Log-into MP/united.com (so pseudo-public -- need an account)
set your profile to Expert mode
Start a dummy Standard Award booking for the desired date/segments
Hover the mouse over the "Flight Info", the fare codes & quantities will become visible
However you have to do this one at a time and are unable to set any automatic alerts
I tried hovering the mouse over "Flight Info" and did not see any award buckets. However, when I used the mouse to make the cursor on my screen hover over "Flight Info" then I saw the various fare buckets.
No. UA has no right to ask ANA not to offer UA awards to their customers online.
I disagree. The ANA tool will be next.
I am sure UA has been pushing hard to get UA award availability removed from ANA's website. Remember, there are other airlines that do not show up as well (LX etc).
In United PR's "welcome thread", you will recall that he(she) mentioned that UA would address Starnet Blocking in the weeks to come. Well, maybe this is it.
I am glad I got out of this mess, leaving UA and their most passionate flyers to themselves.
Last edited by CommittedLurker; Jan 5, 09 at 8:46 pm.
Programs: UA 1P, BD Gold, AA Plat, SPG Platinum, National Executive
Posts: 1,795
Quote:
Originally Posted by gardener
I tried hovering the mouse over "Flight Info" and did not see any award buckets. However, when I used the mouse to make the cursor on my screen hover over "Flight Info" then I saw the various fare buckets.
I wasn't aware their were any comedians on FT.
On topic, things could be worse. At least their is a way to still access the needed info (albeit incorrect some of the times) for free. Can't say that for every airline.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CommittedLurker
I disagree. The ANA tool will be next.
Why would UA care about their own availability on the ANA tool? If anything, they wouldn't want the availability of every other Star Partner visible.
Also, I doubt UA even knows about the tool.
Last edited by iluv2fly; Jan 6, 09 at 12:37 am.
Reason: merge
I am sure UA has been pushing hard to get UA award availability removed from ANA's website. Remember, there are other airlines that do not show up as well (LX etc).
In United PR's "welcome thread", you will recall that he(she) mentioned that UA would address Starnet Blocking in the weeks to come. Well, maybe this is it.
I am glad I got out of this mess, leaving UA and their most passionate flyers to themselves.
This does not make sense. UA cannot tell ANA what or what not to do re: their own wesite and your speculation is illogical because ANA must have access to UA inventory for a lot of reasons, one of them being code-sharing which they have a lot together. If ANA doesn't have access to UA inventory, how are they supposed to book award for their members? As for not being able to display LX but LH and others are o.k., that's more likely a technical issue than anykind of information blocking.
Log-into MP/united.com (so pseudo-public -- need an account)
set your profile to Expert mode
Start a dummy Standard Award booking for the desired date/segments
Hover the mouse over the "Flight Info", the fare codes & quantities will become visible
However you have to do this one at a time and are unable to set any automatic alerts
Is this really how EF gets their data? Seems like a strange way to do it... I guess it would get the job done though!
I tried hovering the mouse over "Flight Info" and did not see any award buckets. However, when I used the mouse to make the cursor on my screen hover over "Flight Info" then I saw the various fare buckets.
details, details...
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnybgood3
Is this really how EF gets their data? Seems like a strange way to do it... I guess it would get the job done though!
Have no knowledge on EF's approach but it is the way for any MP member to get the data. Also EF's data did seem to agree with the "standard award" approach which both seems to disagree with the UA agent data
I really like it, although you do have to pay to get good functionality.
Thanks for the pointer... I'll have to run it in Parallels (I have a Mac), but looks interesting if UA won't reinstate EF.
It's a foolish strategy. Information always finds the path to freedom, and this isn't even information that they actually want to keep secret. Companies that do this are going to die if they don't make a change in mindset.
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This does not make sense. UA cannot tell ANA what or what not to do re: their own wesite and your speculation is illogical because ANA must have access to UA inventory for a lot of reasons, one of them being code-sharing which they have a lot together. If ANA doesn't have access to UA inventory, how are they supposed to book award for their members? As for not being able to display LX but LH and others are o.k., that's more likely a technical issue than anykind of information blocking.
What does logic have to do with it ? Are UA's current actions logical ?
It makes sense to me for them to remove UA award availability from the ANA website. I assume more people visit ANA than EF.
Also, code sharing applies for revenue flights, not award bookings. I am only talking about award bookings here, as I am sure you are as well.
I don't like it either, but do you expect anything less from UA ?
Last edited by CommittedLurker; Jan 5, 09 at 9:40 pm.
What does logic have to do with it ? Are UA's current actions logical ?
It makes sense to me for them to remove UA award availability from the ANA website. I assume more people visit ANA than EF.
I don't like it either, but do you expect anything less from UA ?
Your thinking is flawed because you are putting an equal sign between EF and ANA by ignoring the fact that ANA has a lot of business reasons for which why they need to have access to UA inventory. For UA to restrict ANA's access to UA inventory will likely cause a fall in UA sales revenue, which no management in their sound mind would do. If EF actually sells UA ticekts, you bet UA will think twice before doing something as stupid as they did today. Case in point, I booked a full F Int'l ticket on NH: IAD-NRT-TPE where the IAD-NRT is NH metal F but the TPE-NRT segment is on UA revenue F but under NH code-shared. Suffice to say, the ticket is very expensive even with corp. discount. If NH doesn't have access to UA seats, the itineary cannot be sold to me and UA would lose its share of the revenue. Not sure UA wants that! Because, I'd then be forced to book the connecting flight on CX F instead and I lose too because it's not *A so no miles for me. The bottom line is ANA is a major airline partner whereas EF is a nobody. Obviously, ANA has a lot more bargaining power than EF.
For the reasons above, it made no sense for UA to attempt to remove UA award availability from ANA. Besides, the issue is likely beyond UA's control anyway because *A carriers share inventory information across the entire alliance. That's why when a new carrier wants to join, there is usually a waiting period to make sure their computer systems can interlink properly. For UA to undo the whole thing is pretty much impossible. The reality is AC also displayed UA availability as well, so would UA now force AC to stop doing it as well? Not only the AC management is as con as the UA management, AC too is a major partner with hundred of code-shared / revenue sharing arrangement with UA on any given day. This just doesn't seem bloody likely.
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Well, this is really annoying. What it does is make me more likely to book AA since I can track upgrade availability with them and be informed. Not that I need a lot to make me book AA anyways, but this is just another thing pushing me away from UA.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GadgetFreak
Well, this is really annoying. What it does is make me more likely to book AA since I can track upgrade availability with them and be informed. Not that I need a lot to make me book AA anyways, but this is just another thing pushing me away from UA.
That makes no sense.
You'd rather book with AA because you must pay to view award and upgrade inventory than book with UA and view the information for free.
Your thinking is flawed because you are putting an equal sign between EF and ANA by ignoring the fact that ANA has a lot of business reasons for which why they need to have access to UA inventory. For UA to restrict ANA's access to UA inventory will likely cause a fall in UA sales revenue, which no management in their sound mind would do. If EF actually sells UA ticekts, you bet UA will think twice before doing something as stupid as they did today. Case in point, I booked a full F Int'l ticket on NH: IAD-NRT-TPE where the IAD-NRT is NH metal F but the TPE-NRT segment is on UA revenue F but under NH code-shared. Suffice to say, the ticket is very expensive even with corp. discount. If NH doesn't have access to UA seats, the itineary cannot be sold to me and UA would lose its share of the revenue. Not sure UA wants that! Because, I'd then be forced to book the connecting flight on CX F instead and I lose too because it's not *A so no miles for me. The bottom line is ANA is a major airline partner whereas EF is a nobody. Obviously, ANA has a lot more bargaining power than EF.
For the reasons above, it made no sense for UA to attempt to remove UA award availability from ANA. Besides, the issue is likely beyond UA's control anyway because *A carriers share inventory information across the entire alliance. That's why when a new carrier wants to join, there is usually a waiting period to make sure their computer systems can interlink properly. For UA to undo the whole thing is pretty much impossible. The reality is AC also displayed UA availability as well, so would UA now force AC to stop doing it as well? Not only the AC management is as con as the UA management, AC too is a major partner with hundred of code-shared / revenue sharing arrangement with UA on any given day. This just doesn't seem bloody likely.
Again, I am talking about blocking award flight availability, not revenue tickets. The search engine on ANA for award flights is separate from making a revenue booking.
As for not being able to display LX but LH and others are o.k., that's more likely a technical issue than anykind of information blocking.
