Yesterday, I booked a last minute PIT-ORD-GRU-GIG flight. Since PIT-ORD was full in First, I was ticketed Y/D/D. No problem.

When I realized I wasn't going to make it to the airport, I switched online to PIT-IAD-GRU-GIG. However, even though there were F seats available on PIT-IAD, my new ticket remained Y/D/D.

Now, I believe this is the way CO has always done things like this, but I was wondering if PMUA had a smarter system that would have switched me to F/D/D which I would have gotten had I done the original booking through IAD. Or if I should expect any changes in the future.

I suppose an agent could have fixed this for me, but I didn't want to call while madly driving to the airport. And by the time I called after checking in, they said only the gate agent could help me. Again, no big deal, since I ended up #1 on the UL, was upgraded, and it was only a 30 min flight anyway. I'm just curious about the system's flexibility for future travel purposes.

Well the ability to upgrade online is still broken for me. No way to do an upgrade either with miles or cash. I can call it in but I think I will just wait to do it during OLCI. I just don't feel like dealing with CS's anymore that constantly put you on hold and give you scripted information. My last call about a refund lasted 45 minutes and 40 of those were spent on hold because I presume the CS' did not know what to do. On a side note, it was also one of the worst CS' experiences I've ever had with UA. On that call about the status of the refund, the CS notice that the change fee had been waive. Well that all of a sudden became the focus of the conversation. I briefly gave her a lesson about customer service and demanded that she change her focus to figuring out what was happening with the refund. But she kept on talking about the waived change fee and trying to figure out why it had been waived. She even reasoned that maybe that was the reason why the refund had not gone through. Well the change fee had been waived because I could not do any changes to my itinerary online w/in 24 hours of booking and I had to call it in. Well the booking occurred a couple days after 3/3. I was finally able to get through to a CS (after waiting 4.5 hours and pulling an all-nighter) aproximately 36 hours after I had made my reservation. The reservation was done 3/5 and I was able to change the return flight on 3/7. Here I am explaining this to her as the reason for the fee waive, and by now I am very agitated. After 45 minutes, no info on the refund and as a last parting shot, she proceeded to give me lesson on rules for ticket changes and how CS' had been available 24 hours a day and that I should have made every attempt at changing the ticket even if it meant waiting hours at a time and that the fact that they were experiencing website problems and call volume issues was no excuse. I promptly told her to keep the refund and I hung up. You know in hindsight I should have just booked with AS.

What do you think should have happen? Date of purchase should have priority over Fare Class?

I guess this could go on the upgrades aren't clearing thread, but it does seem conversion related. Today I had two flights that passed through my first (96 hour) upgrade window. The second had an upgrade sweep that acted as expected--R dropped from 9 to 3 and my upgrade cleared.

The first, however, did not. A reasonably full RJ with all signs suggesting an empty first class (F and A = 6, R=4, no seats taken on the seat map). No sign of any of that changing as the upgrade window should have passed. We're now at about T-88. I can think of three potential reasons. Either we are still experiencing the system not working because someone's ticket is out of sync. Or there really are times when R=4 is not sufficient. Or maybe there's an issue since this is a Shuttle America flight.

E-mail from "Corporate Customer Care" in response to having sent an e-mail to 1K about three weeks ago:

"I am sorry to hear about all the problems that you had .... I would like to recommend that you call our Premier Priority Desk at XXX XXX XXXX. Calling the number will connect you to a Premier Priority Desk customer service representative specially trained to answer questions pertaining to our Premier travelers."

I have spent about 8 hours on the phone since 3/3 for issues which should (a) never have gone wrong, or (b) would have been fixed in a few minutes in the past. And all I am being told is to call the 1K line. Thank you very much.

At least I can rest assured: "This (thankfully) once-in-a-lifetime conversion was tough, but successful."

I'd like drink whatever UA(CO) is drinking....

If you buy an upgrade-eligible fare (ie, basically all domestic fares), yes. Really, who is going to buy up to a T-fare? Can you even do this without calling?

Of course, if you buy a Y- or B-up fare, you jump to the head of the line if you don't clear on purchase.

Fare class after status has been the policy for UDU (and now CPU) since the beginning.


you can do this on the "new" united site (could not on the PMUA site)

Thanks for the encouraging note. I still have 2 GPUs that have yet to be reposted after two months. I'll keep watching and hoping that someday they will reappear (probably on the day they expire ;)

isn't the number above the old 1K desk number? It's now the "premier priority desk?". Just another indication that 1K means nothing at the new United. :td::td:

I called the 1K desk last night to make a change to an award reservation; HAL picked up an welcomed me to the "Premier Priority" line. The agent I got was great and sounded like a PMUA 1K agent, but I was a bit surprised that HAL specifically identified the line as "Premier Priority." (This was of course after I had had to repeat "YES" three times, and "existing reservation" twice--the IVR sure seems worse these days than in those of yore...)


You can specify fare class at time of booking (that was the one benefit PMCO's web site brought over PMUA .bomb), but TMK you cannot buy up (aside from offers to buy up to a F-eligible fare) without calling in--and will then get dinged with a change fee to boot.

Rio trip Friday the 13th
 

Never managed to check in online due to systems glitches. Was also unable to check in at the kiosk so had to rely on a patient PMUA employee to work her way through the new system to generate boarding asses. Seemed like they had a lot of people on the counters compared to normal. It appears I may have actually been checked in (or at least the system had captured all my check in data) but the system would not issue the boarding passes or tell me I was already checked in so I would not keep trying. On positive side the 777 with in setback EFI screen is great. Makes traveling in the back of the plane much better. Service was with a smile the whole way. Dulles lounge was SRO. Food was edible. Drink chits helped.

I'm updated
 

It is with great relief that I can announce that my account is finally updated. RPU/GPUs posted, star alliance flights finally posted, mileage short due to CO mileage tables has been been posted. My account actually has exactly the same amount of miles as what I manually track. I suppose I shouldn't be this exited but I am. Well done.

I also have a Colgan flight from 3/8 that hasn't posted, in my case from IAD to BTV.

And recently only 1of 9 flights has posted within 72 hours.

We might have been on the same flight, UA3921.

This morning I called Customer Service again. She tells me there is no "comments record" of my having talked with CS a week ago.

Then she laboriously proceeds to extract all of the flight info from me verbally and manually enters everything in, says it is easier (!) than trying to call up the info in their own system.

15 minutes later, she says that I should see the miles in 3 to 5 days. I believe her. I also believe that the Easter Bunny and Elwood P. Dowd's friend Harvey are real.

15 minutes (!!!!) to process one lousy less-than-500-miles missing mileage segment?!?

Quote from Mr. Smisek:

"Is this any way to run an airline?!? You bet it is!"

Well, this is exactly how it works on AA, so the poster is more than welcome to switch programs if that's what's important to him.

But then we'll probably hear him complain when he has to purchase a $750 last minute ticket and is the last 100k on the list, with the $250 fares sitting up front.