I received the nicest email yesterday from my fine friends at United Airlines, offering me a free cup of coffee if only I would join them for a special anniversary event at O’Hare on Thursday morning. My first thought, ‘ I fly too much’, was followed immediately by ‘wow, that’s creepy that a company that big knows that I’m going to be at O’Hare tomorrow’. But I was curious, and decided to stop by C17 on my way to my flight to say hello.
I was greeted by several things at once when I made the turn toward their display – a huge wheel of fortune thing offering a chance to WIN WIN WIN!, several rows of UAL ‘economy plus’ seats which I could try out (in case your flight wasn’t long enough, I suppose), and a massive line waiting for a crack at the free coffee and personalized luggage tags.
Should I wait in line for a free luggage tag? No! What about the free airline coffee? NO! RUN AWAY! I glanced over my shoulder back toward my own gate, an automatic flight response, but what about all these other people in the line – what fact do they have that’s eluding me? As I watched a few people lug their bags up to the wheel for a spin, I realized that most occasional flyers these days would love to have an upgrade to economy plus – a benefit automatic to frequent flyers, and since I had some time I could at least provide one of them an extra spin, mine, so into the line I went.
If I win, will you award the upgrade to the person behind me in line? I asked. Quick glance over my shoulder. Brief nod. Slowly spreading smile. Spin. click click click. Rats, that would have been fun. Maybe next week, if they’re still running their promotion, someone else will ride with UAL five inches further from their toes.