Questions and Answers

Why don’t airlines give credit for CODE SHARE flights counting toward their own PREMIUM TIER recognition?

I have been a Frequent Flyer since the early 1980’s when the first FF Programs originated. Over the years this 61 yr old has achieved “Million Miler” status with DL, am almost a “Two Million Miler” with UA, was one of the first Skyward Platinum Members when they created that tier (EK) and am currently a Miles and More HON (new rules 600K qualification!)

My question on the CODE SHARE flights comes more with the slant directed at UA. Why? Because I was a loyal, consistent, repeating 1K with them earning a ton of miles each year until I discovered that they had a higher tier than 1K which was their Global Priority which is akin to the HON Circle with Miles and More. BUT I could never find out more about it due to the “secretive” nature of their information dissemination on this program. I was able to surmise that it had to be a combination of REVENUE and MILES flown and therein lay the rub.

I fly a lot to India. I used to fly CO/UA all the time and loved their non stops. I enjoyed the Business First product. As my career grew and I got older I wanted to fly First Class and spend money buying the tickets. Alas UA did not offer this product. SO I started flying on LX and LH but was still accruing miles on Mileage Plus. UA offered the same flights as a CODE SHARE but I could not accrue miles toward their Global Priority status because it was not a UA Livery flight! How silly! The fact that their Code Share tickets were priced at an enormously higher value than direct purchase from LX or LH did not help either.

So what did I do? Flipped out of Mileage Plus, started at the bottom with Miles and More (Did not even ask for a Status match!) and within my first two years of enrollment achieved HON Circle on the new (harder) rules.

The questions that come up are:

– Was it not important to UA to retain a valuable account like mine?

– Am I delusional in thinking that I was “valuable” to UA when in fact they did not consider me as such because I was flying “partner carriers on Star Alliance” rather than UA livery?

– Could they have done anything to retain my account and work with me to achieve the status that I should have had to begin with?

– How do airlines define “value” when it comes to a passenger like me? OBVIOUSLY I have a very different opinion on this than they do!

I would love to have your thoughts on this subject.