Stupidest move yet!!
 

This is yet another example of United treating its best customers like trash. As a GS, I rely on this fare information regularly. How many ways can UA show it does not care about its top fliers?

:td::td::td::td::td::td::td::td::td::td:

Are available buckets still going to be shown on "view current reservation"?

After all, data can't really be scraped if you have to buy a ticket on each flight to be able to see the info... And with the 24 hour rule, it will still be possible (although very tedious) to get the same functionality.

"Expert Mode" Changes
 

I have been making the trek across New York City to Newark for far too long. I'll be flying Delta on my bi-weekly flights to LA. Good bye EWR - good riddance.

I use the fare bucket information almost every time I book a flight. It's especially critical when I'm planning flights overseas. United is almost always more expensive than the competition on these routes, and I use the fare bucket information to gauge my chances of success with an upgrade. If I believe there's a reasonable chance of an upgrade, I will pay the higher price (sometimes multiple $100s higher) to fly United. Without that information I can't justify United's price premium. This change makes it likely I will shift 75% of my international flights to the competition.

Maybe we should all whine and call the web and MP desk asking where the link went and a need to know available fare buckets. It seems that by annoying agents you can have changes enacted more expediently than by being a high revenue customer.

Yet another reason I'm so glad my travel desk matched my Plat status on another airline this week; already received my first upgrade confirmation five days out.

Sorry United, but, I stopped flying you for good last month. Quit screwing over these other good folks dedicated to you.

Is there not one FTer defending this? Certainly somebody believes that COdbaUA should protect it's perishable merchandise, right?

They care. A lot. They want you gone.

Currently at 74K for the year on United and would have made 1K by the end of the year, but without the ability to make informed decisions about my flights, I will be looking to status match at AA or move my business to another *Alliance airline.

Just a horrible decision by UA to remove this website functionality.:td:

Dumbest move so far
 

I have put up with a lot of crap from UA this year but if this means no EF visibility either I am going to happily use up my miles and go investigate AA (as I should probably already have done)... I have a lot of choices here in GRU to get home and I will rethink not paying a little extra for DL EC....

:td::td::td:

PS they really want us calling agents to get bucket and/or upgrade info? How efficient is that???

What the HECK UA? This is yet another boneheaded move.

I can't believe they even asked Shannon to give such a lame excuse. This is up there with Jeffy's attempt to shrink the world (and later explain it was merely an accident with no nefarious purpose).


UA will tell phone agents they can't divulge that information.


What this means, of course, is that the CPU process is itself so terribly broken compared to UDUs and even the EUAs from PMCO that UA feels the need to hide and cover it up rather than fix the darn crappy junk software they're using.


If they make GPUs valid on all fares but make it impossible to tell which flights can be confirmed at booking (or which should be clearing later--and we all know, many of us from personal experience, that the waitlist clearing process is broken). GPUs will be worthless.

Any desire I had to get to 1k is now gone. GPUs would have been worth putting up 100k miles for, but now they are worthless (unless I want to pay for a W fare for the fun of it and have NO IDEA what the chances are of it clearing). With the TOD floodgates open, it's not like I even care about having higher CPU priority.

I guess this is just a way of devaluing benefits like SDC and upgrade instruments. Without access to data, it is just about impossible to take advantage of these. United would rather issue GPUs with the expectation that no one can ever use them rather than have savvy travelers actually take the airline to task for what they are (over)entitled to.

Jeff is making the shareholders happy. By obscuring information from the elites, they make TODs the most valuable / secure way to secure an upgrade. Moreover, it becomes substantially more difficult to research availability on flights and book the cheapest flight. This would lead to people, out of frustration / helplessness, booking more expensive alternatives. It is a business decision done to hurt the most loyal / savvy elites. Unless it is matched with a concurrent shift in bookings and expenditure, they will likely make money. For me, I'm tired of the "changes we will like". Two words: Fly Delta.

Reconsider. Now.

Shannon - Please be sure the folks making these decisions read this thread.

This really is the last straw.

For what it's worth, today I called the AA ExPlat desk to do a SDC. I said that I'd only do it if they could preserve my complimentary upgrade. The AApologetic AAgent told me that a few months ago, AA took away the ability for their phone agents to see complimentary upgrade space (equivalent of "R" on UA) inside 100 hours. Only the AAutomAAtion knows for sure :(

Do we see this coming to UA as well?