United’s half-assed policy changes: Not quite a bill of rights, and not quite an upgrade policy fix
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United Airlines seems to really enjoy taking half-steps to appease dissatisfied customers lately. To wit:
Skimpy bill of rights
In response to the brouhaha over passengers being stuck on planes, and in an attempt to fend off pending passenger bill-of-rights legislation, United has devised a new policy (leaked Sunday to our friends at the Consumerist, and made public later this week) for delayed flights and trapped customers. You won’t be impressed. Or if you are, snap out of it!:
Flights delayed for more than four hours on departure, or an hour and a half on arrival, will be declared “flights of note.” Passengers on “flights of note” will receive the following:
# An apology note;
# 20% off one (1) roundtrip economy ticket on a future United flight;
# One (1) $10 airport meal voucher.That is all. Passengers delayed for less than four hours get nothing.
And remember, this only applies to delays where the passengers are on the plane, away from the gate, and stuck out on the airfield somewhere. If you’re delayed but the door is still open, this doesn’t apply.
While jetBlue’s policy revision had its problems, and didn’t go far enough in my opinion, it’s miles ahead of United’s policy, which is really laughable. At least jetBlue offered cash refunds.
Upgrades converting to miles again… for some
Remember United’s policy change for 500-mile upgrades? United’s policy of worthless expiration won no praise from this blog.
Well, they’ve backed down, for middle and upper-level elite frequent flyers. If you’re a United Premier Executive or higher, your upgrades will still convert to miles if they expire unused, but only if you register at their special site, and if you maintain your status level (or higher). And you can’t call up and ask for upgrades to be converted in advance of expiration.
But if you’re a lowly Premier, who flew 25,000 to 49,999 miles last year, you might be a good customer, but you’re out of luck. No corporate mile-love for you.
The policy still stinks. Remember, United’s top competitor, American Airlines, doesn’t put any expiration dates on their upgrades, and allows customers to convert their upgrades to redeemable miles with a simple phone call.
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June 1st, 2007 at 1:14 pm |
It’s items like this that make me wonder if being Elite on UAL is really worth anything. For nine years, I was Platinum with CO and then switched companies this past year with a UAL contract.
Though I appreciate some things (737s from CLE, Star Alliance for Intl, E+ when not upgraded) their elite program leaves something to be desired.
I have an opportunity in a couple of weeks to fly Int’l and am thinking of defecting back towards CO (via NW) because being elite on UAL doesn’t seem to mean a hill of beans.
Any thoughts? I’m happy to be proven wrong.
June 1st, 2007 at 3:00 pm |
Yet another reason to let the Premier Membership expire come Feb. 2008. I suppose my nearly 50,000 miles and my 39 segments on them is not enough for them.
I’ve come to expect this from United though. Sad but true. Bring back the bankruptcy days. At least I got decent customer service then.
June 1st, 2007 at 5:50 pm |
Matt, it depends on how high your status is, if you ask me.
You mentioned Economy Plus. That’s the biggest selling point for low-level elites on UA, I think. Once you hit mid-level (Premier Executive), you get lounge access on international flights and double miles, and you’re higher on the upgrade waitlist, which is noticeable on domestic flights. Unless you’re a top-level (1K) member, your international upgrade options stink on UA.
UA’s lower elites at least have the fallback of Economy Plus, which is especially valuable on long flights. Unfortunately, that logic is exactly what the executives are banking on. They’re assuming that their Premiers will take all the abuse the airline can muster as long as E+ is still an option. The PremEx and 1K elites are more likely to defect if the policies (like the recent 500-miler expiration) changes. But take that away…
If you were Platinum on Continental, I’m sure they treated you well. Lower-tier elites haven’t always raved about the program. See this post, for example (written during happier days at Mileage Plus, fyi…) which also links to a FlyerTalk thread on status matching, if you’re considering defecting.
http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2006/03/21/debating-the-value-of-elite-status/
June 1st, 2007 at 5:53 pm |
Unfortunately, I agree with you, Rob. I like bankrupt United better.
But I’m repeating myself
:
http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/05/10/delta-and-northwest-leaving-bankruptcy-bad-for-passengers/
June 1st, 2007 at 11:49 pm |
Unfortunately blaming the airline for many of these delays isn’t going to get us anywhere - they affect airlines across the board because of problems with traffic congestion. Airlines are loosing TONS of money with airplanes sitting on the ground burning fuel for hours at a time waiting for a flight slot to open… yet they have to push away from the gate because you have inbounds that need to let passengers off. We won’t see much real relief until the FAA and gov’t decides to properly fund upgrades. Too bad we’re too busy in Iraq to take care of our own issues.
June 2nd, 2007 at 12:04 am |
By requiring registration, with a limited period in which to do so, United’s change of heart is a token appeasement.
How many Mileage Plus members that are eligible (ie have sufficient status) will not sign up and thus lose out? An opt in basis to retain an existing benefit is ugly.
Further, anyone who doesn’t yet have sufficient status also loses out. The biggest losers are good future international customers who often can’t use the 500-miles (since only valid on domestic flights).
United needs all the help it can get luring valuable customers away from better airlines like Singapore, Qantas and Air New Zealand. These cheap moves won’t help.
June 3rd, 2007 at 6:03 pm |
Hear, hear.
June 12th, 2007 at 2:03 pm |
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