EsquireFlyer

History shows that glitches/bugs which improve UACO's profits will not be fixed quickly, if at all.

In this case, I guess it is in UACO's best interest to withhold benefits such as free upgrades from those annoying elites who don't know better (because they aren't checking R space themselves), and sell TODs instead. So, if you find R space, UA will reluctantly clear you into it (without apologizing for wasting your time or nearly ripping you off!!), but if you're not checking R space and won't be able to prove that UA denied you a benefit, UA will just sell your upgrade instead and pretend there was never enough space to clear it.

Ugh.

CKinMD

I think this is absolutely spot on (or at the very least, it accurately reflects my perceptions as well) and its among the primary reason that I have taken my future business over to AA. I have absolutely no interest in babysitting my reservations on a daily basis and playing this pathetic game anymore. UA, get rid of SHARES before its too late.

exerda

Thanks for continuing to take a look into this, Shannon.

Is the process similar for award segments waitlisted for a different bucket (e.g. on a multi-class itinerary, confirmed in X on a given segment, and waitlisted for I)? I've had one of those reservations also where I got an Expert Flyer alert that "I" was available on the flight, but the segment stayed waitlisted--I had to call to get it cleared.

I'm trying to think if the multiple cases of my "R" opening up happened on weekends or not--obviously this most recent one did. I think I had one on a Tuesday or Wednesday, too, but I'll have to go back and look at my Expert Flyer alert history to be sure.

UA-NYC

I've had no shortage of R openings during the Mon-Fri week, while still staying on the WL

jbresee

RPU's are not clearing for me.

Also, I don't believe the 1k upgrades are working as advertised. My most recent flight had 15 open 1st seats 48 hours prior to the flight. It had 4 24 hours prior. When I got to the airport, I was listed with 29 people ahead of me for upgrades. I flew 150k miles last year, and was on an expensive ticket.

I find it difficult to believe that sold all those seats, and that there were that many GS or 1k's ahead of me.

Prior to 3/3, I was almost always upgraded. Post 3/3, I'm only getting upgrades on regional jets.

Something is still broken, or they changed the rules and haven't been transparent about it.

dmodemd

Same here, I am 0 for 2 with RPUs not clearing when R opens up.

Yes, we need to get someone to look into this T-24 hour issue with RPUs as well...

AndrewT84

This is semi-related. Does the ExpertFlyer alerts check on a "sweep" system as well? I've had a GPU waitlisted for my itinerary for over 8 months and I'm surprised that not one R spot has opened up in 8 months. I'll admit I haven't been the best at checking United.com every day for R availability and kinda left it all to EF.

There also has been instances as well when I've logged into United.com and noticed it stated I cleared but I never got a EF alert.

exerda

Nor sure about the flight alerts, but the EF FAQ states that seat alerts run based on an algorithm which takes into account several factors including time until departure--so presumably that means they run more frequently the closer to departure.

fadeforward

It's very helpful to have this diagnosis. This just happened to me on a LAS-SFO-BOS flight where LAS-SFO cleared immediately. SFO-BOS was showing R2/RN2 today, and I had to manually clear it by calling and waiting 15 minutes while they resolved this.

The CSR told me that this was a known issue, and they were trying to resolve all the higher priority issues with the merger first. I gently tried to suggest that this was a high-priority issue.

ORD-LIH

I have an upcoming LAX>JFK flight on 5/22. I'm booked on a V fare on that outbound and applied an RPU at booking, which was wait-listed. The flight is now showing R/RN=5. Is there any reason this wouldn't be clearing now? I wanted to ask before I called in and waste my time on the 1K line. The RN/R space has been available since at least yesterday morning.

Update 1: I called in, 20 minutes later was told there was nothing they can do and they have no idea why it's not clearing. Talked to support and was told they said to just wait it out -- that upgrades don't happen until closer to the flight time. It's just hard for me to justify investing my time to deal with this stuff. I wonder what level of patience they really expect me to have.

Update 2: Called back for a new agent who was much more definitive that "if there's RN space, you should be clearing". He couldn't see the RPU that was pulled to support it thought (he could, however, see the WL segment). He had to call over to MP to confirm there was an RPU supporting it. Then he cleared me in to 9B. That call took 16 Min.

If it's going to cost me 40min for each p.s. leg I fly in a year I'll spend 2 full work days auditing UAL's IT systems. That's simply not going to happen. Not including the time wasted checking for RN space. This integration is a joke.

Glad I at least read FT so I knew to look.

wilp888

Had a PS flight last week where SFO-JFK was waitlisted with a RPU for over a month. It cleared 2 days out so I thought the auto clearing problem was solved. I received a EF alert this morning that LAX-BOS on Wednesday had R inventory but when I logged on, I was still waitlisted with my RPU. I was on the phone for over 20 minutes before they could fix it so I guess the problem still exists.

fadeforward

Call back and get someone who will clear it manually before the space disappears. I have very little faith that "waiting it out" will do anything.

EsquireFlyer

+1. Alternatively, make them cancel and re-request the upgrade, and it should clear instantly (and then ask them to explain the BS they fed you that "upgrades don't happen until closer to departure").

dmodemd

UAInsider: Can you provide communication to all your customer service agents about this issue so they can resolve these manually until fixed and not give everyone different answers?? Thank You.

Sheesh... UA doesn't even want to admit its own problems to its own CS agents. They should have a KNOWN ISSUES list posted on the wall of their cubicle at least! (Ok, too long to fit on one page... )

anc-ord772

4/6 AUS-IAH. Prior to 24 hours F booked 4/16. My 1P friend cleared at his window, he was one of two. At T22 no one on the waitlist and F still booked 4/16. I SDCd my friends flight which at the time had R>0. Agent said I would have to wait for sweeps. T3 flight booked 15/16 in F with maybe two to three on the waitlist, myself at #1! I know there was a lot going on in Chicago, but this surprised me. I did clear at the gate, but damn.