In all honesty, it is 0305 on Sunday morning, I have driven over 500km today to attend a wedding in Baden-Württemberg, just spent an hour on the phone booking an award with British Airways, and I just do not have the energy right now to provide the detailed anaylsis I promised on the leaked changes to the United Airlines Mileage Plus program.
That will come tomorrow (later today to be more precise), but for now I just want to provide a few more details on other changes under consideration, shared earlier by Ben:
- Economy Plus will be limited to passengers on the same PNR, except for Global Services members
- When flying in economy class, Global Services members will receive a free meal, free drinks, free entertainment (headsets and DirectTv), and a free Red Carpet Club premium drink. Diamond members would get the choice of two of those when flying in economy, while Platinum members would get to choose one
- Global Services, Diamond, and Platinum members would get a Global Entry enrollment fee waiver
These proposals are way too specific (and logical) to be off-base and in my mind, the question is only in resolving the specifics while having already agreed on the concept. I have no problems with the changes above, including the Economy Plus limitation.
Tomorrow I will argue why the many proposed changes are not the end of the world for the mileage-running traveler, but will also propose an alternate that would address Jeff $misek’s revenue concerns without alienating those frequent flyers who may not always purchase the most expensive tickets. I will also discuss why the grass may not be greener on the other side, as I examine the benefits of a shift to American or US Airways.
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