Starnet Blocking or System Glitch?
 

I am trying to book an award ticket on SA. It shows available on ANA, as well as CO website (if I do not log in). However, some cabins available before are no longer available after I log in. What is worse, phone agent could not see the daily flight at all on a particular day, although it shows up around that day.

Phone agent keeps claiming they could not do anything if it does not show up in their system (even though it shows up on CO website!). I am so frustrated. What's the problem? Any ideas?

Thanks a lot!

Neither - could it be linked itineraries? Meaning the flight is only available as part of another linked flight.

I love these threads that assume the worst (*Net blocking is UA ONLY) when it's probably something minor.

This is a known issue with co.com and their "superior" systems -- they are often confused by first and business class buckets, and the inventory comes and goes based on whether or not you're logged in.

I saw this on TG the other day -- C was available, but the minute I logged in, it was only F available.

I think it has something to do with Elite buckets that CO uses. CO uses the 3-cabin F bucket for some of its own Elites, and the logic is messed up when dealing with other carriers. I've had issues with pricing as well, where CO wants to charge 3-cabin F rates for 2-cabin F simply because they think that the code used for F is a 3-cabin code. Dumb it down to a non-Elite reservation, and it works fine.

Be sure the agent is feeding the segments in one by one. Sometimes they have trouble seeing or handling mixed-class itins (e.g., long-haul J connecting to a short Y hop). Also be sure the agent is looking for the right letter -- Business class is I, though CO uses I usually but O for Elites. You won't see O on other carriers internationally unless there is legitimate 3-cabin F.

If that doesn't work, see if UA agents can see the flights. If so, use the mileage transfer to book via UA. *net blocking aside, UA doesn't seem to have these sorts of glitches where their agents can't see stuff or it prices wrong.



Same is true of *net blocking allegations on UA. Many do not know how to prove *net blocking, and much that's blamed on *net blocking is not really *net blocking.

I think that is to be expected given how dishonest UA has been about the whole *Net blocking issue. There are many false reports of blocking these days, but there are also a couple of reports in the long thread that show that it is still alive and well. Perhaps not as pervasive as it once was, but it's still there.

Thank you guys for your suggestions. The log-in problem is not the main issue now. The CO phone agent can NOT see the flight on a particular day in their system at all, though it shows up on continental.com on that particular day and phone agent could see the flights around that day. What is going on?

Update: I called UA and they found the seat on that particular day without any problem. However, CO phone agents still could not found that flight on that day. They insisit they could do NOTHING until they hear back from their system support people by email, which could take more than a week. Any other suggestions on what to do to expediate the process?

Sounds like this guy is having a similar issue of award space disappearing when he logs in... new CO.bomb bug?

It may be that when you're logged out you're seeing a cached result, and when you log in or call you're getting the updated availability. UA.bomb and CO.bomb both appear to use heavy caching.

Thanks. But again that's not my point.

I booked the flight I want with UA without any problem. I found the flight on CO website. However, CO phone agent could not find it. They said their support team is working on that, but nobody knows how long it would take. (My flight is shortly after the coming weekend, so I am really anxious to grab the seat as soon as possible).

Glad you got it sorted.

As for what to do about it, not really sure. You're kind of stuck. You're dealing with CO's lousy systems, combined with a superiority culture that has been bred for 20 years where many think they can do no wrong. The culture seems to have been improving since the merger, but organizationally, there is still a lack of empowerment.

There's really only one (1) empowered person at all of CO that we can interact with, and that's UA Insider who is incredibly busy at the moment. Short of notifying him to push the issue, not sure what else could be done.

Thank you for your advice again, channa! I PMed UA Insider. Shortly afterwards, I called CO again and was surprised that they finally could see the flight I want! Glad their support team is efficient, otherwise not only my weekend but also my RTW trip will be ruined.

However, I still do not understand why a flight that could be booked on UA and CO.com is not viewable on CO phone agent's system? Is the system on CO.com the same as CO phone agent's sytem, SHARES I guess?

They're not the same system. The inventory is supposed to be the same, though.