Over Supplied United Premier Passengers?
May 18, 2014
It is one hour before the departure and 15 minutes before the boarding time at one of the gates at Tokyo Narita Airport Terminal 1. I had to leave a lounge well-before the boarding time to secure my spot on an expected long line of Group 1, which was for all the United’s First and BusinessFirst passengers as well as its Premier 1K and Platinum passengers.
Right next to Group 1 boarding line, there was Group 2 and 3, which were for remaining Premier passengers, including Premier Gold customers, who generally fly more than 50,000 miles annually. For non United Star Alliance carriers, 50,000-mile flyers were still considered to be the premium. Some Star carriers do not have such 100,000-mile flyer category yet. Unfortunately, United seems to have too many Premier passengers, especially 1Ks. The Group 1 line was obviously much longer than any other Groups.
Of course, many Premier passengers tend to line up early enough for the priority boarding and to secure their overhead bin spaces right above their seats. While many BusinessFirst customers are 1Ks thanks to more chances to be upgraded, still so many 1Ks head to EconomyPlus section when the Group 1 boarding kicks off.
The other Star Alliance carriers must have envied how United had collected a large number of 1Ks over past years. When I was a 1K member back in 2009, I still remembered I was nicely treated from the check-in to onboard. During that financial crisis period, an onboard customer relations manager even talked to me during the flight to exchange business cards and asked me should I have any help.
Right next to Group 1 boarding line, there was Group 2 and 3, which were for remaining Premier passengers, including Premier Gold customers, who generally fly more than 50,000 miles annually. For non United Star Alliance carriers, 50,000-mile flyers were still considered to be the premium. Some Star carriers do not have such 100,000-mile flyer category yet. Unfortunately, United seems to have too many Premier passengers, especially 1Ks. The Group 1 line was obviously much longer than any other Groups.
Of course, many Premier passengers tend to line up early enough for the priority boarding and to secure their overhead bin spaces right above their seats. While many BusinessFirst customers are 1Ks thanks to more chances to be upgraded, still so many 1Ks head to EconomyPlus section when the Group 1 boarding kicks off.
The other Star Alliance carriers must have envied how United had collected a large number of 1Ks over past years. When I was a 1K member back in 2009, I still remembered I was nicely treated from the check-in to onboard. During that financial crisis period, an onboard customer relations manager even talked to me during the flight to exchange business cards and asked me should I have any help.
Now, things have changed. As the U.S. economy gradually recovers, corporate travelers increase along with leisure travelers despite of an increase in overall airfares. Attaining a top tier 1K is easy compared to the other Star Alliance carriers. For instance, most Asian Star carriers, such as ANA, THAI, and Singapore, do not allow mileage accruals when discounted fares are ticketed. If United, most paid tickets are available for mileage accruals even you pay less than $1,000 for a NRT-SFO flight, which makes United passengers easily to earn a higher Premier status and redeemable miles.
Although it seems like Delta is leading the industry as it introduces new mileage program rules every year, United is clearly following everything what Delta has done. United may want to reduce the number of Premier 1Ks, who cause the heavy traffic on Group 1 and demand more upgrades. United changed its Premier qualification for 2014 last year by adding up Premier Qualifying Dollars in the rule. To reach 1K, it requires $10,000 spent on United flights. The airline might have wanted to eliminate the low spending frequent fliers. This PQD rule is right in progress so we do not know the outcome until the next year.
In 2015, United will launch “miles based on the thicket price.” That is another annoying event for most Premier passengers. Most United Premier passengers hold millions of miles in their accounts, maybe not a million for the most fliers, but tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands very at least. Miles are a form of money for fliers. It was used to be cheap to buy award tickets, especially the business class on Star Alliance carriers. However, not anymore. United changed the rule earlier this year.
After the financial crisis settled down, the airline turned back to profitability. Now, it seems to me United treats their employees more nicely than their passengers. On the flight to LAX from NRT a few months ago, I requested Beef for the dinner meal as a first choice and Salmon as a second, I ended up to get the second choice while the attendant did not say anything, just left the dish on my table. The BusinessFirst cabin wan not crowded and the seat next to me was empty. Plus, I saw many United-related passengers around me. Those United passengers were nicely treated and it looked like most popular meals went to those passengers. In addition, I went for the bathroom during the mid-flight and saw a flight attendant was eating the beef meal in the kitchen.
Personally I did not mind, and I liked the healthier fish but what I felt was annoying. The service quality is totally left behind after the difficult times in the airlines. They are not happy with too many Premier passengers, especially 1Ks, and they do not like passengers, who buy cheaper tickets to take advantage of earning thousands of miles in each flight. In the meantime, they set higher hurdles for the usage of award miles, making more expensive to redeem miles. What is next? Will they try to eliminate more valuable customers? At the very last, I still believe the customers, us, will have better pay offs, hopefully.
Although it seems like Delta is leading the industry as it introduces new mileage program rules every year, United is clearly following everything what Delta has done. United may want to reduce the number of Premier 1Ks, who cause the heavy traffic on Group 1 and demand more upgrades. United changed its Premier qualification for 2014 last year by adding up Premier Qualifying Dollars in the rule. To reach 1K, it requires $10,000 spent on United flights. The airline might have wanted to eliminate the low spending frequent fliers. This PQD rule is right in progress so we do not know the outcome until the next year.
In 2015, United will launch “miles based on the thicket price.” That is another annoying event for most Premier passengers. Most United Premier passengers hold millions of miles in their accounts, maybe not a million for the most fliers, but tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands very at least. Miles are a form of money for fliers. It was used to be cheap to buy award tickets, especially the business class on Star Alliance carriers. However, not anymore. United changed the rule earlier this year.
After the financial crisis settled down, the airline turned back to profitability. Now, it seems to me United treats their employees more nicely than their passengers. On the flight to LAX from NRT a few months ago, I requested Beef for the dinner meal as a first choice and Salmon as a second, I ended up to get the second choice while the attendant did not say anything, just left the dish on my table. The BusinessFirst cabin wan not crowded and the seat next to me was empty. Plus, I saw many United-related passengers around me. Those United passengers were nicely treated and it looked like most popular meals went to those passengers. In addition, I went for the bathroom during the mid-flight and saw a flight attendant was eating the beef meal in the kitchen.
Personally I did not mind, and I liked the healthier fish but what I felt was annoying. The service quality is totally left behind after the difficult times in the airlines. They are not happy with too many Premier passengers, especially 1Ks, and they do not like passengers, who buy cheaper tickets to take advantage of earning thousands of miles in each flight. In the meantime, they set higher hurdles for the usage of award miles, making more expensive to redeem miles. What is next? Will they try to eliminate more valuable customers? At the very last, I still believe the customers, us, will have better pay offs, hopefully.
