Status Of Ua Alliance

[ClueByFour]

You will have full details in your January Statement. It isn't a bad thing. Actually I think you'll be surprised. All I will say is it makes sense for US and the customer. Consumer Affairs should have more if you want details now.

Well, it makes sense for US.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Jan12.html

I hope that you guys consider a link to buying an RCC membership on the us-cockroach web page, because is clearly going to be the better play, partiuclarly if the pricing is what I believe it will be.

You will note that United shows no sign whatsoever of reciprocating this foolish nickle and dime BS, and seems to go to great lengths to say so. I know that my membership is up soon, and I know what I won't be buying going forward.

Once again, I'll be forced to buy the RCC membership and then fax the receipt to everyone I know at CCY plus consumer affairs to let them know that revenue just went to somebody else, and BTW they can plan on seeing me in the Clubs anyway costing US money.

 

[geo1004]

This is nickel and dime BS for sure. Instead of making business travel easier, US has found YET ANOTHER way to take something as simple as a Club membership and make it complex to the point there is NO WAY it can be implimented without confusing employees and passengers alike. I've been a Club member for years and suspect that I'll just get the RCC membership and be done with it.

CCY is going about this backwards. Rather than paying a bunch of monkey-MBA's to ask the question "what can we charge for?" they should ask the question "what can we do FOR our passengers that will make them WANT to choose us over other airlines?"

 

[USFlyer]

Everyone needs to wait for the details on this issue. Some flyertalk.com folks are already getting pissy, but no one has any facts whatsoever. Let's wait and see what Marketing came up with before we start criticizing it.

 

[Art at ISP]

This is another stupid mistake. I sometimes think they WANT to go out of business.

Instead of focusing on the real problems (business fares, utilization) they are committed to hosing the two groups they need the most: employees and customers.

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe the fat lady is approaching the stage......

Good luck to you all..

 

[CPRich]

Everyone needs to wait for the details on this issue. Some flyertalk.com folks are already getting pissy, but no one has any facts whatsoever. Let's wait and see what Marketing came up with before we start criticizing it.

I believe the facts are out (see FT) - can we criticize now? Let's see....

Base members - i.e. those that don't fly US very often - decrease annual club fees by $75.

CP Members - i.e. those who fly US just about every week and over 100K miles/yr (or 200K in my case) - you know, the ones who pay the bills - raise club fees.

Oh, and let's decrease benefits for everyone at that dollar amount. If you want the benefits you have today, that will be an extra $120 on top of that increase. Thanks for flying us, from your friendly anti-Marketing team.


Hey PB - "It isn't a bad thing. Actually I think you'll be surprised. All I will say is it makes sense for US and the customer." Do you really thing this isn't a bad thing, making sense for us?

 

[USFlyer]

I generally don't believe or buy into anything on flyertalk.com. I'm still of the opinion most of the people who post there still want a filet mignon on a two hour $99.95 flight bought at the last minute.

Also, what is $120 in the whole grand scheme of things, if this is true. Last year I spent around $120,000 on business travel when factoring in hotels, rental cars, airfare, meals, taxis, parking, etc. (as I'm sure many US1s did), so what is $120/year?! It's peanuts and really should not be a big deal for most of us.

 

[1990Supra]

This is nickel and dime BS for sure. Instead of making business travel easier, US has found YET ANOTHER way to take something as simple as a Club membership and make it complex to the point there is NO WAY it can be implimented without confusing employees and passengers alike. I've been a Club member for years and suspect that I'll just get the RCC membership and be done with it.

CCY is going about this backwards. Rather than paying a bunch of monkey-MBA's to ask the question "what can we charge for?" they should ask the question "what can we do FOR our passengers that will make them WANT to choose us over other airlines?"

I would agree.

Kinda makes you think, why would they be doing this.

 

[USFlyer]

I agree with PineyBob on this one. Fact is, I'm positive this program was costing US quite a bit, possibly quite a bit more than they had realized. Just try booking a US flight these days and look at all the UA-operated flights that come up. It's almost impossible for me not to pick UA when flying to the west coast. So, I bet a lot of travelers have been flying UA and using UA's clubs more than management had thought. I see nothing wrong with charging some to offset the costs ... I mean, heck, it's still more than we could have if the whole partnership were to go away.

Sure, this is another cost passed on to consumers, but I don't consider this nickel and diming. In fact, for the average traveler who flies US almost exclusively, it's cheaper now with the reduced base rate.

Also, jeez, how soon everyone forgets that US just eliminated charges for all upgrades! That to me outweighs any slight increase in Club feeds.

 

[Art at ISP]

I think there will be an unexpected exodus from US to UA club membership. Remember UA is not going to charge for cross utlization. In truth I think it is a boneheaded move, and it will not last --like the last BBB fiasco.

Also, Gold and Chairmans are entitled to use Star Lounges automatically as Star Gold members. I do not think US is even allowed to charge extra for that.

I still say the fat lady is approaching the stage.

Stay tuned!

 

[USFlyer]

Also, Gold and Chairmans are entitled to use Star Lounges automatically as Star Gold members. I do not think US is even allowed to charge extra for that.

Isn't this only when traveling in Business or First?