Leading From Behind
 

Wall Street article -

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United Continental Holdings Inc. UAL -1.66% plans to change its frequent-flier plan to award miles based on ticket price rather than distance flown, becoming the latest carrier to shift its loyalty program to favor bigger spenders.

The No. 2 airline by traffic said Tuesday that its MileagePlus program, which has about 95 million members, will make the change on March 1. Starting then, customers who have no status in the plan will receive 5 miles for each dollar spent on tickets, excluding government taxes and fees. The number of miles awarded will increase based on the passenger's elite status, with the lowest silver members getting 7 miles a dollar and top-level 1Ks getting 11.

At a Glance
Airlines Mileage-Change Trend
These awards mirror a change by rival Delta Air Lines Inc., DAL -1.04% rolled out for its SkyMiles members in February and to take effect Jan. 1. Southwest Airlines Co. LUV -1.20% , JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU -0.81% and Virgin America Inc. already have gone to the so-called revenue model, intended to reward frequent fliers who spend more money.

American Airlines Group Inc., AAL -0.87% which merged last year with US Airways to become the largest airline by traffic, recently said it couldn't make such structural changes until it integrates its two loyalty programs, which likely means not until next year. "But conceptually, it certainly makes sense to reward your best customers the most," said Scott Kirby, American's president.
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It'll be interesting to hear how Jeff spins this after waiting firmly at the rear to see what everybody else does before taking the leap. May be more interesting to hear how the Jeff supporters among us support Jeff's double talk.

I wouldn't call this one leading from behind. More like letting someone else buy the "A" model and seeing how it works out. Delta took quite a PR beating for it, but the elite passengers appreciated it. Talk to them, nothing makes them crazier than spending several grand on a first class ticket, only to sit next to someone that bought a coach for $200 but got to upgrade because they have all their bills setup to pay on their mileageplus card, and thus have 50,000 miles for freebies.

I didn't think Jeff's supporters would be so quick to respond. He didn't know this? We upgrade just about everybody to fill first class. They've done many surveys concerning this - Jeff was just afraid to lead and take the heat for making the decision if it didn't work out. We've chased just about all our BEST CUSTOMERS. Would you explain why?

Maybe more first class deadhead for us.

Bingo.

I haven't been here long enough to have an opinion on the front office, but I can appreciate letting someone else be the canary for something this volatile.

The airlines are following the lead set by the other big travel industry player several years ago- the hotel industry. They reward customers based on $$ spent vs. number of nights stayed.

Business travelers hate paying 1200 bucks for a ticket to sit next to someone who paid 399 and got the same mileage reward, just like Hilton that gave credits for a nights stay at a discount or full rate.

American will convert too once they get their res systems merged.

It's easy to repeat the obvious. You got any original ideas why Jeff the current Leader of United Airlines wasn't the first to the gate to get this done. Just about every airline that has a program has changed except AA and they had already announced that they would move in that direction after they merged the USAir program into theirs before UAL announced the change at United.

This has nothing to do with the merger and Jeff still can't manage the airline at a competitive level with Virgin America and JetBlue much less with Delta and American. You can hold him in high-esteem if you want but keep in mind this man will likely be putting your job in jeopardy going forward. Jeff needs to go.