hobo13

I realize your post is probably in jest. But the TPA agents are now work-from-home. Which could be construed as a problem in and of itself.....

mgcsinc

Has anyone had success convincing them to switch to an ewr flight on a 319/320 that has wifi, after losing wifi on the ps flight?

mgcsinc

For the first time ever, I called the number that they give you in the email notifying you that your flight won't have wifi, and I was immediately connected (no rings) to the most competent agent I think I've ever talked to at any airline. People trying to deal with the no-wifi-on-swapped-plane issue should definitely make sure to call the number in the email.

Is this what the mythical GS agents are like?

aacharya

I would imagine most don't try. But that discussion will bring in the famous "EWR isn't NY, even though it's closer than JFK etc" bantering.

SFO 1K

Oh wow - THIS is very interesting. I had two interactions with agents where I was pretty certain the agents were work-from-home and I thought - United? Naww... I'm imagining it. Now when I suspect it - I'm going to ask if they're from the TPA crew. Since call centers are my business, I can hear these sorts of nuances even in call setup and delivery that most people would never know.

Phil Level

My first reaction is that perhaps that agent belongs over in this thread

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...stiges-co.html

I realize I am not a typical UA customer, since I have only been in 3 airports in the past year or two, LAX, JFK, and SFO... where the PS branding appears on signage all over the place. Based on my personal experience, it does seem peculiar that this far into the merger, on heavy traffic routes, a UA CSR wouldn't know about "PS". Wow

DELee

I think it is an unfortunate consequence of sCO attitude ("don't know, don't care") and a clear lack of communication across the "integrated" UA entity.

It also says way too much of what the current management thinks of "Premium Service" - perhaps its too close to "Premier Service" so they already discount its value - or that it has any value given what they've done to it since the takeover.

David

Sulley

It's not only TPA - remote agents are based out of multiple locations in the US.

...and yes, it was posted in jest

uwr

+1

OP didn't get "so upset" but was just expressing amazement that the airline's agents wouldn't know about one of its premium products.

Good one.

GoAmtrak

Yep; I had a wonderful agent home-based out of Mississippi fairly recently.

As for the OP, there are obvious training/engagement issues within the ranks. But p.s. has clearly withered on the vine as a key sub-brand within UA as the product has languished. There's no more special notation on the booking engine or within itins for p.s. flights (and unitedps.com went dark after the migration). My recent flight had zero p.s. branding printed, displayed, or announced anywhere. No more special menus. No more special napkins. No more special safety video. No references by the purser.

UA-NYC

Lucky you - you get the best of UA, on the best domestic aircraft

meehgz

Same happened to me in SYD a few weeks ago...was flying out to JFK for only a night and since I couldn't secure an upgrade SYD-SFO, I wanted to make sure I kept my upgrade on the PS flight from SFO to JFK (had secured 9A!). The flight to SFO was delayed to the point where I'd miss all connecting flights that day out to NYC thus rendering my entire trip useless, so I was luckily able to catch the LAX flight. However, in trying to keep with my original motivation for upgrading the transcon flight, I asked them to make sure I was rebooked in business on a PS flight, and it took a solid 15 minute battle with the check in agent, her supervisor, and then another agent where absolutely none of them had ANY idea what I was saying when I said PS or any description of the service, with the supervisor insinuating that I was out of my mind for thinking some sort of service like what I was describing existed. I ended up just having to look up my flight options myself and explicitly told them how I was to be rebooked.

Separately, last week when I called in after getting an EF alert for open R inventory, I asked to apply a GPU to my SYD-LAX flight the next day, and the agent goes "umm, you need a GLOBAL upgrade for that" - ma'am, the G stands for global, and besides that, you're obviously looking at my account where I clearly have a handful available...seriously?

WineCountryUA

After reading this thread for the past few days - why this fixation of using the term PS? If the term you are using does not work, find a different way to phrase your request. All flights SFO/LAX-JFK are considered PS (regardless of the actual equipment used in the transition). Wouldn't it had been easier to just to ask to book the non-stop to JFK?