I waited a while before posting after watching the integration effort go down. This last week I had an opportunity to fly united and experience the impact of integration. My take away follows:

Check in process has taken a step backwards. Bags must be carried to a TSA area and dropped. This was the case years ago, but was fixed before the merger, alas, we are back to the dark ages once again.

Boarding process has fallen far from the tree. We watched through the years as refinements and improvements resulted in GS, F, 1K, Biz boarding before group 1 and after months of tweaking it seemed to work. Not anymore. The current frenzied mess reminds me of European and Asian airports of the 90's - a basic free for all with most folks fighting for position in group 1. Two steps backwards.

Posting of miles, a turd in the punchbowl: . The nice lady on the MP desk explained that she would make the request for credit of my recent flight and I could expect the miles to credit within 15-30 days. That was a flight last week, 7 days ago. I asked if this was a temporary glitch and she responded with, no this is the way it will be. I asked if every time I fly, would I have to call and request mileage credit after waiting 7 days and then waiting another 15-30 days for the credit to appear, inclusive of the phone call navigating the voice mail and hold time. She responded, yes.

I told her this was unacceptable, requested she forward the following to her supervisor: I will not fly this airline if mileage credits don't post promptly without having to call, request and wait. She acknowledged the request and apologized. I thanked her for assisting me and told her that I appreciate her efforts, clarifying my dissatisfaction is with her management.

Conclusion: bye bye, bye bye, bye bye (visualizing swimming to Cambodia as the choppers leave the us embassy).

Cheers,

-Cyborg