Now, I don’t know for certain that my drop on the list from almost certain upgrades to a snowballs chance in hell is due to United Global or United 1K being added, but the timing fits as these were flights after the implementation of Continental in Star Alliance.

Actually, the reciprocal upgrades haven’t started yet, so this must have just been a coincidence. Certainly as a CO elite in Denver, your chances will go down. There are a ton of elites there.

Cranky,
I’m really curious how this will truly impact upgrade opportunities. On Northwest, even as a silver, I did pretty decently in terms of upgrades… and remember, we were “competing” with higher up Continental elites for that privilege. And truth be told, I rarely flew on Continental, ’cause they wouldn’t give full elite qualifying miles to Northwest fliers who purchased the cheapo-fares on the internet.
When these “alignments” happen, everybody thinks the other “team’s” fliers will come over in masses and steal upgrades from the “home” team. Why? Most people pick an airline based on the routes and schedules. One would think a United flyer would take a Continental flight only when CO offers a better schedule (ie nonstop.) And if that were the case often enough, wouldn’t that flyer be a member of CO’s program to begin with?
When there is no clear “winner” then I would think people would gravitate toward the better loyalty program. And if a flier from Airline A takes an upgrade on Airline B, doesn’t that mean there is an open seat on Airline A?

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Continental fliers will earn 100% elite miles on UA. I used to split my miles between NWA and CO depending on who I was flying for two years until I realized that if I had just picked one program I could have made elite status for the year.

So I do see this as one benefit that was lacking in the former alliance. If I am stuck on a UA flight at least I will be earning full elite miles. Unlikely I get my upgrade… but the elite miles should give me some comfort.

I happen to be CO silver elite (should be Gold for 2010) who lives in Denver, UA main hub. This is bad news for someone like me. It could be a reduction in flights, but I got an upgrade (on silver) nearly every flight I took in the first half of 2009. Even the few times I flew Northwest to Detroit this summer I got an upgrade 3 of 6 flights. Recently I only got an upgrade on 1 of 4 legs (DEN-IAH). I was 34th on the list on one flight. Now, I don’t know for certain that my drop on the list from almost certain upgrades to a snowballs chance in hell is due to United Global or United 1K being added, but the timing fits as these were flights after the implementation of Continental in Star Alliance. Could be that there are simply more Continental Platinum & Gold in Denver now, could be that I happen to take popular flights with elites. Who knows…

I have to say, that’s pretty amusing. Year after year, Continental is ranked #1 among legacy carriers for customer satisfaction. United has for some time ranked at the bottom.

First time in over 10 years. I’ll accept that the lateness, dodgy AVOD and dire food were an unfortunate one-off, but the seat comfort (or lack of) and leg room aren’t. I’ve never glorified the condition of UA interiors, particularly in Y+, but their seats are far more comfortable and leg-room much better than CO.

Interesting feedback. I actually found that their older seats on the 737-300/500 aircraft were more comfortable than the newer ones. But I’ve never flown them internationally since there are nearly always better options from the west coast.

First time in over 10 years. I’ll accept that the lateness, dodgy AVOD and dire food were an unfortunate one-off, but the seat comfort (or lack of) and leg room aren’t. I’ve never glorified the condition of UA interiors, particularly in Y+, but their seats are far more comfortable and leg-room much better than CO.

Dan wrote:
One would think a United flyer would take a Continental flight only when CO offers a better schedule (ie nonstop.)
After my recent experience, Dan, I’ll take a two-stopping United itinerary over a non-stop Continental.

Is this your first experience with Continental? I don’t fly them much since their west coast presence is tiny, but I hear generally good things about flying the airline. I wonder if you just had an off day.