There’s a thread on FlyerTalk discussing a comment United Airlines CFO John Rainey made during the 2012 Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Global Transportation Conference that caught my eye earlier today. I was highly intrigued, so had to take a listen to the presentation myself and here’s exactly what he said:

That statement was made while he was noting the benefits of SHARES from this slide:

Image courtesy United Airlines

First, he noted how SHARES, unlike Apollo, has the ability to revenue manage ancillary products, like Economy Plus. United can now charge different prices for an E+ upgrade depending on the day of week, time of day, type of seat (aisle, middle, window), etc. Then he mentioned how SHARES allows United to better manage the MileagePlus program.

This is when he dropped the comment, which has many on FlyerTalk pissed off beyond belief. While I’m not outraged by it, it does sting quite a bit and I’m surprised he’d say such a thing at a time when sooo many elites are already questioning a switch in loyalty, if they haven’t already jumped ship. I know that what he said is management’s attitude, but to say “over entitled” out loud… just ridiculous. Even if I’m not in the “certain” group he’s referring to (I know I am), it still stung.

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised… the guy who introduced him said he prefers to be viewed as, “a finance guy more than an airline guy.”

So much for loyalty. A revenue-based elite program (vs. mileage-based) is looking more likely sooner rather than later.

This is not a belated April Fools. Senator Ben Nelson from Nebraska introduced legislation that would remove preferred security lines from U.S. airports. Citing them as having nothing to do with safety (doesn’t he realize the pun there?), he feels that since all passengers pay the same “security” fee in their tickets, everyone should be treated the same.

The bill he’s proposing only restricts airlines and airports from establishing this elite and first class perk I, and probably everyone I know, would sorely miss, but would allow the TSA to operate dedicated fast-track PreCheck screening already seen at today’s airports.

While PreCheck has been expanding, it’s not everywhere and I have yet to experience it as a United elite mainly flying out of LAX. I received my invite to the program from American when it first started, but I’ve since refocused my flying with United to hit the million-miler mark this year. United is probably too busy with the merger and prolonged SHARES transition issues to offer its elites access and coordinate with the airports to dedicate security lanes.

I think Henry Harteveldt put it best when he told a Times reporter that such a measure would, “penalize people who help keep the airlines in business.” He continued, “If airport security becomes slower, business people will travel less. It will harm the entire air transport industry.”

I certainly don’t keep United in business with my mostly bottom-feeder fares, but I’d be outraged if Premier Access went away and I hadn’t yet gotten into PreCheck or Global Entry.

Also, the ancillary revenue airlines would lose by not being able to sell access to elite lines would probably top their legislative agenda if this bill gets traction. I don’t think it’s going to happen.

The bill has been referred to a Senate committee for consideration.

What do you think?

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If I weren’t totally committed to reaching million-miler status with United Airlines this year and spending every dollar with them, I’d be particularly keen on jumping on the bandwagon Mommy Points discovered today.

American Airlines extended their double elite qualifying mile promotion for residents of California, Illinois and Texas today offering those AAdvantage members double redeemable miles and EQM for trips from ORD/DFW to LAX/SFO and SNA.

Travel must now be completed by June 30, 2012, and registration is still required here using the DEQ11 code.

(Should I just go for EXP this year, too?)

The agony.

This morning I received an email – as I’m sure many of you did – announcing the return of American’s AAdvantage Elite Rewards for 2012. As it was in the past, it’s based on your elite qualifying point total on December 31, 2012, so those who purchase lower-bucket fares will have a significantly more difficult time hitting the required target within their status level.

As a reminder, here’s a list of what each class of service ticketed earns in terms of elite qualifying points.

This program is particularly great if you already accrue more points than required to re-qualify for your status level each year and are just shy of the next level. As it’s based on your status at the end of the 2012, if you just roll over to the next level during the year, it will certainly be difficult to hit the next status’ threshold.

Registration is required using promo code ELTA2 prior to December 15, 2012 and members who successfully achieve the stated goal will receive an email in January 2013 with a link to select the reward(s).

Now that United Airlines converted to Shares and the old upgrade and award fare buckets no longer exist, I thought it might be helpful to summarize the new ones as shown in the below chart. The new alphabet soup has gotten a touch more complex depending on your elite status, so I’ve broken out the correct buckets by level.

The first “Upgrade” category covers burning your miles (+co-pay) or using a confirmable instrument (RPU/GPU), but also includes Complimentary Premier Upgrades where applicable from coach to the next cabin. The “Y/B/M Upgrade” section refers to the instant-upgrade program when buying full-fare coach tickets (or M-fares for 1K and Global Services members).

This is the new system in theory at the moment, as I have yet to attempt to book an award in one of the two-character buckets ending with –N. My reservation to Australia that was converted from Apollo shows my upgrade to business as simply being in the R-cabin, though we as customers might only see the first character online after a reservation is booked.

To view a flight’s allocation of inventory, simply click into the “Fare classes” link that appears on the right-hand side of a flight search when you go to make a reservation.

R.I.P. XF/NF/XC/NC…

If you haven’t already figured me out, I’m an airline geek to the max and save absolutely everything related to my travels. As such, I’ve kept every frequent flyer card issued to me from any airline no matter its expiration. My favorite, quite honestly, is my Pan Am card, but given I received my new United Airlines MileagePlus card yesterday, I thought I’d share a look at how its design has changed throughout the years.

My favorite was the 2002 edition with the United tulip featured on the right-hand side of the card. Sadly, I lost my original Mileage Plus card when I signed up in 1988… it was blue and looked very similar to the 1990 Premier card you see at the top. What’s your favorite design?

P.S. I worked in the industry — including United — from 1995 (the fifth ‘Emeritus’ card below) through 2001, so lost status and received the blue card as a general member of Mileage Plus.

It might seem petty to be anxiously awaiting the arrival of my 2012 MileagePlus credentials, but as most of you know, Star Alliance “lounge dragons” demand a valid card for entry. I’ve witnessed many people turned away after not being able to present a current card even though their Star Gold status is clearly evident on their boarding passes, and since I still haven’t received mine with today’s mail, I called MileagePlus to complain.

As usual, calling more than once tends to yield different results, so I placed two calls directly to the MileagePlus Service Desk. Here’s a recap:

Call #1:

Agent: “Hello, this is Ms. Davis… am I speaking with Mr. Booth?”

Me: “Yes, hello.”

A: “Thank you for being a valued 1K, how may I assist you?”

Me: “Well, I’m a bit concerned I haven’t received my new card yet and I have a flight tomorrow on Singapore Airlines in economy (okay, I lied). Singapore’s lounge agents have always needed a valid card for entry, so given I haven’t received mine, I’m at a loss of what to do.”

A: “I’m so sorry. We mailed the cards and I know many still haven’t received them, so I’d recommend printing your activity from United.com to show that you’re a current 1K member.”

Me: “I’ll hope for the best with that. Do you show when my card was mailed?”

A: “No, we don’t have specifics for individual cards, but they were mailed.”

Me: “In previous years, they were always sent via Standard mail, which can take up to a month… do you know when they were sent?”

A: “Oh, I don’t think they’d mail 1K cards Standard mail. Hold on.”

After about three minutes on hold…

A: “Thank you for your patience. They were mailed First Class, so you should receive it in within the next week.”

Me: “Okay, thanks… I’ll hope for the best with the lounge agent.”

Here’s how the second phone call went.

Call #2:

Agent: “Hello, am I speaking with Mr. Booth?”

Me: “Yes, hello.”

A: “How can I help you?”

Me: “Well, I’m a bit concerned I haven’t received my new 1K card as of today’s mail and I’m flying with Singapore Airlines tomorrow in economy. The lounge agents have historically always required a valid card for entry, so I’m a bit worried I’ll be denied access.”

A: “I’m sorry, Mr. Booth, but they were mailed last week.”

Me: “Last year they were sent via Standard mail which can take up to a month. Do you know if that’s the case now?”

A: “No, I was told they were mailed First Class. I can send you an email confirming your status if you like.”

Me: “Yes, please, that would be helpful. I just hope the lounge agents accept it.”

A: “Well, with the merger, we’ve advised Star Alliance that things are going slow, so hopefully the email will be accepted.”

Me: “Thanks for your help.”

Here’s the email as it was sent to me. Quite honestly, it’s not very official looking, but if you still haven’t received your credentials it might not hurt to give MileagePlus a call to request the same.

Finally, if you’re a million-miler… be sure to check your doorstep for a FedEx package. This Flyertalk thread is reporting many MMs received their credentials and a gift today.

[Edited to add: Definitely follow Gene's recommendation in his comment below to print a temporary card. Also, a friend here in Southern California received his Gold kit today and his, anyway, was sent standard mail...]

The PR firm for PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) sent me a link to an interesting study PwC recently completed and published focusing on strategies the airlines should be incorporating to ensure they’re meeting the needs of both business and leisure travelers.

I could write-up multiple posts covering the entire Experience Radar 2012: Customer Insight for the US Airline Industry report, as there is a great deal of research and data covered, but I’ll simply summarize a few takeaways for people like me – the mileage running and elite status junkie.

PwC received input from more than 6,000 consumers for this study and thoroughly broke out each segment of traveler within both the leisure and business demographic to derive “experience segments.” Meet my favorite among the business travelers, Premier Status Peter.

Image courtesy PwC

According to the study, Peter is a Gen Xer living in a major city, prefers United (yes) or Southwest (what?), is among the highest portion of people unlikely to switch airlines (agree), has the highest frequency of negative experiences a month due to travel volume, and is most influenced by positive experiences when repurchasing. Peter also seeks convenience from his elite status, not luxury – things like priority boarding, upgrades, standby, rebooking assistance and extra legroom. I couldn’t agree more.

The result below struck a little fear in my system as a travel voucher can typically be turned into more than 10,000 elite qualifying miles & 20,000 redeemable miles as a top-tier elite, so it has more value to me than a sincere apology. Both are nice, of course.

Image courtesy PwC

This next graphic reveals the consistency of the inconsistency of flight attendant service many of us have experienced and shows the words used most often when describing a positive or negative experience. Notice how the word “attendant” is basically equal in both? Two words on the positive front dear to any elite junkie’s heart are sizeable – upgraded and first class.

Image courtesy PwC

If you have the time and interest, download a copy as the other results and methodology used for the study are a fascinating read.

If you haven’t already started receiving email solicitations from airline and hotel loyalty programs regarding the Freddie Awards, here’s a link to the home page explaining the prestigious awards and another link taking you directly to the voting portal. Additional information appears below.

The awards ceremony will take place April 26, 2012 at the Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel.

Cast your vote now!

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Today I received an email from American Airlines offering the opportunity to continue my AAdvantage Platinum status through the end of next February for a modest fee.

Last year I took the Platinum elite challenge with American in part to re-experience a carrier I hadn’t flown since 1998, and also to rack up some miles that I ended up redeeming for a fantastic Cathay Pacific First Class experience. I thoroughly enjoyed my travels with AA, but decided at the end of last year that I need to focus 100% of my 2012 travel with United Airlines since I’m so close to million-miler status. As such, I’ll be dropping down to Gold come March 1.

That said, the offer of $769 is reasonable, in my opinion, if I truly had intentions of continuing flying with American and/or oneworld alliance members this year. It’s definitely more reasonable than the price one of Matthew’s readers who is shy 10,000 elite qualifying miles was being asked to pay to retain Premier Executive status (soon to be named Premier Gold) with United – $1,691!

Would $769 be beyond your tolerance to buy status back?

Via Live from a Lounge & The Points Guy, it appears American Airlines sent out a targeted promotion to many AAdvantage members yesterday offering both accelerated elite status to Platinum or Executive Platinum and double redeemable award miles. There is a very active Flyertalk thread discussing this promotion, as well.

[Updated 2/10/12: Per AAdvantageGeek and the comments below, AA will not honor this promotion if you did not receive the targeted email.]

Participating travel must occur between February 8 to May 31, 2012, and registration is required using code HVCAA. Several FTers and TPG readers have already commented they’ve received a confirmation email, so unlike many of United’s targeted promotions that never seem to do anything after registration if you weren’t a recipient, this one might play out differently. Your mileage may vary, as always.

The promo requires 10,000 base miles flown to achieve Platinum status through February 28, 2013, or 25,000 base miles to achieve Executive Platinum status.

The extended window they’re offering is incredibly generous, so to me, elite ranks on American this year will be even more inflated for those able to participate in this offer after the recent systemwide DEQM promotion that just ended January 31, 2012.

I don’t have a link to the terms & conditions, so at this point assume that butt-in-seat miles are required [Update: butt-in-seat is confirmed] and I’m unclear whether this is stackable with the current LAX/SFO-ORD/DFW DEQM valid through the end of next month.

I’ll update this post as more details become available.