Hi everyone,

In another thread focused largely on mileage there has been an interesting comparison of UA/AA/CO in regard to being the best elite program. One facet that emerged was the comparison of CO’s new revenue based elite level, with UA and AA’s mileage based elite levels.

First let me admit some confusion. Doesn’t UA also have revenue based level called Global Services which might be a better comparison for CO’s new presidential platinum? (I could be mistaken, but that is what I got from reading about global services in the UA part of the forums.)

Could CO be creating Presidential Platinum to harmonize its elite programs with UA’s? If this speculation on my part turned out to be true, we might also expect CO to have another elite mileage based level as well equivalent to 1K? Or is this a crazy idea?

I was wondering if any forum members have thoughts regarding how CO’s Presidential Platinum level might compare to UA’s Global Services since they are both revenue based as I understand it? Of course CO’s program has still to be rolled out so it is only possible to speculate, but does it seem likely for both of these programs to outdo AA’s Executive Platinum?

 

Had Bob Crandall ever realized how popular these programs would become, he would have made them revenue-based from day one. In fact, most of the programs that have been created/changed recently have had revenue-based attributes.

As you correctly point out, PP and UGS are both revenue-based, although the latter is more of a mystery in terms of how much it costs to get in as a first-timer. Don't forget, CO set the $30K number for the first year but noted that it will change going forward.

I would hazard a guess that when Southwest 2.0 comes out, it will have far more of a revenue component.

Mike

 

Yes. It is supposed to roughly match the UGS program. It is also supposed to roughly match the AA Concierge Key program.

It is still unknown if CO will move Platinum to 100K or add a 4th mileage-based tier at that level. The new CO SWUs will be issued at 100K so there is a carrot already out there for OnePass folks to reach for.

 

Hi sbm12 and mikeef,

Thanks so much for your comments.

I am particularly grateful about the information about AA’s program which I was not aware of.

Thanks so much!