Comments on: Continental and United just got a whole lot closer!

By: Matthew

Matthew — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:47:29 +0000

@BigBabba: No merger–yet. In fact, the reciprocal upgrade program mentioned above does not start till later in the year. If anything, upgrades should be a bit easier right now on CO since all the NW folks are no longer competing with you for upgrades.

By: BigBabba

BigBabba — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:38:09 +0000

Frankly, it seems like it sucks now to be Continental Gold Elite. Before the merger, I was upgraded frequently. Now, there always seems to be enough people ahead of me who get upgraded. The only explaination I can see is that previously I would have been in the second group on a continental flight, not I am number 4. As I am in Houston, I typically flew CO, but this is making me think twice.

By: applezz

applezz — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:07:21 +0000

What about CO companion upgrades? they are not in the new list. Does this benefit still exist, or will it go away?

By: UA_Flyer

UA_Flyer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:37:35 +0000

Love the annoucement, especially for my New York to/from South Florida travel.

Now I can fly PBI/FLL/MIA to EWR with excellent upgrade opportunities!

It ‘s a million year better than having to transit through IAD to get on the UX to fly into Miami only or go through DCA/CLT on crappy UA AIrways (with no upgrade opportuntiy)

By: lucky

lucky — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:00:43 +0000

@ Tom — I actually think Continental will adopt SWU’s in one form or another soon enough. It’s something United just can’t get rid of because their biggest competitor is American.

@ HunterSFO — Absolutely correct, Hunter. There are some routes that are easy upgrades, though. I’m looking forward to flying Continental to New York from now on. TPA-EWR upgrades have always been quite easy based on what I’ve seen, and they even frequently fly BusinessFirst equipped Boeing 757-200s on the route!

@ mre5765 — Interesting. While FlyerTalk members frequently switch their loyalty based on the best program, I’m thinking most others choose airlines based on schedule, convenience, etc. I’m sure we’ll see a substantial number of elites switch to United, but probably not enough to see Delta change their policies.

@ whakojacko — Good plan, as 1K’s are the real winners here.

@ TonySCV — Very true, although upgrades on A319′s were tough to begin with.

By: TonySCV

TonySCV — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:53:58 +0000

That’s an awful lot of top tier elites from 2 airlines fighting over those 8 F seats on an A319

By: whakojacko

whakojacko — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:51:12 +0000

Alright, Im definitely MRing end of the year for 1k

By: mre5765

mre5765 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:27:25 +0000

If this arrangement succeeds in bleeding DL elites onto UA and CO (and at this point why anyone who is top tier on any US-based airline would not go to UA is beyond me), then it shows that the NW/DL merger was a mistake, and thus a UA/CO merger would be too.

By: HunterSFO

HunterSFO — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:10:07 +0000

don’t forget the issue that on CO, platinums on high fares often don’t get the upgrade – so UA flyers will almost never clear. Of course this varies by route – but on transcons I just don’t see even a UA GS member EVER getting the upgrade!

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:06:01 +0000

CO preferred seating is a joke. This is good as it will encourage people to keep flying UA!

The upgrade priority order for the UA flights is a small comfort. For those tough years I am a UA Premier Exec, it looks like my chances will remain the same for the upgrades on UA metal. I will have to keep working hard to keep my 1K…mostly on leisure travel.

IF UA and CO do merge, will the SWU go on “life support”?