They put 507 on the CIO 743, and 510 on the all-Y 743. The NTC CIO 744 has 474 pax.

Ouch.

There's ANOTHER CO...C'est impossible!!! (DO I get a penalty for using French in a post?)

Hmmm...for all of us card carrying PC members I wandered upon this thread today about the new DL policy of CRC lounges giving only Delta members free WIFI on Tmobile...I am not sure if its penalty box worthy, but I nominate DL (or me for posting it) for a time-out in the penalty box.

http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=714208

:td::td: to Delta once again.

Which is why this lifetime PC Club member who now needs to mostly take DL and US (but will only qualify mid-tier on both) spends the $20 per month for the Hotspot subscription. And it sure helps out at Starbucks and Hyatts.

But I doubt that there are many others reading this thread who are greatly inconvenienced by DL's practice (or the same practice at LH, who AFAIK gives the T-Mo cards out only in their First Class Lounges and Terminal).

I rarely use the CRCs, but I found myself in two of them yesterday (JAX, ATL). JAX has airport-wide free WiFi, so that was a non-issue (though it wasn't working so well). And in ATL I needed to get some work done and I loaned my EvDO card to a co-worker, so I (my company once I get reimbursed) coughed up the $10. Sucks to pay when I don't want to, but that's the cost of doing business.

The strangest part of the CO policy is that they seem to be excluding their BizElite pax from the freebie access. So that many-thousand dollar ticket doesn't get you the access. Go figure. :rolleyes:

Same here.

I use to have ATT Wireless...than they turned into Cingular...and then they went back to ATT Wireless :rolleyes:

Anyways, I needed mobile, tetherable internet and TMobile's EDGE service fit the bill. So for an extra 29/mo I can access the internet on my laptop via EDGE (yes it's slow, but for my needs it suffices), post from my seat during delays :cool:, and grab the internet at Starbucks/CRC/RCC. All-in-all I can't complain.

One would think that UA, AA and DL would seek to offer free internet in their clubs when the TMo contract comes up for renewal.

Then There's a chance you could be the first to start a "C"-Word string of posts in this thread :p

Also, I find it surprising that AA and UA don't offer free wifi, at least to offset the fact that they don't offer free drinks. Why anyone would pay for an Admirals Club or (especially) an RCC membership is beyond me. Reading the horror stories on the UA board of how the matrons at the IAD RCC treat pax with regard to drink chits and admission is always good for a laugh (or a raised eyebrow).

I'd like to think that if repeated and serious allegations of customer abuse were lodged against a CO employee, that the employee would be terminated. One such entertaining thread involved an IAD lounge matron threatening to call security on a customer rightfully seeking drink chits upon admission to the RCC. He had politely challenged the matron with a written print-out of UA's RCC Admission guidelines, which drew the ire of the lounge dragon. Before she could act on her unwarranted threat, he left and found a customer service supervisor at a different station who confirmed that the matron was completely wrong, called over to the lounge, and instructed them to provide the passenger with the requested drink chits.

Apparently, the story is not a one-off, either. From the UA forum, it looks like there's a systematic effort by the staff at the IAD RCCs to deny customers the benefits they are owed. Sad.

All the more reason that UA should be the legacy to have to take the fall and liquidate with the next industry downturn.

UA's walking down a dangerous path that their predecessor failed to navigate.

It's really a shame what's happened to them; they have the potential to be great...but...well...the leadership is lacking IMHO.

They've tried so desperately to trim away the fat from their operation that they're starting to cut out muscle and bone. If you ever have a chance stick you head in the RCC at LAX. When you walk in there's a reception desk staffed by one agent and then when you walk past her there's this 15' counter with maybe ~8 CSR stations...all unmanned. This means that the sole agent in the club is the gate keeper and in addition to verifying credentials s/he is also responsible for dealing with customer issues too.

UA's starting to reduce their costs to the point where it is affecting their ability to generate revenue - and granted they are trying to change - but it will take much more than new seats to fix the issues they face.

When CO/NW/NH/etc. have equipment that can offer point-to-point service at rock bottom prices excluding labor UA will have to make some serious decisions. Labor's been bending over for management for the past two decades in the industry and I have my doubts if they'll continue to stand for cuts...but that's just me. Point is if the 787 is able to operate a route cheaper than UA, UA's going to have to make some serious decisions...and I doubt labor can be 'Lorenzo'ed' into lower wages.

It really is sad. UA used to be a great airline, and they continued to be such through the mid and even late 1990's (some would say even later, depending on your personal opinion and experiences). And, they still offer a decent hard coach product (E+).

It is pathetically apparent now, however, that UA management has just been trying to run the company as leanly and cheaply as possible in order to boost the stock price and enhance their profits when they sell the company. That is all well and good, but when it comes at the price of zero customer service and the ultimate ruin of a great airline, it is just a waste, IMO. UA still has enough equipment and routes to build on and survive the next industry downturn, but the current management seems to have squandered most of the remaining customer goodwill through drastic reductions in customer service quality, as well as their apparent lack of a fleet renewal plan for the next 10-15 years.

I'm sitting here in the ORD PC "drunk" posting waiting for my delayed flight. Well not really since the Heineken is primarily foam.

Do the Elite Access lines at the security checkpoint mean anything anymore at ORD? I watched a number of pax using it that were not Elite or FC and the ID checker saying nothing. The line was just as long as the regular ones and just as slow as those pax asking if they needed to remove watches, jewelry, belts, etc.

Hurray for drunken posting!

But now I have a question...a riddle if you will...for the PBox: when do you start a new thread vs. bump a somewhat related one?

I ask as I stumbled across an article about LOS service from the FA's version on FT and it seemed to have some new info...but...well...I'll be much less skeptical when I see a US press release. Anyway, it seemed foolish to start yet another LOS thread when we had so many so I stuck it in the the longest one.

Anyways, any thoughts on when to start a new thread vs. bump an older one?

For questions about upgrades, why not use an old thread titled "upgrades":

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37642

Hard to say here. However, the SPG forum has been trending towards recycling even very old threads into Master Threads for various hotels. In the context of single properties, I think this makes sense, as you can get a survey of the property over time, see if management issues are persistent, etc.

I'm not so sure if that translates too well into the character of the CO Forum. Can you imagine if xyzzy were attempting to create master threads in the CO Forum? Where to begin?! Would stink-shields and sewage volcanos be merged into a master-thread? Would Audacious and Unmitigated flatulence belong in that thread, or in its own thread? What about the one-hit wonders asking for compensation; Lump each thread together or let each enjoy the glory it well-deserves?

However, speculation about LOS service might well be a symptom of WURS Syndrome, and may belong here :p

Point taken :DHehe, perhapses it just might. I did think about posting it here but than decided to stick it in the LOS thread.

I wonder if the route will actually materialize this time.