United Airlines has launched the travel industry's newest corporate travel programme that has been designed to offer top travel benefits to some of the airline's most loyal business customers. It is called United Corporate Preferred and the company introduced the new programme at the Global Business Traveler Association (GBTA) Convention in San Diego on Monday 13th August.
United Corporate Preferred offers new and exclusive benefits with some added perks for the airline's top corporate customers. It is a multi-level programme, with three different levels, including United Corporate Preferred, United Corporate Preferred Plus and United Corporate Preferred Elite.
Membership will be based on things like a corporation's contract status, revenue contribution and loyalty with United. "Every day thousands of road warriors are jetting off on United to work events and business meetings all over the world," said Jake Cefolia, United's senior vice president of Worldwide Sales. "We designed our United Corporate Preferred program with the customer's entire travel experience in mind, from booking to landing, to identify opportunities to show our appreciation to our loyal business customers with a program that offers extra perks and travel benefits." 
Benefits offered to all United Corporate Preferred customers include:
Preferred upgrades – tie-breaker preferences for upgrades.
Preferred standby – prioritization when traveling on standby for a different flight and when waitlisting for a seat in a different cabin or booking class.
Operational adjustment protection – protection during travel interruptions, as well as seat protection to retain the same or similar seat in the event of an aircraft swap.
Preferred discounts and offers – eligibility to receive exclusive promotions offered by both United and its partners in the near future.
Customers in the airline's new United Corporate Preferred Elite level will also receive the following:
Additional travel waiver flexibility – when United has a travel waiver in place, customers will receive additional flexibility to adjust their travel beyond restrictions in place on the standard waiver.
Preferred boarding – later this year, customers will receive priority boarding in group two.
Preferred seating – later this year, customers will have access to book designated standard economy seats closer to the front of the plane.
