What Kind of Funny Business is SHARES up to Now?
Jul 3, 2013, 9:40 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Chicago, Kailua-Kona, Cairns
Programs: UA 1K >2MM, IC Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 740
What Kind of Funny Business is SHARES up to Now?
The last three days, when I login to my UA account, I am taken to this reservation page.
Anyone have any idea what this might be? I can assure you while I have several reservations in my account, I'm not going to Alaska anytime soon.
Anyone have any idea what this might be? I can assure you while I have several reservations in my account, I'm not going to Alaska anytime soon.
Jul 3, 2013, 10:06 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
Posts: 21,603
Jul 3, 2013, 10:54 pm
#5
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,845
Jul 3, 2013, 11:01 pm
#6
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: FL 290 through FL390
Posts: 1,687
FAB
Jul 3, 2013, 11:03 pm
#7
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: EUG BKK
Programs: Zero Status Nexus
Posts: 432
Its Smisek's new way of thanking the UA MMers. My LAX-BAH reservation booked for Feb, has this after the last segment to LAX. No idea what is up, perhaps a preflight NYE party??
Tue., Dec. 31, 2013 | to
Depart:
11:00 a.m.
Tue., Dec. 31, 2013
Arrive:
2:00 p.m.
Tue., Dec. 31, 2013
Travel Time:
3 hr 0 mn
Distance:
Flight:UA9998
Operated by Brussels Airlines.
Fare Class: Economy (Y)
Meal: None
No Special Meal Offered.
Tue., Dec. 31, 2013 | to
Depart:
11:00 a.m.
Tue., Dec. 31, 2013
Arrive:
2:00 p.m.
Tue., Dec. 31, 2013
Travel Time:
3 hr 0 mn
Distance:
Flight:UA9998
Operated by Brussels Airlines.
Fare Class: Economy (Y)
Meal: None
No Special Meal Offered.
Jul 3, 2013, 11:36 pm
#9
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Chicago USA
Programs: *A Junkie, SQ PPS, Skywards Gold, 2 Million Mile Flyer;*wood LT Plat, BA MM
Posts: 1,762
Is there a PNR to this reservation? If so, is it one that was used on a flight you just took? Did you complain, have issues, were unruly? (I'm making you paranoid 
). You mentioned it showed up three days ago - by chance did you finish the last "coupon" of a ticket?
PNRs go away 5-7 days after an itinerary is completed. In some cases, where the airline wants to extend your PNR for any given reason (you were a no-show, special cases, you're being "tracked", etc.) the airline places a retention element into your reservation. In other words, someone physically added this to your reservation. It could be a glitch but it would be a huge glitch.
This "retention element" is the placement of an entire segment with a fake flight number, almost always with the code "ZZ" for the airline ("ZZ" doesn't exist), and then a generic flight number 1000, 1100, 1234, etc. with a strange routing that typically doesn't exist. What's odd is that it's not easy to do and it takes time to put in the flight number, the city pairs (to make sure it doesn't exist), and a/c type. Our fellow FTer got it right: "FAK-FLT" or "Fake-Flight". This was definitely meant to hold one of your PNRs.
Also odd is that you, the passenger, should not be seeing this, so whoever did this removed the "veil" and it's showing where you can see it on-line.
Big Brother is tagging you...
). You mentioned it showed up three days ago - by chance did you finish the last "coupon" of a ticket?PNRs go away 5-7 days after an itinerary is completed. In some cases, where the airline wants to extend your PNR for any given reason (you were a no-show, special cases, you're being "tracked", etc.) the airline places a retention element into your reservation. In other words, someone physically added this to your reservation. It could be a glitch but it would be a huge glitch.
This "retention element" is the placement of an entire segment with a fake flight number, almost always with the code "ZZ" for the airline ("ZZ" doesn't exist), and then a generic flight number 1000, 1100, 1234, etc. with a strange routing that typically doesn't exist. What's odd is that it's not easy to do and it takes time to put in the flight number, the city pairs (to make sure it doesn't exist), and a/c type. Our fellow FTer got it right: "FAK-FLT" or "Fake-Flight". This was definitely meant to hold one of your PNRs.
Also odd is that you, the passenger, should not be seeing this, so whoever did this removed the "veil" and it's showing where you can see it on-line.
Big Brother is tagging you...
Last edited by UrbaneGent; Jul 3, 2013 at 11:46 pm
Jul 3, 2013, 11:51 pm
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Northeast Kansas | Colorado Native
Programs: Amex Gold/Plat, UA *G, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Gold, NEXUS, TSA Disparager Unobtanium
Posts: 21,603
Jul 4, 2013, 1:04 am
#12
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: NCL
Programs: UA 1MM/*G. DL Gold for one more year.
Posts: 5,305
I think most frequent flyers would be OK with that as long as they got the miles - at the end of the day, it's got a lot in common with a mileage run... the problem would be with it being a charter.
Jul 4, 2013, 1:09 am
#13
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Tucson, AZ USA
Programs: DL-Platinum / AS-PlatPro / Hyatt - Glob / Hilton-Diamond
Posts: 1,573
UrbaneGent is probably spot on.
My own professional experience is as an AAgent on Sabre 20 years ago. A bit outdated, but so are the CRS systems for all airlines
In my days, a PNR would go to micro-fiche 3 days after the date of the last segment. I would hope that in today's world we're still not talking about micro-fiche, but the concept is the same. Bottom line, the PNR isn't available for on-line access 3 days after completion.
AA maintained, in the production environment, several "fake" flights.
The flight numbers were typically in the 55xx range. The cities they "stopped at" were typically HDQ (headquaters), GSW (Greater Southwest International ... a Ft Worth airport whose location today is located very close to DFW ... to the point that Amon Carter Blvd is the old runway ... and is now used as the location of the AA Flight Training Academy), SRO (Southern Res Office, located across the street from GSW) and a few other "cities". Some of these fake flights also "operated" to/from DFW or LAX.
The original intent of these fake flights between fake cities was for training.
Over the years, they developed other purposes.
Long before "internet" and "email" were household words, these fake flights were used for email type communications between AAgents.
IE: DFW Gate Agents would use (hypothetically .. I don't remember the specifics) flight number 5594 on Jan01 from HDQ to LAX
I could display my "email" with the entry: *5594/01JANHDQ-STEVE64
The above entry was if I didn't know my PNR/confirmation number. If you did know the PNR#, the entry was simply *ABC123 (where ABC123 was the PNR #)
Off topic, but in my AAgent days (before the internet and e-tickets) when passengers asked for a "confirmation number" we would tell them it's "any flight number, past or present, followed by the date of that flight and your last name". That remains true today, but now that the airlines have trained the passengers to think in terms of a "confirmation number", agents now give out the PNR#.
Another use of fake flights is just as UrbaneGent said.
If I'm researching a complaint you had on a flight today, I might add a segment to your PNR for flight 55xx on Dec31 from DFW to GSW. Your PNR now remains active in the mainframe (Sabre/Shares/whatever) computer for immediate access until Dec31+3 days.
My own professional experience is as an AAgent on Sabre 20 years ago. A bit outdated, but so are the CRS systems for all airlines
In my days, a PNR would go to micro-fiche 3 days after the date of the last segment. I would hope that in today's world we're still not talking about micro-fiche, but the concept is the same. Bottom line, the PNR isn't available for on-line access 3 days after completion.
AA maintained, in the production environment, several "fake" flights.
The flight numbers were typically in the 55xx range. The cities they "stopped at" were typically HDQ (headquaters), GSW (Greater Southwest International ... a Ft Worth airport whose location today is located very close to DFW ... to the point that Amon Carter Blvd is the old runway ... and is now used as the location of the AA Flight Training Academy), SRO (Southern Res Office, located across the street from GSW) and a few other "cities". Some of these fake flights also "operated" to/from DFW or LAX.
The original intent of these fake flights between fake cities was for training.
Over the years, they developed other purposes.
Long before "internet" and "email" were household words, these fake flights were used for email type communications between AAgents.
IE: DFW Gate Agents would use (hypothetically .. I don't remember the specifics) flight number 5594 on Jan01 from HDQ to LAX
I could display my "email" with the entry: *5594/01JANHDQ-STEVE64
The above entry was if I didn't know my PNR/confirmation number. If you did know the PNR#, the entry was simply *ABC123 (where ABC123 was the PNR #)
Off topic, but in my AAgent days (before the internet and e-tickets) when passengers asked for a "confirmation number" we would tell them it's "any flight number, past or present, followed by the date of that flight and your last name". That remains true today, but now that the airlines have trained the passengers to think in terms of a "confirmation number", agents now give out the PNR#.
Another use of fake flights is just as UrbaneGent said.
If I'm researching a complaint you had on a flight today, I might add a segment to your PNR for flight 55xx on Dec31 from DFW to GSW. Your PNR now remains active in the mainframe (Sabre/Shares/whatever) computer for immediate access until Dec31+3 days.
Jul 4, 2013, 1:26 am
#14
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: NCL
Programs: UA 1MM/*G. DL Gold for one more year.
Posts: 5,305
I dunno, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if microfiche were an integrated part of the SHARES platform.
Jul 4, 2013, 3:11 am
#15
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: China
Posts: 1,552
There's a story of a airline system migration where a PNR broke the test migration.
On investigation, it was 10,000 lines long, and was being used (via the comments) by two agents in two different offices as messaging for their relationship...
On investigation, it was 10,000 lines long, and was being used (via the comments) by two agents in two different offices as messaging for their relationship...