Are things getting better?
 

So I was a 1K flyer who made the switch when AA offered the ExPlat match. I have not really looked back at all. But this morning I was wondering - are things gettting better?

I read the threads and know that there apologists for the airline - but since a large number of 1Kers exited, are upgrades easier? Is service getting better? Is the SHARES system doing a better job now that it is almost SIX months into this merger?

Open and honest thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I am pretty happy with the service. The only remaining gripes I have are:

1) The elimination of reasonably priced day of departure cash upgrades on international flights (UFCs and PCUs).

2) Inability to apply upgrade instruments (RPU, GPU) within 24 hours of flight time.

3) Inconsistent availability of award tickets on some of the PCMO routes (e.g. EWR<>NRT).

2) can be done with a phone call or with a GA if there is R availability. You just can't waitlist within 24 hours.

No and No. COdbaUA is just as much as a disaster as it was on 3/3.

All of the mechanical delays and cancellations over the past few months have made many people begin to question whether or not the airline can reliably take them from point A to point B.

Nope. Better CS (MP is back to being closer to MP and not OPdbaMP), but things are still bad.

Operations that are getting worse, not better
"pricing glitches" (aka TODs)
Difficult employees at times / low morale
Mileage clawbacks and other posting issues
Latest - major holiday flight cancellations over the weekend that has Jeff'd up travel for many of us
CPU still getting stuck

I've just started my AA flying and it truly is a breath of fresh air.

I stuck with COdbaUA. But am not an apologist. I think four points have to be made. 1. As far as upgrades go I have no complaints. After some initial problems I get upgraded on most flights either with or without instruments. 2. Shares is atrocious. Nothing is quick on the phone anymore. What used to take one minutes takes ten. If time isn't important then COdbaUA is the airline for you. The website is missing several functional items that used to be on the old UA site and require you to call and go through the Shares molasses process. 3. The airline continues to make major blunders and refuses to apologize or come up with with customer friendly solutions to the problems. IRROPS, botched promos and mistake fares are examples of this. 4. Lastly, it is clear that elites of all stripes are not important to this airline. They are tolerated (barely) but general members and the money they spend on fees and upgrades have priority over elites including GS.

No, not getting better. I had three mechanical cancellation on 3 consecutive itineraries. My email to 1kvoice on August 2nd is still not addressed/answered. It takes 1-2 weeks to get canned/non-personalized response from 1Kvoice and all subsequent correspondence to the original message is ignored.

On the upside, I have had pretty good luck with the cabin crew(both FA and pilots) on the last few flights - but customer service and mechanical cancellations are getting out of hand for me(oh, and CPU is NOT getting better at all - I am batting way worse than pre 3/3 switch).

a mixed bag
 

While I'm getting more upgrades in the last couple of months, I'm also losing half days or more of my life due to IRROPS and MX delays.

Consistency of customer service is highly uneven, ranging from rude to pleasant. There are still many problems crossing the sCO to sUA operational divide.

Management doesn't seem to understand the risks of turning the people who spend the most time working in and with the airline into unhappy campers. United's reputation depends on rebuilding some goodwill among these groups, and this is not (yet) on the corporate agenda.

1. I am somewhat annoyed with various ticky tack issues from UA - e.g. the whole disaster where US gives the bonus miles, then recalculates and takes the miles away. My GPU's clearance rate is 1/4, and losing confirmed trans-pacific upgrade due to cancelled flight.

2. I am still flying United. All the other stuff they are doing are keeping me on United for the time being.

3. What I want to know is from some "old timers". That is, as human, we tend to romanticize "the good old days" and forget the bad and only remember the good, but there does seem to be a lot of complaints about United these days. What I am curious about is what the United forum looked like 5~8 years ago. Are there more or less complaints? Is United really a (much) worse airline than it used to be?

I'd say things are getting worse, they lost a child and killed a dog in the past month.....

but what about the guitars?

That was pre-merger :)

Nearly 6 months post integration and things are not getting better, but agents do seem more adept at overcoming the system limitations.

While Fters can be a critical bunch, take a look at the myriad complaints on this board and you will see that United is doing a poor job at many of the basic airline functions with numerous delays, cancellations and software issues. You can't count on United to deliver you in a timely manner, notwithstanding the other issues.

One begins to wonder what other problems may lurk behind the scenes.

Although I do feel for the poor Taylor guitar :(

I have my own "how is the airline doing" gage. Its the number of gripe FT threads started /passengers carried. If you take a snapshot today you will see UA the clear loser. US used to be the posterboy, but if trueth be told they are approaching WN as clear winners in the ratio. AA is doing better post bankruptcy with fewer gripes while Delta has held steady. This is my internal Metric