Is Continental using Starnet blocking?
 

I have been trying to book a First or Business Class award ticket for BOS/NYC-ZRH on LX or BOS/NYC-FRA/MUC on LH for May using CO miles. (I have CO Gold status.)

Expertflyer.com shows availability almost daily in May on LX to ZRH in I and O from BOS and JFK.

ANA shows availability in May almost daily in all classes from both cities on LH to FRA/MUC.

Multiple CO representatives today insisted that there are absolutely no seats available for award redemption on either airline in ANY class of service for the entire month of May for any of the above cities.

Either CO is blocking availability or they are completely unfamiliar with Star Alliance booking procedures.

Has anyone else had any similar problems booking Star Alliance award seats on CO?

No, CO is not using StarNet blocking. There may be another issue at play that is preventing CO from seeing the inventory, but let us not automatically assume that the most sinister of intents is at work.

Actually they do not have all carriers integrated to the online search for rewards yet, been great reports about talking to an agent for rewards however :)

You can argue that this may be more sinister, since they're essentially doing the same thing (preventing an award from being booked), yet hiding behind the technology as an excuse. Remember they run the technology.

The OP said he already talked to multiple reps and was unable to get the seats that are there.

CO used to have this very same blocking problem with AS flights. They wouldn't show up in the system, and many agents didn't know how to book them. It may not be programmatically blocked a la Starnet blocking, but it's the same net effect to the customer.

Typical channa!

You bet. Blocking is blocking.

If there's really a technology or connectivity issue, then there's presumably a workaround. And if there's a workaround, presumably agents have been notified and should be aware of said workaround. CO is responsible for training their staff.

Even if you say ok, well, an agent could've missed the memo, the OP said he's talked to multiple reps and nobody was able to take are of it. Either the OP is not telling the truth, or CO hasn't communicated this effectively to their agents.

How much more benefit of the doubt do they deserve?

I don't think it's so much giving the benefit of the doubt as it is being realistic about the complexities of sharing information between several private companies that have different systems. Expecting everything to be perfect every time and then harping on how wrong it is when it doesn't work correctly at every available opportunity is akin to beating yourself with a hammer and wondering why the nail won't stay in the wall.

There isn't an airline out there that has a perfect track record at booking partner reward seats, much less anything else. My comments, and I believe those of Steph3n (though I don't presume to speak for him), we related to the fact that the OP titled this thread, "Is Continental using Starnet blocking?" which is a silly supposition given the mountain of evidence to the contrary.

Nothing is perfect, and airlines certainly fall short regularly. If your exacting standards demand that your interaction, and the interaction of anyone else who posts here, be perfect and correct 100% of the time, I sincerely hope you find something else in your life to bring you joy because you must be awfully bummed out.

The whole premise of StarNet is that it alleviates some of the complexities to which you refer. In fact, on Day One of joining the Star Alliance, CO already demonstrated a much better ability to book partner awards, simply because the software was easy to use and did things that agents wouldn't have thought of before. And frankly, this is software that's in use by two dozen airlines, and it's pretty solid.

That said, nobody expects anyone to be perfect. Though people deserve to be treated reasonably during service interruption. If there is an issue with CO booking partner awards, why can't their IT send out a blast message and the agent ask for patience or maybe to try back tomorrow?

It's not the failure that's the issue, it's the handling of the failure that's the problem.

I'm inclined to agree with you, constructive blocking has the same net effect as a stated policy, a la UAL.

However, CO isn't even a month into Star, and already there is substantially better integration with partners (at least online) than we ever had with ST. Heck, LH isn't even available online yet... that's a huge amount of inventory that's not 'visible' presently.

So yes, I think the benefit of the doubt is still valid in this case. If we see a pattern of this 6 months, or a year into the alliance, then I think we might have a reasonable concern.

Fair point, though I thought we were referring to what the agents see, not what's available online. The OP said he was unable to book the flights when dealing with agents. I'm not as worried about stuff not being visible online if there's a way to get it via an agent. LH should be available via an agent.

Yeah, guess that was the point. It's late...

UA's policy with respect to Starnet Blocking is anything but transparent.

It is actually pretty deceptive and hides the fact that UA is further cutting award availability that is being already being "managed" by other Star Alliance partners.

[QUOTE=channa;12856101]You bet. Blocking is blocking.

Even if you say ok, well, an agent could've missed the memo, the OP said he's talked to multiple reps and nobody was able to take are of it. Either the OP is not telling the truth, or CO hasn't communicated this effectively to their agents.

/QUOTE]

Just log onto Expertflyer.com and Ana.co.jp and you'll see the same thing I do. CO should be able to see the same availability that I can through publicly available tools.

UA's policy is shameful but if CO is blocking availability on *A carriers it's even MORE dishonest because they have PUBLICLY stated they would not engage in this process.

Given that CO has to fork over $, or better yet, precious € or Sfr to LX or LH I smell something odd... I hope I'm wrong.

Honest question here. Is it that difficult to do a long sell?