guiming_miao

I was trying to book an award ticket on UA's new flight IAD-PEK. UA system shows award seats wide open (XY9) on the dates I want to travel. Since I only have US miles, I had to call US to book the award ticket. To my surprise, the ticket agent told me that he could not even see the flight#897 from IAD to PEK, let alone checking the award inventory.

Anybody had this problem before? How can we have US fix the problem to show that UA flight?

Any suggestion is deeply appreciated.

mooper

I have posted about this before in other threads. Not only is award booking impossible for *A partners online (despite emails earlier this year touting the fact it would be possible by now), it is impossible to book paid flights as well. I have looked for United's nonstop from ORD to PVD and there is no way to get it to show up. United flies several times per day from BZN to DEN and once per day from BZN to ORD but there is no way to get these flights (nor any flights at all, for that matter) originating from BZN to display. If they could put some resources towards making booking *A, both paid and award, a reality on their website, I would be throwing tons of business their way - myself, my family, and my employees. Oh well... Ive just been booking directly with United and Delta instead.

BoeingBoy

Pure speculation, but I'd be surprised if US gets more than a minimal fee for selling tickets on *A partners, if they get anything at all. For award tickets on *A partners, US actually has to pay the other carrier for the transportation provided. So I suspect that "fixing" this is pretty low on the priority list.

Jim

mooper

Good point, BoeingBoy, and probably correct. However, even if you assume that they end up revenue-neutral from allowing *A booking on a transaction basis, the dramatic value it adds for the customer in terms of convenience as well as the fact that it should generate more connections to US-flights should make it worthwhile. My situation certainly isnt the same as everyone else's, but I am also not unique. If I could book a *A flight (United) out of BZN, I would usually end up connecting to a US flight(s) to complete my trip. I would do the same for my family and employees. However, the inability to book United via the US website causes me to opt for pure DL or UA itineraries instead. In some cases, I dont fly at all but would if I could combine the segments without a hassle online. US might not be missing any transactional revenue, but they are missing the revenue from the segments I would have flown on their metal.

BoeingBoy

I don't disagree with you at all. For some reason, though, US seems very reluctant to show UA or other *A flights and I've never seen them shown when US serves the market.

I'm surprised the other *A carriers haven't made an issue of it - UA in particular. Look on UA's website for BZN-PHL next week and the 3rd choice is a connection to US in ORD. US, meanwhile, just says:

We're sorry, but we were unable to complete your request.
Here's what happened:
There are currently no flights available for the dates and/or cities you selected.

Jim

mooper

BoeingBoy,

Interesting. Do you (or does anyone reading this) know if I were to book an itinerary on UA's site tha contains US legs within whether or not the auto-upgrade for US that normally happens because of my CP status will still occur? Ive always assumed that elite upgrades only occur when the rez is in the US system because it was booked on their site.

Thanks.

BoeingBoy

I don't, but someone else may.

Jim

edit to add - I suspect that making sure your DM FF # is in the record might be the key. Seems like I've read that other posters get the auto-upgrade booking thru corporate travel depts, Orbitz, etc. In theory, at least, once you purchase a ticket with US segments it's in the US system (at least the US segments).

kudzu

Yes, that's true for US numbered flight on US metal (not UA codeshare). No harm calling, though, at your window, if you happen to see wide availability and it's a longer-haul upgrade you care about...

guiming_miao

Just an update on my attempt to book this award UA flight.

When I called today (4/8), they do see the outbound (7/8) flight UA#897 IAD-PEK, however, they said they don't see the inbound (7/11) flight.

I now have a theory that they might have visibility only up to 3 months ahead of today. I will give them another call on 4/11 to see if I can book the return.

I will keep you posted.