Based on the number of times in this thread you and others have had to mention this, it would surprise me if few non-FTers knew how to do this. It is clear that a sginificant number of FTers were not aware of this.

I think this is a problem for UA

What a horrible move, I was going to book a flight to MNL on UAL today but without having any idea of the fare buckets I am going to book on DL for less $ since I can't find out where I might have a chance for an upgrade to clear on a W fare. :td: I think it is time to look elsewhere and walk away from 1k

Funny you say that, I feel exactly the same way, just the other way around. It feels like a long time partner in life is lying and cheating on you. And the way UA has treated its most loyal customers is tantamount to being cheated upon.

My only consolation is that my travel patterns allowed me to have other such relationships with other partners (AA and AF) and losing one is no big deal in this context.
I am saddened and bitter but will move on without looking back.

By the way this is the first year ever since I am 1K (13 years) that I haven't been able to use any of my 6 GPU (SWU) That says a lot....
I will requalify as 1K this year by flying 90% of Star Alliance flights on other Star airlines (TK, LH, LX, TG, JJ, SA, A3 and SQ)

and Im sure thats exactly what CO wants you and those who think like you to do. Yes they want you to purchase the W and end up sitting in Y and paying more then you could have, but no they dont want us to buy the W and end up sitting in C. They probably think that those who would buy a C and dont cause they can UP from a W , will end up buying a C so as not to risk ending up in coach and CO will be :D all the way to the bank.

You still might be much better off with COdbaUA since with DL you need an M fare which is alot more usually then COs W, and AA Im not up to date with but OW just doesnt work for me and ST isnt much better. So the question is not to whom you will be giving your $$ but whom has a better Y cabin and service and with which carrier is it easier to get award tkts. Could be flying a Foreign Carrier and crediting the miles to a US carrier might be best

But we're all experts I thought and understand how all the data works and what it means. ;)

the only problem is we cant get Million Mile status by flying non-UA flights. So if aperson already has it or doesnt want/need it , its a great way to go! I will cross 1MM in '13 and no way will I hit 2MM so I too will look at other *A carriers with the exception of LH which is like Spirit to me

As to CO's 'wishes': We agree.
What this gets them when the capacity/air travel demand equation shifts, I'm not so sure. THEN, they'll likely want all the paying bodies they can get. Ones who may well - THEN - have a vested interest in flying AA/DL/someone else.
I'm sure there are SOME who fit this hypothetical. I just don't believe there are as many of them as CO's beancounters would like to imagine.

Dave

Luckily I am MM already so not an issue for me.

This is getting still stranger. Did I say anything about about other options?:confused:

This sucks. It was great tool for same day change and standby travel. I could see if the fare class I booked was listed in the flight I want to change to, now I have to rely on CSR who may not be as forthcoming.

so..i am trying to change a thursday flt to a friday flt..search on the "change flt" option for an A fare..says NOT AVL..so i search as a NEW reservation and it shows AVL...same with M-fare..all the change option will give me is a U fare..regardless of what I ask the search option to return as a fare..this change is BS...another FAIL for UAL...if i didn't have to use AC so much i would be a goner.

If they are in the India or Philippine call centers, it might not be in the script.

UA... how could this possibly have been worth it??
 

+1 as well. As I stated earlier in the thread, the negative publicity this has caused (even if just among us on FT) cannot be worth what UA thinks they somehow have gained as a result of this.

The bottom line - and I still can't figure this out for the life of me - is that providing us with these tools (upgrade availability and fare codes) encourages us to spend more and maintain loyalty with UA. It's not like anybody was using this information to spend elsewhere. Why would anyone in their right mind - even at the expense of possible misinterpretation among a few - remove the very "hooks" that maximize customer loyalty in the first place?

Like others, my disappointment and frustration regarding this decision have only deepened since the announcement Friday. This is so foolish.

This is my biggest gripe, too. The website was not known for always finding the possible routings for SDC, and this was the only way that I could know whether I was asking for a "valid" confirmed change when calling the premier desk. I don't know how many times I had an agent tell me "I don't know why the system isn't letting you do this yourself" but now I'll be completely in the dark. Major :td::td::td: to UA.

It is troubling that UA is backing away further from transparency, particularly when the upgrade mechanism is still broken.

I had another confirmation today of the upgrade brokenness when I was wrongly upgraded on HNL-GUM. I had applied an RPU previously for upgrading on the US to HNL segment and the GUM-MNL segment. The HNL-GUM upgrade came just a few days prior to travel and plenty of coach availability still, so not an op-up. And a similar upgrade came for the GUM-HNL segment on the return, still a couple of weeks further out, both showing as the elusive "R" class.

Odd thing is that a companion traveling the same itinerary and which has the same class of booking (not eligible for business first upgrade), and ticketing within seconds of mine, did not get the same upgrade even though there is still "R" availability for HNL-GUM for that day & flight (using the mock booking advanced search feature to determine that).

I called the UA 1K line wondering if there was maybe some change on the upgrade mechanism for HNL-GUM (since it isn't really a "business first" seat), and in case I could get the upgrade for my companion. Being told there was no change, I asked the agent if she could put me back in my original economy plus seat so that I could stay with my companion on this longest segment.

The agent said "the computer had made a mistake". She also said that I should NOT have been upgraded on GUM-MNL or HNL-SFO, which is, of course, quite wrong. She further said that any manual change (like undoing the mistaken HNL-GUM upgrade) would undo ALL my previous upgrades (for US to HNL and GUM-MNL, which I had gotten with the original booking.)

Anyway, this shows me that the upgrade mechanisms related to "R" are still quite broken. Now not having the handy Fare Class display showing how many R seats are still available erodes my confidence in UA to actually fix the basic problem.

This is the first year that my companion is not making the effort to achieve 1K again, and it is the last year I'll be 1K. (Both of us MMs.) Not just because of this matter -- the general UA unreliability issues, lack of GPU redemption possibilities, and repeated displays of ignorance from agents over the past months is a major contributing factor.