How United Airlines Is Reneging On Lifetime Club Benefits

by Gary Leff

News notes from around the interweb:

  • United, American, and Delta all now require same day travel (on their airline or an eligible partner) in order to access their club lounges. They all sold lifetime memberships years ago with no requirement of an additional purchase to use the lounge. American and Delta recognized this, and waived the same day boarding pass requirement for lifetime club members. Not so United which took money for lifetime club memebrships and then changed the terms. That’s getting coverage in the Houston Chronicle.

  • Close up footage of stealth bomber refueling

  • Chicago O’Hare now has marijuana amnesty boxes (i.e. a new employee benefit for airport workers).

  • American is sending out more free elite status. This went to my wife, who has no status with American and just a couple of AA segments last year. So yeah, American says their swelled elite numbers show how well the program is doing and I completely believe their elite numbers have grown when I keep seeing this.

    There’s also an offer for Platinum with (20) 500 mile upgrade certificates and a status challenge.

  • Cool. (HT: AirInsight)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. @ Gary — Delta ripped us off by reneging on our three-year memberships (and massively devaluing our miles). We are reminded of this each time we have no club access. This about the stupidest thing they could have done to loyal customers. We get to be repeatedly reminded that they screwed us, so it helps me to remember to give whatever business possible to other airlines when the opportunity arises. Plus, we will we be closing all of our Delta AMEX cards upon next renewal.

  3. AA seems desperate to give out status to just about anyone in a way that United and Delta don’t seem to be doing at all

  4. I wish the Houston Chronicle article had explained that overcrowding is the result of giving out club passes by the millions as an incentive to open United credit card accounts. Those credit cards earn United hundreds of millions of dollars, at least some of which is attributable to the club passes.

    In essence, United oversold its club seating. Its solution was involuntary denied boarding for lifetime members with no compensation.

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