GoingAway

A favor until irregular ops hits and you're standing in line amidst the entire plane versus those in the RCC, or for those in F or with high status, being proactively taken care of the UA specific RCC folks.

As posts on FT indicate more and more irreg ops related to SYD, the RCC perhaps will be sorely missed if the UA lounge support is not retained.

cssaus

From what I've experienced there's usually only the one person manning the SYD RCC and from an earlier post in this thread, wasn't able to really help with any reservation inquiries apart from providing a telephone #.

I suspect in an irregular ops situation out of Sydney that you describe, you're going to have to deal with the staff who are contracted to handle UA's interests.

Personally, if I was faced with an irregular op in SYD I'd be jumping on the phone to the UA service desk in the US or the 1K service desk in the US. I had to do this back in November for my wife who had her UA870 flt cancelled on her. I doubt very much if the single person manning the RCC would have coped. At least in the US, the RCC lounges are usually manned by at least 2 people and they are able to work the reservations systems .

Giving the present state of the SYD RCC, I really don't think closing it will be "mourned" by too many people. Of course the smart thing would be to have a "UA" person on duty in the Air NZ lounge when UA flts are scheduled but I wouldn't hold my breath for that happening.

GoingAway

I've had UA ticketing / check in for onward flights, change of reservation/upgrade requests, etc all handled at the RCC. I don't disagree that the space can go and not be missed, but it's the service that will lost that may not be acceptable. Then again, it's not clear if this is confirmed or what the plan actually is.

goodo

My bad then, ordguy79.

I personally havent been into the SYD RCC in years, always the NZ Lounge for me. Are there so many people that still use the RCC that would suddenly be pushed into the NZ lounge? I would've thought at least the experienced travellers would be in the Nz lounge already.

goodo

AndDee

Yep 3 UA flights, the AC flight, NZ flights, Thai flight and VS flight

Crowded indeed!!!

You mention the NZ lounge closes in the middle of the day ? What times ?

AndDee

No it's called a "Service Enhancement"

uastarflyer

Not my recollection at all (other than spartan F&B). MEL RCC is much smaller.

This is a disappointment as UA RCCs are accomodating of a family with only 2 1Ps (or occasionally only 1 1P ) and the others will be by the book.

I don't understand why you cheer FEWER options. Let us lower-fare *G folk slum it up in the RCC and enjoy your NZ lounge.

Lastly as to earlier question posed why fly UA into/out Australia? E+ and family-friendly. And Mileage Plus. And the ground game on both ends.

BenjaminNYC

What on earth do you mean by "family friendly"? You mean they won't adhear to lounge admission rules? They'll cheat so you can steal extra lounge access? Then they should be re-trained to prevent extra guests.

The UA RCC is a tiny dump. Don't know what you're talking about.

uastarflyer

Meals, drinks, stroller accomodation, things like that in airports and on-board. Versus QF or NZ (direct competition on these routes, NZ via AKL) UA is much more friendly in these areas. I've flown all three.

According to their RCC rules:

Now this is on the RCC membership page, while the *A lounge page is silent on this. So I don't view this as "stealing" per se. Besides, if it's such a dump, what is there to steal?

SYD RCC > MEL RCC. That's all I'm sayin'

ozflier

I am wondering if the UA staff that sit at the RCC will be transferred to the NZ Lounge - I remember this was the situation in Auckland before they left.

AndDee

Another day another sad day in the story of UA.

I used to be so proud travelling on UA from Australia, from the nice lounge to the nice 744, now I would be ashamed to be seen flying them!

Wouldn't be surprised to see UA pull out of the SYD-LAX/SFO market in the next 12-36 months

Jetstar - Will pull alot of budget travellers from UA that generally fly UA because they have cheap Y seats. Jetstar will have brand new 787's with seat back TV's in Y along with a nice Premium Economy cabin!

V Australia - Will have a HUGE Premium Economy cabin 75 seats in fact and will pull a few more people from UA and also from NZ

Qantas - Will have the A380 on this route and their first, business, premium economy will be better than NZ & UA. Will pull even more people from UA and some from NZ

NZ - 2010/2011 will see their 777-300ER's and 787's operating with new interiors and new routes. Again passengers will be pulled from UA mainly. UA will just be finishing their interior upgrades but still no seat back TV's in Y

Would be very interested to know UA's long term plans for SYD, yes I know they currently have 3/4 flights a day out of SYD and loads are quite good, but I am talking about a few years down the track!

I wish UA all the best for the future and hope they get their act together eventually

cstead

Each *G gets 1 guest, so they aren't bending any rules by letting 2 1Ps in with 2 kids. RCC membership gets you and your family in irrespective of status

Iain D

Yes, I know where you are coming from and it's very sad.

However, we all have to move on, so just give UA the flick. It won't be hard with their ridiculous prices.

Best of luck anyway...

wimpypipsqueak

Thanks qasr. I guess we still need to wait for the official word.

cstead

The only time I tried to use this lounge was this past Sunday, flying back to SFO. I went in to have my BMI # added in, and all I got was snapped at by the agent. After getting the I'm-doing-you-a-favor attitude that I've come to expect from UA agents, I had no desire to even peak inside or stay there for a second. Of course, even adding a blasted FF # was done incorrectly, and the miles posted to the UA account instead of BD.

This will not bode well for the quality of the NZ lounge. It will get really packed. In the morning, there's also a KE flight that leaves around the time of the MEL leg, so its crowded.

I wonder if they'll do a switcharoo ala at LAX for AF and VS, whereby the food gets noticeably better after the rif-raf leaves? It seems that least at SYD, the other airlines are willing to pay for the good stuff