Comments on: United downgrades its upgrades

By: Frequent Flyer Program Update Roundup | ExpertFlyer Blog

Frequent Flyer Program Update Roundup | ExpertFlyer Blog — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:35:47 +0000

[...] change isn’t necessarily good for all United elites. Mark Ashley of Upgrade: Better Travel recently said it best: If you’re an entry-level elite (Premier) you’re not going to upgrade much. Previously, a [...]

By: Frequent Flyer Program Update Roundup | ellijah

Frequent Flyer Program Update Roundup | ellijah — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 09:47:44 +0000

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 01:26:02 +0000

United Airlines Mileage Plus Upgrade Co-Pay Fee Investigation

Wasserman, Comden, Casselman & Esensten, L.L.P. is currently conducting an investigation into United Airlines’ Mileage Plus ticket upgrade policy. As members of United Airlines Mileage Plus program, some consumers are told that they can purchase a regular Economy Class ticket and apply their accrued miles toward a seat upgrade to Business or First Class.

After opting for the upgrade upon arriving at the airport, some consumers are surprised to find that they must pay an additional “Co-Pay” fee in order to board the Airplane and claim their upgraded seat. These Co-Pay fees can range in amounts to several hundred dollars per seat.

If you or someone you know has been surprised by United Airlines’ requirement of Co-Pays at the point of check-in, or if you would like more information about our United Airlines investigation, please contact us using the link below:

http://www.wcclaw.com/CM/ClassActions/ClassActions95.asp

Please see the Disclaimer Page on our website for important information regarding communications with Wasserman, Comden, Casselman & Esensten, L.L.P.

By: sam

sam — Sun, 30 May 2010 15:53:52 +0000

UA charge full Y or B fares puts you on some HOPE to be Wait list for empty planes and finally when they have sold all those Business seats they will deny your upgrade .They are clever ! Premier Ex, forget it you are all the same to UA they do not have any loyalty what so ever for you flying with them as much as you have done to reach this point.

By: mark

mark — Wed, 26 May 2010 07:14:09 +0000

I fly 80K per year on united, all on short hops. I spend several times what my 100K long haul friends pay them. The loyalty programs reward travel, not revenue to airlines, and they end up punishing themselves. I have zero loyalty to any airline because of their bullshit “loyalty” programs. The latest change took away all my certificates and subjected me to a lottery where I never get upgraded on any longer flights because there are a dozen 100ks ahead of me. United is basically doing this to keep seats open longer for sale. It’s making a mess of boarding too – I’ve been on two flights where missed connections meant they were handing out upgrades to people who already boarded in economy. This is a terrible program change.

By: United restores confirmed upgrades to top-tier frequent fliers. Plus: UA/Continental upgrades | Upgrade: Travel Better

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:41:20 +0000

[...] upgradesPosted by: Mark Ashley In October, United announced that they were moving to an “unlimited” upgrade system from their electronic certificate system. But as readers chimed in, one of the biggest complaints [...]

By: First Class » United Airlines’ Free, Unlimited Upgrade Not Much of an Upgrade

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:17:26 +0000

[...] Airlines’ new upgrade plan to show how Premier members will be affected. Take a look at “United downgrades its upgrades” for an in depth look at the changes to the program, and what those changes mean for frequent [...]

By: Mark Ashley

Mark Ashley — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:23:46 +0000

@Oliver, yes, I was careless in my words. I said “open seats,” and I should have said “open inventory” in the upgrade fare bucket. You are indeed correct.

By: Oliver

Oliver — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:07:14 +0000

@Mark – just to be clear, with a regional (CR1) you can get early confirmation if there is an open “upgrade” seat available, not just any open C/F seat. United maintains a separate upgrade inventory (NC/NF) from the regular C/F classes, and availability is often zero. That said, I have often gotten my CR1 requests confirmed ahead of the e500 window, and with enough flexibility was able to choose flights that had availability at booking.

Many of my e500s actually expire since I mostly fly internationally. So I’ll now not get those 500 miles for each expired e500 – another negative of the change.

By: mark

mark — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:35:44 +0000

Adam, there’s a potential downside to choosing a *A partner over UA. If you’re on a Y/B fare or better on UA metal, you get the 50% EQM/EQS bonus, which helps a lot of folks earn/retain status in the first place. I realize that’s a big “if” for a lot of flyers. Then again, US gov’t contract fares are Y fares, so it’s a nontrivial fraction of travelers.

Also, regardless of booking class there’s the redeemable miles (RDM) bonus — 25% to 100% — you get for staying on UA metal. The only partner activity that produces this same Mileage Plus credit is a) flights on US and b) US-Europe on Lufthansa.