787fan

And the fact that he still writes "COdbaUA" just means he's already prejudiced against the current system even before he approached the situation

Bonehead

To paraphrase Alvy Singer: The OP is a classic Continental hater.

I don't expect a lot of rational discussion where anything perceived as being related to pmCO is involved.

channa

Or simply paying homage to where much of this mess came from.

Mind you, this is a CPU thread. PMUA's version of CPU (UDU) was 100% transparent, one cleared into NF, it was reliable, and instantaneous. If for whatever reason there were an anomaly, the 1K desk was empowered to manually fix it.

So instead of a reliable, transparent system with empowered staff, we now have bug-ridden black box with staff who aren't allowed to do anything about it so they blow off the customer (and in this case, rudely).

I think a tip of the hat to CO is definitely in order for this one.

Bonehead

Given the OP's demonstrated anti-CO bias, I would suggest that we hold off on blaming the agent until we get a full transcript of the conversation.

As for the upgrade system, I do agree that the pmUA approach was much more transparent and easier to work within as a customer...so much so that I was praying that the merged airline would keep that approach. Alas, no such luck.

rob_flies_ua

Yep:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...s-out-udu.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...d-threads.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...happening.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ed-2010-a.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ch-merged.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...different.html

There were *no* problems in UDU land, totally transparent, reliable, and instantaneous. :-:
I think there are plenty of issues with the current system, but to pretend like UDU was perfect is pretty disingenuous.

Bonehead

I still preferred it to the post-Kellner CO system; I loved the fact that if I booked within the window I would be upgraded immediately if there was availability.

rob_flies_ua

As long as it was real availability, and not phantom availability

more transparency:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...says-no-2.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ng-me-mad.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...nited-com.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...aitlisted.html

west_end_NYC

I've been monitoring my upcoming EWR-PBI flight which was showing R9 right up until the the 72 hour window. After not receiving a CPU email after the T-72 mark (I really thought I had this one in the bag), I went back back and checked and the flight showed R0. Was kind of shocked as I would have expected the 1K/GS folks to clear at their respective marks as this flight had been showing R9 for more than a week. Either that or there were 9+ Platinums ahead of me by either fare class or time of booking. In an event, its now showing F7/R1 so hoping to get picked up sometime in the next couple days.

Slightly off topic, I've flown B6 several times in the last couple months as I wanted to try out my Mosaic status (received via challenge) and have already re-qualified for Platinum next year. I have to say its been rather refreshing....nice leather seats with good legroom plus none of this pre-flight CPU anxiety/fare class monitoring B.S. to worry about. Just board the plane and go. Plus the LGA-PBI route enables me to enjoy the new Amex Centurion Lounge which is absolutely fantastic.

channa

Either that, or there was a stall, like in the OP's situation, and the 1K/GS folks didn't clear until the Platinum window.

UA-NYC

A nice little collection of anecdotes. Pretty short threads.

Of course, all the heavy PMUA flyers (myself included) may had the occasional issue, but the system was transparent and it simply worked.

The current upgrade "system" / CF isn't even worthy of being in the same conversation though.

PHLGovFlyer

Again, while CPUs decrement R space this does not mean that the presence of R space mandates that CPUs MUST happen, or that there is not a hidden bucket for CPUs that is a subset of R, or that there are holdbacks against the R bucket that can be 9 or more.

None of the information in this thread proves that the supervisor was deceitful so your accusation remains unfounded.

Nope. See above.

My take is that UA has decided that they make more money by letting us dangle without upgrading us than they do by upgrading us reliably. Plenty of stories here of people watching the R bucket dwindle and then pulling the trigger on a paid or instrument upgrade. UA is not transparent and, as I mentioned upthread, they like it that way.

rob_flies_ua

I'm a heavy PMUA flyer, didn't ever fly CO until the merger was approved (I'm also a heavy PMAA flyer at this point). You can't say "all" without including me . I definitely had the occasional issue, occasional lack of transparency, and lack of simply working. As I said, the current system has plenty of issues, but pretending that the previous system "simply worked" is a perfect example of confirmation bias. :-:

Perhaps the reason the threads are short are because they don't have the same folks repeatedly posting rose-colored recollections in them? A good example of an availability cascade. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend "Thinking Fast and Slow", it's an excellent, excellent book.

UA-NYC

IMO something can "simply work" without being 100% perfect. There's absolutely no "pretending" here.

Much like our disagreement over seat changes - it happened in the past, but it's not the semi-systemic, ongoing issue it is now. Just like the UG mess.

halls120

Exactly. UDU worked far better than CPU, and people trusted the process.

^^ I had exactly one UDU glitch - it upgraded me into a non-existent seat, and by the time we figured it out, I lost my prime E+ seat.

N1120A

Exactly. Channa knew about this before, as we are friends. My CPU cleared at the Platinum window. I guess RM decided I was "worthy" of an upgrade then, according to the rude supervisor.

Yep, and I never had a UDU glitch. Worked seamlessly, every time. Same with E500s.

...and the agents were nice.