End of an Era
As many of you already know, I did not make 1K on United this year. In fact, I didn't even make Premier Exec. Truth be told, I just barely squeeked in with Premier.
Last year got off to its usual start; I had 20,000 miles by the end of February. But then the downward spiral began. I flew no paid flights on United from mid-July until this month.
I am not sure if I plan to return to the former glory this year. Honestly, there simply isn't as much incentive. Certainly, I still love flying. And travel. But United? Not sure.
Understandably, they had to reduce a lot of the benefits becuase of their bankruptcy filing. I think they did a pretty good job of maintaining the basic benefits, although some key benefits are gone and do not appear to ever plan on being reinstated. The most significant of these is the 1K service centers in the hub airports. These were such wonderful places where someone who'd put in the "time," so to speak, truly felt appreciated. Not only was it a nice enclave in the airport away from the hustle and bustle, it was the one place you could go when the shit hit the fan and you knew that they would have the time and incentive to take care of you. While everyone else worried about having to spend the night in the airport after a flight cancellation, 1K's went to the service center and they truly did take care of us. It was civilized. It was the way everyone should have been treated, but because of market economics, only the select few were. It was a huge incentive to make 1K.
It is gone. Now, when a flight gets cancelled or delayed, I have to stress through the same bullshit everyone else does. No more high horse for me. I know (and knew; after all, I wasn't always a 1K) how it feels to be the 50th person a harried gate agent has to deal with on a cancelled flight. They don't care that I fly 20 times as much as the guy in front of me who just screamed his head off needlessly. They are in no position to make me feel like the airline appreciates my loyalty. Sure, I still have a slight advantage on everyone else... I have the 1K phone number. So I used to be able to call them on my way to the 1K center and they would have me protected on the next flight if a delay happened. Now, it's only 50/50 if I can convince them to do that, and even if I do convince them, I still have to stand in a huge line just to get my new boarding pass. Some of the reps claim that its a new policy. If it is, then I applaud the rogue agents who still protect me on delays when I call. Regardless, it's yet another hassle and another stress level that I didn't have to deal with before. And, I might add, it's yet another way that the airline has pissed me off and let me down.
Last year, they also reduced the effectiveness of Systemwide Upgrades. Mid-year, they probably realized that we were angry and it was affecting their business. So they sort of made up for it with a course correction that involved giving us four "real" Systemwides. I still haven't used mine, and they expire in a little over a month. As I'm saying, there just doesn't seem to be any incentive to try.
They also covertly instituted a "secret" program, outside of Mileage Plus, to reward high-revenue flyers. It's called United Global Services. The exact criteria for qualification are not well known, but rumor has it that you have to spend around $30,000 a year to be included. You know, I'm actually philosophically fine with that. They do need a way to reward those people who are contributing a great deal to their financial success, and they have kept the traditional program of rewarding us "po' folks" (and by "po'" I mean I only spent $8,000 to $15,000 a year to make 1K during the past four years straight) for our loyalty. Emotionally, though, it just adds fuel to the fire. I'm no longer as appreciated as I was. It's understandable that they didn't publicize this and it has that under the table feel... they don't want to stir more malcontent among the already agrieved "elite" flyers.
So towards the end of the year, even when United enticed me to make 1K on the cheap by offering double elite qualifying miles for all my flights between October 15 to December 15, I didn't do it. I thought about it pretty hard, but I ended up deciding not to go for it. If I had done it, I would have made 1K this year by spending less than $4,000. It just didn't seem worth it even at that price. In all, I spent just over two grand on United last year, and that's about enough. Every year, they've done something that made me wonder how much more it would take for them to lose my loyalty. I guess the answer is starting to reveal itself.
I used to fly just to fly. Yes, even on commercial flights. One of the big reasons for this was because United made it such a pleasant experience. These days, I'm pretty much flying commercially only to get somewhere. Certainly, I still enjoy the journey at least as much as the destination, but the journey by itself is no longer incentive enough to take a trip. I blame United for this, but for now I am going to sit and wait.
They are emerging from dire financial straits. Their actions over the next year as they recover will determine whether they intend to restore the airline to its former glory. If I can tell that they are, I'll probably come back. Otherwise, you can expect me to maybe make Premier Exec and that's it this year.
One trend I wrote about in the entry linked to above is already manifesting itself. Ted is the "Greyhounding" of United. Another trend is the use of regional jets to cover a distance of half the continent. When I fly United Express, all of the onboard benefits of elite status go out the window... it's very rarely pre-boarded, no First Class, no food, no alcohol... And now they're using these planes for mid-continental flights. It's a disturbing trend that I knew would happen, I could see all the signs. But it's another reason why I simply don't feel any incentive to make 1K anymore.
What good are these benefits when you can't use 'em on a growing number of flights? Answer: they're not. And I'm going to find other fun things to spend my dollars on. It's my power as a consumer. Don't forget... it's your power too.