Add me to the frustrated list.

Yes, I posted on this thread more than once that we can still see R availability.

But after spending hour on line today doing research for upgradable US-Europe flights, I am no longer satisfied. What used to take minutes took hours. That's not hyperbole.

The online system in sluggish and cumbersome. It's ok for those needing to take a specific flight. But it's no good for research.

I wish there were an award upgrade calendar.

^@:-) That would sure silence a lot of the critics (myself included). And everything would be back to normal if there was an alert system with it. (Although even I can come up with a way to automate the alert feature with the presence of a calendar).

Not happening. Customer friendly changes are scheduled to come out in a few years, and Jeff's sure you're gonna like em

Not to bring out all of the self-declared FT lawyers, but I'm curious if there were legal issues that forced them to drop the transparency. We all know that RPUs and CPUs were often not processing at the stated windows despite availability. Are they legally or financially accountable for proven cases of mis delivery of stated benefits? Or more likely, as others ave said, just trying to hide their flaws. Or, even worse and I hope is not the case, being ultra shady and trying to withhold benefits and sell more upgrades.

Regardless, I'm upset about not being able to determine the flights with best chances for upgrades based on total number of seats available. And no, UA, it won't make me buy an F seat. More than likely it will make me use my EXPLAT status, if nothing else than out of spite. And for quick customer service with a smile.

Fare Bucket Search Work Around ?
 

Oh wise Flyertalk Guru's and Defenders of Transparency,

This thread grows exponentially by the hour.

Can anyone tell me if a Fare Bucket Search Work-Around was discussed/published for United.Com in this thread ? If so, can you hyperlink it or list the Post # ?

You can obtain basic fare class information for free from flightstats.com

Make sure you click on the advanced button. Enter your information and click the "Search Flight Availability" link. Click on the > on the next page for your desired flight.

At this point the only change I'm going to like is the mass dismissal of these clowns.

Be aware, though, that flightstats results do not appear to be real time. When inventory is tight or you're close to the SDC window, I wouldn't count on what I see there.

There is a discussion of work-arounds in another thread.

^^ I don't believe there has been a UA-related thread on FT where you will find as wide opposition to a given move by management as this one has produced.

This isn't about the removal of the fare buckets as it is a big F you to United's loyal customers from the upper management suite. People who have defended other changes quite strenuously are joining in with the criticism, which indicates this isn't just a gang of 11 rant.

As I've posted before, I understand why they made the change. What I don't understand is why they didn't have the alternative process alluded to in the opening post of this thread ready to go when they took down the fare buckets. That failure was a massive self-inflicted wound on United's part, and simply unfathomable from a PR aspect.

Smisek Wins
 

What is clear to me now is that United has finally broken the back of the FT community's ability to influence change. This is a universally hated change but no one is willing to step up and challenge United in any sort of a coordinated fashion which puts UA on notice that enough is enough.

If we can't effectively confront United on the changes which are so clearly designed to break our over-entitled expectations then I surmise that UA has gambled and won and has broken our ability to influence any outcome. Loss of revenue from those who leave UA will simply be explained away by other means. We are our our own worst advocates IMHO.

Just because CO dba UA is ignoring FT, at least for now, hardly means that "Smisek wins."

After all, many have argued--perhaps correctly--that UA's drop in PRASM is due to a drop in high-yield business travelers. And while FT is but a subset of the higher-yield market segment, it's a fairly good representation of it.

UA can easily ignore FT all it wants. But if it ignores its high-yield customers, it will only be doing itself a major disfavor.

My hunch is that UA will eventually attempt to seriously rebuild the confidence of its high-yield business travelers, simply because it is in its own best interest.

jetblue

There's no way that's the case. Over the 11 years I've been in this community it has become very apparent that the bulk of FT members are focused on cheap, multi-segment mileage runs and trips, tricks to make them cheaper, using FF miles to get the best value on longhaul premium cabin trips, various schemes to reach elite levels at minimal cost, etc.

Sprinkled in there is a handful of serious high-yield pax.

What FT is for UA is a base of extremely knowledgeable FF members who understand rules, are interested in the data behind an airline operation and in many cases understand the system better than their own employees. Don't confuse that with high yield though. Most high yield pax are much more focused on the destination rather than the trip or the miles they've accumulated, from what I've seen over the years.

For once, let me agree with you. ;)

Your title was "Smisek Wins..." - I think it's too soon to declare that. This game is not over. He's created a disaster. Everyone knows it. Surely, he's telling the BOD that this is "transition pains" and that every huge merger has them. He most surely asked for time to smooth them out and to implement more brilliant changes, like the one that started this thread. This chapter isn't closing until a few quarters out, when we see if he turns this around or if the race to the bottom continues (or even accelerates). I'm sure the BOD has given him more runway for a while yet.