any dates whereas I am constrained to dates that maximize vacation time and those dates usually have little or no I inventory or I just don't feel like paying extra for the W or better fares. Though I may be convinced otherwise with the new C/F product next year.

Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing...

Clearly, I have very poor taste.

Is there any hope that UA is going to come up with a double EQM promo this year or is it pretty much dead in the water?

There have been some reports that UA sent out a memo to the CS reps confirming that there will be NO DEQM promo this year. That seems to be supported by the fact that we're nearing November 1st and there's been no announcement. I think most folks around here have pretty much accepted that it won't occur this year. Of course, anything is possible, but at this point it's extremely unlikely.

Banana Republic high end !:D:D

We've all been focusing on whether "the DEQM promo" will happen. By this point, it seems pretty clear that we won't see the same promo we've seen in the past, but it's certainly still possible that we'll see other types of promos (most likely on a much smaller scale) to encourage end-of-year travel. It's possible there might even be some EQM bonuses in the mix, but the general FT consensus seems to be "don't count on it".

In short, you can't plan on picking up any EQM bonuses this year, but if you're stuck just shy of a milestone, it's always possible there will be some offer for you.