DiaPlatimonium Fun

I need some advice here - I'm Gold Pref. with 35 e-UGs and have 85K towards the 100K required for CP this year.

I'm not seeing too many significant differences in CP over GP that matter much to me (except perhaps the award blackout waiver and companion upgrade): Seating pref in coach looks equivalent (maybe 2 rows forward). GP has 100% mileage bonus + e-UGs, but CP has same and looks like it loses e-UGs to convert to miles (=less miles for award travel??). I don't need the club membership, walk-up flight availability, and don't really know what a "Personal Liaison" would accomplish unless there was a flight cancellation (rare).

So, if the remainder of my year consists of only out of pocket personal travel, is it worth the cost to fly the remaining 15K qualifying miles for CP? CPs, please weigh in - what perk (over GP) is worth $1000?

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[This message has been edited by DiaPlatimonium Fun (edited 08-21-2003).]

gardener

$1000? If you can sign up for one of the double tier miles promos you are only looking at 2 runs to the west coast at $280 a pop....

I like clearing first at 7 days instaed of 3 - my u/g %age is like 98% whereas as a gold it was more like 90%.

The CP desk is very very good.

And unless you fly a lot of European routes or RJs/Dashers, the unlimited U/Gs are worth more than the E-UPs - especially now that they are only good for 500 miles each.

Having said all this, you are correct in that the 100% mileage bonus is the same for US2 and US1.

PineyBob

I almost always get the upgrades when I fly. I am "segment boy" 80 segments and 66,000 miles so far. I'm sorry but you do get some major butt kissing as a CP. As ticked off as some the employees are right now they NEVER take it out on the CP's.

With CP, no coupons or e-certs, clear in 7 instead of 3 days. It's just better and worth it. Go to Ireland on that special you should make almost enough miles on that alone.

hscottm

This is an often-asked question (btw, do some searching and you will see other Q&As).

Unlimited, 7-day advance domestic upgrades for you and a companion are really the obvious benefit. If you already get most of your upgrades on the routes you fly [as GP], and dont fly with others, this might not be a big benefit.

I never really have bemoaned the fact that I dont 'earn' e-upgrades anymore - upgrading further in advance, and for a companion, outweighs the 500 miles I would otherwise get.

Note there is no automatic club membership for CPs. The CPs on here who get it as a benefit are grandfathered into an old bonus from about 4 years ago where CPs got it. As long as they maintain CP, they keep getting club membership for free. As an aside - the clubs are nice, but I dont want a membership.

CPs have historically received a set of round-trip transatlantic upgrades for the member AND A COMPANION. If you dont fly across the pond, and/or dont have a flying buddy, another meaningless benefit.

As mentioned above, the liaisons are actually pretty great. But the GP desk is good too.

Another important factor: how much do you plan to fly NEXT year, when you'll be enjoying GP or CP benefits? I have several friends who didnt push for status last year because they were planning on flying less this year and it wasnt worth the effort.

USFlyerUS

This isn't quite true. US will comp your membership if you meet certain revenue criteria. They comp'd mine this year without my even needing to ask, and I had NEVER had a free membership before.

MaineFlyer16

Don't forget that there is no award redeposit fee or advanced ticketing period. This is very helpful in my opinion for last minute travel.

GadgetFreak

I am asking this same question on other carriers but not US. I am concerned they may not fly enough places for me to really stay with them but as long as they do I think the difference between Gold and CP is huge. I almost always am upgraded, if flights are interrupted by weather or whatever I am at the top of the waiting list and you get upgrades on all domestic flights with no certs needed. And you can upgrade a companion as well. In addition, dont underestimate the value of the CP desk, They are absolutely first rate. They are dramatically better than say the UA 1K desk,

mileshound

In addition to the above, as a CP I am treated even beter than I was as a GP and I was treated very well as a GP. It's hard to describe but as a CP the answer is usually yes while as a GP it was let's see what we can do. It's like traveling FC vs business class.

Being a CP also does a lot for my attitude.

CPRich

The statement has been made that 150K tier miles qualified you for the free club membership, and data on this forum seems to back up that criteria. I haven't seen anything officially published.

Beckles

The number of E-upgrades in your account this year is pretty meaningless given how generously segment upgrades were given out previously and how generous US was in coverting the paper upgrades to electronic upgrades. In the future you can expect your balance to decline significantly if you use many of your E-upgrades at all.

tw0i

I got to thinking about this, and the drop from CP to GP is really going to hurt in terms of e-upgrades.

They really need to fix this situation. In all of the other transitions between levels there is no real penalty, but CP to GP means you go from upgrading everything to upgrading nothing overnight, at least until you pass the first 10K threshold for the year.

MikeM6090

Beckles point is good. Your e-upgrade back account will only decrease as time moves forward. Especially going from the right to left coasts.

This will become a big difference between CP and GP.

jcrb

Do you have family? Travel with others on biz often? This is a great benefit if you do. This weekend I am taking my daughter to the grandparents, both of us in first, no e-upgrades needed.

On monday I am flying to FRA in a nice flat seat which they hold for full fares or CPs.

More than once while taking the family to Florida for vacation when the flight was over booked and they were bumping people up to first, I wound up with *3* complementary upgrades. Do you think it was coincidence? I don't.

We took the older daughter with us to europe last month. There we no award seats available, for a 5 day window around when we wanted to go. Rather than pay the 2X mileage for a premium award I called the CP desk and they called inventory and presto, one regular award seat in Envoy appeared on the exact flight we wanted!

Whenever there is a problem the CP desk is there to fix it for you, they make things happen.

So yes its worth it.

Babu

As a GP, I have noticed ground staff buttkiss the CPs. But have any CPs been recognized by the cabin crew (i.e., "Thanks for being a CP" or discreetly being asked for choice of meals before everyone else, etc.)?

NeoOfTheCRS

Yes I have. A FA came up to me before serving meals and took my order first so I could be guranteed my choice of meals. Then she went and took the other F Class orders. (i was in row 3)

Also, another FA and GA thanked me for being Chairman preferred. Made me feel far better about US than ANYTHING the folks in CCY have done