We still stand behind our rationale of offering lower Elite Qualification for those who book our most heavily-discounted fares and don't book at continental.com. That said, we've done some homework based on your feedback and will use this timing to redefine the boundary.
CO Insider, I stand for many business travelers who are/were loyal to your company when I say thanks for screwing us. Business travelers, who as working grown ups, have to book through corporate travel agencies can not use your website. It's nice to know that you really don't care about this segment of the marketplace.
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Posts: 896
I am routinely screwed in the regard. For work travel, we have to use the corp travel agent, who usually books us into the lowest fare possible (for US domestic). Intl travel is in J.
Booking it through the website and getting reimbursed is not an option (in fact is in violation of my workplaces's travel policy)
In fact, I have to go out of my way to get on CO, usually by telling the agent, "I want to leave out of EWR", that usually gets me on CO, which usually ends up costing more than if I left from LGA or JFK.
A fact that the travel agent usually reminds me of.
Programs: CO Plat; Lifetime PClub; Marriott Silver
Posts: 416
Quote:
Originally Posted by meFIRST
In fact, I have to go out of my way to get on CO, usually by telling the agent, "I want to leave out of EWR", that usually gets me on CO, which usually ends up costing more than if I left from LGA or JFK... A fact that the travel agent usually reminds me of.
How many people are in the agency? If it's 25-75, you might want to try something that worked for me in the past: get to know them if at all possible. Try to call at the same day and time to book and you might get the same agent... Send "care packages" of granola bars, candies, chocolate, dried veggies, something for everyone for Valentines, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Include a "thanks for all your efforts in booking my travel" note. Make an effort to individualize them, build a relationship.
Yeah I know it sounds like a lot of effort, but in my case (50-person agency) I got royal treatment every time I called up to book or to change travel. They knew my name and didn't question when I needed a layover in EWR or IAH because I had a 1-hr meeting in the airport. To me, the service I received for putting out that comparatively little bit of energy was worth every effort. Never once did I get reported to the corporate travel department for taking a flight that was more than $50 above the cheapest fare.
Might be worth a try. Good luck!
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[*]You won't be able to view your seat assignments. This also includes the ability for us to even show you what seat you've already assigned. It's there, really, but we just can't recap it for you this weekend.
Thanks for the info.
I sure hope this quoted snippet is correct. I am getting ants in my pants because some of my upcoming flights with my fully ticketed 1 year old are showing as "---," and I won't tolerate the assign-at-gate game for even one minute.
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"B" class now shows as Elite upgrade bucket? The new B is the old H, but H was not an auto Elite upgrade. Has CO expanded the instant upgrade fare buckets?
Programs: CO PLAT, DL Gold - 2M Miler, AA - Plat Exec
Posts: 34
Quote:
Originally Posted by wendyhamburger
How many people are in the agency? If it's 25-75, you might want to try something that worked for me in the past: get to know them if at all possible. Try to call at the same day and time to book and you might get the same agent... Send "care packages" of granola bars, candies, chocolate, dried veggies, something for everyone for Valentines, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Include a "thanks for all your efforts in booking my travel" note. Make an effort to individualize them, build a relationship.
Yeah I know it sounds like a lot of effort, but in my case (50-person agency) I got royal treatment every time I called up to book or to change travel. They knew my name and didn't question when I needed a layover in EWR or IAH because I had a 1-hr meeting in the airport. To me, the service I received for putting out that comparatively little bit of energy was worth every effort. Never once did I get reported to the corporate travel department for taking a flight that was more than $50 above the cheapest fare.
Might be worth a try. Good luck!
Wendy is a wise person ... pay attention! When I worked at a big company I did the exact same thing ... good to also do this with the person who processes your expense accounts ...
Trying to book some first class reward travel (saverpass) for next weekend, and the site shows availabiity, but when I select it, the confirmation screen says "not avail in first class" and I cannot book. I think I'll have to wait another day, the website is largely useless for now. Even the phone rep couldn't get the fares to price properly.
Location: New Jersey, USA, AA 1MM Gold, CO Platinum, SPG Gold, Hilton Silver, LHW VIP, Hyatt Platinum, Hertz #1 Club Gold, Avis Preferred/President's Club
Posts: 958
Quote:
Originally Posted by cova
"B" class now shows as Elite upgrade bucket? The new B is the old H, but H was not an auto Elite upgrade. Has CO expanded the instant upgrade fare buckets?
Yes...it appears so...I was booked in the original "H" on my flights down to the DO, and now just went to manage my reservation and was able to auto upgrade to first...
Thanks for the info.
I sure hope this quoted snippet is correct. I am getting ants in my pants because some of my upcoming flights with my fully ticketed 1 year old are showing as "---," and I won't tolerate the assign-at-gate game for even one minute.
COInsider, can you confirm, because the same flights that previously showed up as "---" aren't even listed any more in the seat assignment section. The long haul portion still shows our assigned seats, but the short connector doesn't appear, even as "---" in the seat assignment section anymore, although it shows as part of the itinerary. It just plain disappeared.
Pre-upgrade it looked like:
BOS-EWR: 16A
EWR-TLV: 27A
Mid-upgrade it looked like:
BOS-EWR: ---
EWR-TLV: 27A
Programs: CO Platinum, HH Diamond, National Executive
Posts: 278
Quote:
Originally Posted by eagle92
Yes...it appears so...I was booked in the original "H" on my flights down to the DO, and now just went to manage my reservation and was able to auto upgrade to first...
This is going to further hammer the upgrade percentages for Platinums.
Location: EWR-land -- You are in a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike...
Programs: CO & NW forum moderator
Posts: 19,118
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyer737
This is going to further hammer the upgrade percentages for Platinums.
I must say I've seen some rather odd stuff happening with the Y and H (now B) buckets of late. Some things included H showing up more and more as a fully refundable last-minute bucket and Y availability being mirrored in H (now B).
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Is availability affected with this change as well?
I priced out an itinerary yesterday, and noted that fare classes were 9 across the board. After finalizing my other plans, I was planning to book it today (old "S", new "E"), but everything below the new "U" is zeroed and new "U" and higher are all 9s. Even with availability, I can't get it to spit out something in Economy; it returns an "F" fare for the return.
Is this accurate, or should I wait until the updates are done?
Fare rules show no adv purchase or min/max stay requirement, so I'm hoping it's just a glitch with the system updates...
Moderator: Travel Technology, Travel Photography and JetBlue
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 29,405
A question about this change. Waitlisting to purchase a ticket has historically been limited to specific fare buckets only. I assume that is going to continue. Will it be a direct mapping of eligible buckets?
It used to be A/Y domestic and J/D/C/Y/H international. Is it now F/Y and J/D/C/Y/B?
Also, as Z remains Z will HNL REVUP fares will continue to pull from the Z bucket?
