Have you called 1-800-United-1 lately?

I called tonight to price an itinerary (and use a 15% coupon), but instead of being connected to an agent, was told:

United Airlines is testing a new "Automated Fare Shopper System." You have been selected to try this sytem.

I was given the option to "opt out" by pressing zero, but went ahead and stayed on the line to try it out.

It uses the same software and voice that UA's automated flight status line does. The voice recognition is pretty good. The automated agent asks for all the same info: departure city, arrival city, dates of travel, number of customers, class, and time you'd like to depart.

Then the "agent" gave the lowest fare, and asked if I'd want to find flights. Now, I happened to know that the flights I want aren't available with this "lowest fare" but I played along any way. I ended up getting stuck, and the system wouldn't intuitively let me back out to a higher fare, or to select my own flights.

So I gave up, called back, and spoke with a live agent. She was an absolute doll, very friendly, and quickly got me what I needed. I mentioned the new system, which she said was news to her. She told me she'd go home and call it a thousand times just to mess it up, since they were "trying to put her out of her job!" (She was kidding, of course.)

By the way, the system explains in the beginning that it will "allow you to reserve a fare, then transfer you to an agent to ticket it." So, you still speak with an agent for the final process. This is quite similar to the system that Amtrak has been using for some time.

My vote: to the new system!