Location: WAS (home) SFO/SJC (school) ORF/PHF/RIC (woman)
Programs: UA MP 1P
Posts: 683
Sent to PremEx voice and Graham Atkinson (don't know what he could do about this, but I'm sure that if he gets enough emails he'd do something)
Quote:
To Whom It May Concern:
I was recently considering an Itinerary on United.com when I realized that the "Hold Itinerary" button was removed. With a little more investigation, I found out that United has removed the ability to create and hold itineraries online, which is a major issue for me. I frequently have had to place itineraries on hold as I have to coordinate my travel with multiple parties on both ends of my trips, and this feature allows me to create an itinerary that I can demonstrate to both parties. With this feature gone, I will now try to avoid booking tickets on the United website, as it is also a hard to use website.
This also infuriates me, as United still relies on paper vouchers which must be mailed in or used at the airport. In the past, when I have had to build itineraries at the airport, I have had problems with the correctness of the itinerary, whereas I have never had this problem when I have held an itinerary and ticketed it later. What does United gain by eliminating this very useful feature which most of your customers really appreciate? By removing a tool that helps people buy tickets, do you want us to book fewer tickets? This is a truly bizarre, customer-unfriendly decision, and I hope that you consider changing your decision.
It's so convenient to put my itinerary together (in this case, a complicated one to maximize EQMs), put it on hold and run out to the airport to have it ticketed. Easy easy!
Yep, my itin at 11pm last night was BOS-IAD-CLE-(lunch with the folks)-ORD-DEN-COS. I managed to walk the agent through it segment by segment. In the end, it did get created and showed up as a HELD reservation for me. She didn't even question why I wanted to fly it! Then my fiance ticketed for me at the airport this morning.
The thing that UA doesn't realize is that as fast as they change the rules, we'll adapt and subvert them.....
Another livid 1K here who is not happy about this. 99% of my On Hold itineraries were purchased. After my last fiasco where a cancellation of a purchased itin within the 24 hour widow cost me hours on the phone with incompetent ICC reps I don't see that as an option. If you have any trouble with refunds it is all dealt with off shore and your UA status does not seem to help with any escalation when you get nonsense answers.
Programs: UA 1MM, 1K, Starwood Gold, HHonors Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 39
Quote:
Originally Posted by lskohn
United PR if you are reading this thread, count this as one more customer VERY disappointed with the new "no holds" rule. My main objection is related to increasing the hoops that have to be jumped through to ticket with vouchers, and the lost of access to web-only fares when using vouchers. Also, we often use vouchers for "discretionary" travel -- I'm not going to trek one hour (or more) to ORD, and one hour back, to use a voucher, when I may learn that the fare I saw last night for a trip-on-a-whim to a relative, or a NY show, or whatever, is no longer available, or was web-only!! Those trips may simply not get made, or go to known cheaper airlines.
This move ONLY would have made sense if UA had moved to a system that permits online application of vouchers at the same time -- which UA did not! Being able to call web support to get an "exception" is not reasonable.
Very good point. My thoughts exactly. As most of the FTers posting over the first six pages of this thread I have used the HOLD feature extensively to apply vouchers to my trips and then go to the airport for ticketing. I have also used the phone approach if some of the fares I wanted to book could not be held.
The disappearance of the HOLD feature would be partly irrelevant if vouchers could now be redeemed on .Bomb, which of course they are not. I wonder how many more vouchers will go unused, translating into extra income to United, by making it ever more difficult to redeem them.
I suspect that there was an internal battle at UA over this change. The hold option was probably creating problems for some of ther group. The people who put it together, probably didn't want to through it feature out, or turn it off.
Programs: UA 1K, NW/DL Gold, Red Carp Club, Priority Pass, CLEAR (rip), Hertz 5*, Hyatt Gold
Posts: 3,877
This sucks!
Well, I'll be trying out DL for the first time (after 7-8 years of flying UA and *A exclusively). DL's website is pretty bad too, but I'll see how the product and service compares..
__________________ CollegeFlyer is now LawSchoolFlyer. zomg i passed teh bar!!!
Bizzarre. Doesn't make any sense and I don't see how it saves money unless the feature is severely abused.
Don't care much about vouchers but having smth on hold allowed coordinating travel with others etc.
Sent an email to 1K voice.
I suspect they are simply following CO's procedures. CO eliminated the "hold" and switched to the 24 hour cancel process awhile back.
This was my first thought. It's such a bad move from a marketing point of view that it looks like another way of collusion with Continental. I'm going to raise my voice a few times and ways as well.
Funny how B6 can issue credits for refares which can be used directly by the pax online. Funny how B6 can also issue other types of credit vouchers electronically which can easily be applied to a fare online. All it takes is the generation of a code in the system which can be applied to the fare. Other airlines also enable you to do everything yourself online. UA makes it more difficult by issuing ridiculous paper certificates for everything. Once they closed the CTOs and started charging for phone/airport ticketing, logically they would make nearly all transactions available online. Every MP booking with the possible exception of a RTW ticket should be possible online--including bookings on *A partners. Paper vouchers should be completely unnecessary. Refares should be easy and electronic. Having a credit in your profile encourages you to use it up --hence generating revenue which could otherwise have gone to a competitor. Instead, they have chosen to remain firmly stuck with their 20th century IT system and have customer service for the vast majority of customers that is the worst it has ever been at UA. They really need to start investing in the future and do things that hold on to customers. Sadly, for the past decade they have fallen completely flat--driving more and more people away.
My company has gone from spending well over $40,000 per year with UA down to $330 so far this year. I doubt it will get much over that either. It is just not worth the hassles.
Programs: UA 1K, NW/DL Gold, Red Carp Club, Priority Pass, CLEAR (rip), Hertz 5*, Hyatt Gold
Posts: 3,877
Quote:
Originally Posted by auggie doggie
Can you think of anything that they have done that is PRO-consumer?
To UA's credit, the following decisions, among others, are pro-consumer.
24-hour refund policy on nonrefundable tickets
Restoration of 500-mile minimum for elites
Arrangement for CO President's Club access in LAS
Preservation of free E+ seating for elites after AA eliminated MRTC
Deep discount fares
Matching DEQM promo, and making it even better with TEQM on high fares
But that doesn't change the fact that elimination of the "book and hold" is a frustrating and infuriating anti-consumer move, and one that hits UA's most frequent customers the hardest.
__________________ CollegeFlyer is now LawSchoolFlyer. zomg i passed teh bar!!!
Book it regularly with the website. Call or go to the airport within 24 hours, and tell them to cancel the reservation and book the same reservation with the voucher. I'll cost both me and ua more time, but hey, they started it.
Programs: UA 1P, BD Gold, AA Plat, SPG Platinum, National Executive
Posts: 1,797
Funny how everyone voices that CO is the superior airline. That is, until UA makes decisions to make their product more like CO's.
That being said, I too am very disappointed in this decision as well. But between the two, I'd rather have the 24 hour refund because I don't put every reservation on hold.
Edit - Has anyone tried calling UA to see if they can put a reservation on hold (for the purposes of using a voucher)?
Last edited by UAX_Brasilia; May 30, 09 at 1:59 pm.
Reason: edit
on UA for no more refare and no more on hold
DL Complimentary Upgrades: 20/21 95%
