David J.
Danto
Business travel
thoughts in my own, personal opinion
eMail: ddanto@IMCCA.org Follow Industry News: @NJDavidD
NOT Traveling Blog, 3rd
Week Of November 2020
David Danto’s ongoing list of disjointed and occasionally random
observations and thoughts as we wait-out the pandemic – mostly NOT traveling
like we used to.
I received a note from United
Airlines this week. It said “We're excited
to announce that starting February 1, we will begin flying to both Los Angeles
and San Francisco from New York City's John F. Kennedy (JFK), offering daily
nonstop flights to each west coast city.” It created a flood of memories and emotions
in my mind. As I’m not going anywhere
anytime soon, I figured I’d share some of them with you.
During my long career I often traveled back and forth between
New York and California. The emergence
of United’s Premium Service (along with similar services from competing
airlines) was a real breakthrough.
People who frequently traveled this route on business – and who’s
employers usually purchased business class fares – could take advantage of this
international style upgraded service.
Much roomier seats, personalized entertainment (balky players with DVDs
and noise cancelling headphones in the early days), multiple course meals with
fine wine, plenty of attention from flight attendants, etc. It was just what one would expect from
premium service on a premium airline.
Much has changed since those first days of PS. The new (Continental disfigured) United
abandoned JFK in 2015, moving all their operations to EWR. While you might think I,
as an EWR hub captive would like that change, it was
awful. Lost in the shuffle of bringing
“Premium Service” to EWR was the fact that this new
United deemed everything between EWR and LAX/SFO as premium. That meant that there would no longer be free
upgrades on that route. Instead of
Premium being a product one could purchase or use miles to upgrade to when that
extra comfort was desired, it was now the default first-class, domestic,
coast-to-coast product. That also meant
that if you didn’t fork-up the cash you would be stuck in the back of a
typically narrow, old plane in a tiny, coach seat and have a miserable six-ish hour flight.
Just before the pandemic killed travel, United had returned a
meal-service to their elite passengers seated in Economy Plus on those routes,
but that was the only improvement I can think of in coach in about a half-dozen
years.
The statement “We Are
Back” really tugged at my heart and memories, as I’m sure it did for many United customers. I
fondly remember the era of United when it treated all passengers well and elite
passengers like kings.
I remember when irrops during a
trip didn’t give me the chills, as I knew United would look out for me. I remember when the crews were actually the
embodiment of the “friendly skies.” I remember
when the aircraft didn’t proudly show a Death-Star on the tailfin. And, I remember flying Premium Service from
JFK (and international business class from EWR) was
simply a wonderful experience. As I’ve
mentioned before I was actually on the last (pre-Continental) United 777 flight
from EWR to LHR. The entire United
ground crew at EWR stood on the tarmac in tribute as
the aircraft taxied to the runway, marking the sad end of a proud and wonderful
era. After that, United only flew
international out of JFK. And then – of
course – the whole thing got Smiseked and has never
recovered.
The thought that “United was back” definitely made me happy
for a moment – boy, wouldn’t that be nice.
Then I remembered that this is 2020, the airline is really Continental
with United lipstick – making it the worst of both – and, unfortunately, you
can’t go home again no matter how much you want to.
UPDATE: After I wrote the above, United sent another email
announcing that they were lowering their requirements to achieve the various Premier
levels for next year, and added some promotions such as double qualifying points
on your first three flights before the end of March and more qualifying points
for credit card spend. Um, ok. Honestly, I and I assume most United frequent travelers are no longer enticed by these
essentially worthless offers. Frequent
Flyer Miles are a currency that the airline can (and does) devalue on any whim,
and therefore they have little value. If
United wanted to make a real gesture to entice their most frequent travelers
back (once it’s safe of course – which it
clearly isn’t right now) they could apologize for
the devaluation of and restore lifetime benefits and return meaning to the concept
of loyalty. Of course they won’t,
which tells you all you need to know.
Thanks for your comments on last week’s latest
Traveler’s Toolbox blog. Please keep
those suggestions coming in for the next one.
As always, please feel
free to write to me with comments or items I should add to a future Not
Traveling blog (or if you just need someone to write to.) Stay safe, be well, hug those you’re
sheltering with (but no one else) and do your best to stay positive. We’re going to be in this for a long
while.
This article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own, personal
opinions.
All image and links provided above as reference under
prevailing fair use statutes.
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The Explanation
for my Not Traveling blogs: In 2014 I was voted
by USA Today readers as one of the top ten business travel bloggers in the
USA. Now mind you,
I turned out to be number ten on the list of ten, but I did make it on (with my
thanks to all those who voted.) Now that
we’re all stuck at home and not traveling, I had to think about what to do with
my blogs. I could stop writing them
entirely – waiting till we all get through the current COVID19 pandemic /
crisis. I could wax nostalgic and/or
complain about past trips. Or, I could
focus all of my efforts on my day job – growing the use of collaboration
technologies – especially in light of how many people are now forced to use
those tools for the first time. In
reflecting upon those choices, what I decided to do is compile an ongoing list
of observations during the crisis. Some
of these may amuse, some may inform, some may sadden and others may help. My goal will be for you to have seen something
in a different light than you did before you stopped to read the blog. I was going to apologize for how disjointed
these thoughts may seem when put together, but then it dawned on me that
feeling disjointed is our new normal – at least for a little while.