John26

Certainly today's announcement by US Airways that they are eliminating bonus miles (RDMs) for their elite frequent flyers has already reached the desks of WHQ at United. Some managers, program directors and VPs at United may be mulling over copying US Airways.

Realisticially speaking (i.e. empty threats are meaningless), what would you do if United stopped giving bonus RDMs to Mileage Plus elite members?

[btw I ask this not to give United ideas it already has, but to help WHQ employees who read FlyerTalk to see what the outcome might be]

gj83

I've already started flying other carriers. I flew AA this week for the first time in a year.

DCEsquire

Switch to AA This discussion is going on in the thread about the UA announcement allready.

John26

Just realized I should probably answer my own question to be fair.

I would switch to another carrier (within or outside of Star Alliance) that did offer bonus RDMs to its elite members.

If all US carriers eliminated this benefit I would probably switch to earn miles on SQ, NH or CX instead.

mahasamatman

As long as I still get SWUs, they've got me by the short hairs.

dukeman

I matched to UA (1P) when US (I am CP) announced the end of the 500 mile minimum and UA announced it would still give 500 minimum. Then UA announced it was changing a few weeks later. If they get rid of the bonus RDMs I will probably take my 1K status (which I will be later this summer) and match somewhere else. And I would use my SWUs to credit to another *A carrier that offers bonus RDMs.

John26

I'm trying to segregate this as its own topic because the other thread mixes in a host of changes announced by US (particularly increasing reservation fees, instituting award redemption fees on all awards and elimination of free non-alcoholic beverages and charging for them instead). These are all reductions in benefits but I believe the elimination of bonus miles for elite members has enough relevance for its own thread on FlyerTalk. IMHO anyway

dmach

I'd jump ship. As much as I love E+, Ch 9, UA's hub locations, excellent service 80% of the time, etc. etc., the 100% RDM bonus is simply too much to give up. I'd either status match to AA, or go with AS (flying AA and crediting AS for the midwest and east coast destinations AS doesn't serve), and fly AS or AA for the remainder of 2008.

John26

A little OT but since most carriers won't match to their highest elite level, there's probably no need for you to earn 1K to match to the mid tier of another program. In this scenario I would only suggest you stick it out if the benefits of 1K (e.g. SWUs) would serve your future travel needs.

dimramon

I am not sure. United's E+ plus is pretty important to me.
Currently, there is no major US carrier that offers this.

das

Me too. While I enjoy the RDM bonus, my primary motivation for hitting 1K status is to earn SWUs.

FWIW, I think it's only a matter of time til RDM bonuses for elites are history, not just at UA, but across the board. Extra RDMs rank low in terms of what frequent business travelers need (vs. perks like upgrades, priorty lines), yet carry a fairly substantial accounting liability for UA.

We'll see!

frekwentflier

I agree with the above about the SWUs. Miles are great, but I never use them to upgrade, and that is my primary concern at this time in my life. Sure, I'd miss the miles, but it would not cause me to goto another carrier. Besides, if UA matches this, AA & the rest won't be far behind, so where are you going to go?

Now, once my international travel comes to a halt and I can no longer maintain 1K, I hate to say this, but I will most likely switch to Southwest for my domestic travel. You can get a free ticket on them much faster than any legacy. Of course, I'll buy Business Select tickets to make sure I get a good seat and overhead space.

I wonder how many free Southwest tickets it'll take to get a SWU on CC...

That being said, I highly doubt UA will match this policy. US has repeatedly demonstrated that they couldn't care less about their elites and actively implemented policies to encourage them to take their business elsewhere. UA on the other hand is completely opposite, they treat their elites like the revenue-generating gods they are. Most (except the 500 mile minimum fiasco) of their "enhancements" so far have been directed at leisure travelers while exempting the elites, why would they change that strategy?

exbayern

E+ keeps me loyal flying UA within North America, but I would move the bulk of my earning back to AC as redemption is usually easier (albeit more expensive!) with them

dukeman

True, but I have already earned 1K once DEQMs post. I have quite a bit of travel left to book for the year and will hold off on booking as long as possible until I see what UA and other carriers are doing.

Mike Jacoubowsky

Nothing would change whatsoever. RDMs are an insignificant part of the total elite (ok, lowly 2P, but it's still elite) package for me. Of course, it's only 125% for me, and maybe I'd feel differently were it 200%.

But let's say I fly 50k miles/year and the elite bonus was 50% (is that what a 1P gets?). So I'd net an additional 25k in RDMs. Given that nearly all of my RDMs post from a business credit card, well over $100k/year (lots of our suppliers now take credit cards), it just wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. And as a 2P, flying 30k miles/year, the bonus would only be, what, 7500 RDMs? Big deal.

I can see where this might be a much bigger issue for someone who flies a lot of miles though, especially since those bonus RDMs come to a fairly significant percentage of the cost of a class upgrade.

But I think a better proposal than eliminating the RDM bonus would be to tie the bonus entirely to the fare paid, nothing else.