When United announced its change to unlimited, complimentary upgrades, many elite members voiced their concerns about the loss of regional upgrades. United listened and decided to revise its policy.

The VP of Mileage Plus, Robert Sahadevan, said, “After our last announcement, we heard from our 1K members how much they value their regional upgrades. To thank them for their ongoing loyalty, we’ve decided to continue issuing regional upgrades to 1Ks, even after the unlimited domestic upgrades program launches.”

Mileage Plus 1K members will continue to earn two regional upgrades for every quarter in which they fly a minimum of 10,000 miles on United or United Express. Regional upgrades are valid for travel within North America, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Central America.

“Good news and kudos to UA for listening to its 1Ks!” and “Thank you, United, for being willing to listen to your customers and reconsider decisions that prove to be unpopular with them” were just a couple of the positive comments made by FlyerTalk members in response to the change.

Bottom line: If you don’t like a program change, write a letter. While we can’t guarantee the program will listen, there have been many instances of programs making changes or bringing back policies in response to member feedback. Of course, it helps to be a top-tier elite member and one of the program’s most valuable customers.