Thursday, July 21, 2011

Speaking of Exit Rows: UA's New [Crap] Policy

Exit row seat 30H Boeing 777 United Airlines2P bastard stealing seat 30H on a 777, by hansenbrian via FlickrHere's a quote from United's new exit row seating policy. As a 1P (Premier Executive) passenger who flew almost 95,000 flight miles last year, this pisses me way off:

  • MileagePlus members with 1K, Premier Executive, Premier, or Global Services status may select exit row seats...at no extra charge when purchasing tickets...
The emphasis is obviously added by me. This isn't the first downgrade to MileagePlus status benefits and it won't be the last. But in its effort to incorporate CO flyers and planes, UA is going crazy, nibbling away at the differences between mid-tier status benefits.

Sure, anyone can (already) buy exit row seats when they purchase a ticket (even non-MP members). 

But they don't. Those seats are almost always still available when I check in online 24 hours before flight time. Will that still be true if 2Ps can select them at the same time I can?

You're a 2P who flew 25,001 miles last year. I flew almost 100,000. Shouldn't there be a little more differentiation between our benefits, and not a little less?

Saturday, July 16, 2011

10M Miles



You think you fly a lot? Meet Tom Stuker, United's newly-minted 10 million mile flyer.

Congrats to Tom! But wow, that's a lot of time in the air. I love racking up the miles as much as anyone. But to me, his accomplishment is equal parts amazing and awesome, with a hefty dose of "depressing" mixed in.

I'd like my name on a plane, though...

Photo above from United's Facebook page.