cj001f

US East Coast to Europe food won't be missed. On midday Europe to US flights this sucks. Especially when I'm sure pricing will be $9 or �9

TravelinWilly

Wow. Just wow. Are we sure this isn't April 1?

UA continues it's sad descent down the toilet...well, it's past that, the toilet's been flushed, so I guess down the pipes that lead from the toilet to the sewer, or wherever dirty toilet water goes (is there a toilet water heaven?)...

What some refer to as "formerly free" (e.g., "free meals" and "free bag checking") were NEVER free, they were just bundled into the price of the ticket. The airlines, in an effort to keep the ticket prices from continuing to rise, are now charging fees for things that used to be included in the price. They're not charging for what was free, as NOTHING WAS FREE, ever.

Airlines call this "unbundling" and "cafeteria-style pricing" and "a la carte," all cute terms. But at the essence, these are price increases instituted as fees and spread around and attributed to different things. Frankly I�d rather see the ticket price go up to reflect the increase in the cost of service delivery (which includes fuel), but the marketers argue that it�s not fair to make everyone pay for services they don�t consume (e.g., those with only carry-on bags, those who would have eaten before the flight anyway, etc.). Are they being honest with us? That�s for the individual to decide. But if it's not fair to charge the customer for things they aren't using (those checked bags, that in-flight meal), shouldn't the baseline ticket price come down to reflect this new fairness at the same time that the fairness fees start being assessed? Apparently not, as fairness seems to be a one-way street.

And think about how AA started charging customers money to use awards. They called it a "co-payment." AAAAAAH HAAA HA HA HAAAA HA HAAAAAAAA!! Not even close, but it was a clever use of rhetoric. It was a price increase via fee. Except by calling it a "co-payment" it was supposed to be palatable, just like �a la carte� pricing. Oh, and look for UA to institute this, too, as was speculated earlier this month. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. You can call a fee a "co-payment" - heck, you can call a fee a "gift from God above" - but it's still a fee.

Well then, back to planning some upcoming trips! Guess which carrier I�ll continue to avoid whenever possible�

Will

AtlanticFlyer

Whilst UAL management might not be the smartest in the world, I am sure they have considered at least some of the implications of the introduction of this new policy.

It is pretty clear though that they have little choice and are grasping at anything to prolong the inevitable chapter 7. This may, paradoxically, bring it about that much sooner.

As has been said many times before, the US aviation industry needs a major failure to get capacity out of the market. US on its own is not enough. UAL may well be. Asking airlines simply to make the needed reduction in capacity on their own volition isn't going to work, as which company is going to volounteer to make themselves the sacrificial lamb?

AF

Pat89339

There was a long thread on FT about it too. I was one of the people who took the survey they sent out. My answer to every question, would you pay...? Was NO!

RichardInSF

I have already started to leave UA with my upcoming NYC-London trip being in Virgin upper class via a Z fare.

However, my next trip is SFO-NRT and I am sticking with UA on that because they allowed confirming upgrades with my last 2 SWUs.

This meal decision is worse than it was at the peak of the bankruptcy cutbacks. What United doesn't realize is that changing preferred carriers takes time, so they won't see the effects immediately in many cases. But it will happen.

I will qualify for 1k again this year and, as a result, get 6 SWUs for next year. If UA allows me to get confirmed upgrades with them, I will fly UA. If not, I will fly other carriers internationally.

I'll also have to use up my miles. In the past, I've avoided doing this because of the perceived extra value of 1k. But that value is now much reduced in my view, so I don't feel obliged to work for 1K starting in 2009. I'm a lifetime 1P (presumably United's lifetime, not mine, since it is going to be shorter) and that will do.

I see no reason to write to United. It is time to vote with my feet. I believe there are many of us for whom that vote will take about a year to cast. The sad fact is that United may erroneously think that they pulled it off in the interim.

N334AA

This is so unreal I just can't believe it. If they're not going to provide a meal in C domestically they better just let elites pick seats there in advance and then allow us to upgrade to F like on AA. If they expect us to upgrade to "C" with that offering they've totally lost it.

United757

This is bull i don't believe it.

Eastbay1K

I just did a dummy booking for next year IAD/LHR in Y on Apollo and it shows that Y meals are for purchase.

JetAway

At this point the "solution" is to get rid of international "F" (hint: CO doesn't have an international "F"), turn former "F" into glorified "C" with the new "C" seating (similar to CO's BizFirst, which is acquiring lie-flat seats) , turn former "C" into Premium Economy (with the old "C" seats) and keep "E" as "E" (no E+). Then a few of these changes will begin to have some logic and acceptance. For example, BOB for both E and Premium E (PE gets BOB for free).

SkiAdcock

Wow - United touts its new 'premium class' planes & catering to the high-end biz person, and is now going to have BOB in C. Amazing how they tout high-end & then continue to act like a LCC.

For years I had that insurance policy Randy offered (no longer does) that if an airline went belly up your miles could be used on a dif airline. Finally gave it up last year thinking UA would be ok. Banging head against wall...

I was going to stick w/ UA to get to 2MM (and I still like E+), but guess I really need to look at whether I'll continue to stick w/ them or status-match to someone else.

For the OP whose company does give UA $15million in bizness, have your buying agent contact UA & let them know that this latest decision will cost them that revenue when the contract is up for renewal.

Cheers.

UnitedF1RST

Initial reaction: "Are they NUTS?!"

But then I start to think...ok I'm gonna stick it to them and switch to AA or DL.

I then further realize...despite these ridiculous things, UA doesn't charge the surcharges on award tix, despite *net blocking has a great network of partners to redeem on, has 3-cabin intl, doesn't have the award co-pay, and still highly values elites.

But can you imagine all the 1Ks and GS people whose upgrades don't clear that sit in Y for TATL flights that don't get food...I'm sure extending this to TPAC is just around the corner.

There was a post a few pages back about weather or not a backlash would reverse this. My $0.02 there is that our friends over at www.glenntilton.com are already sparking a mutiny, so I'll leave that in their hands.

flyingfkb

If not someone hacked into the UA booking system we can be pretty sure this memo is real.

Dr_wanderlust

I just tried but could not find such a flight.

justforfun

For now. Just wait a few weeks.

TravelinWilly

In place of co-pay, one should say "fee," as that's what it is. And give it time...