MK19791980

I noticed the electronic signage was updated yesterday indicating Elite was was now on the upper level

jendrud70

Previous lobby layout was domestic and intl Economy check in on both level 3 and 2. Premier on level 2 as well. Too chaotic.

Now it's all economy on level 2 for both domestic and international.

Level 3 is Premier and at a separate counter is Business First.

mgcsinc

Is there a meaningfully separate Plat/1K line in the new setup?

seanp7

Yes that's definitely in place. Of course, the only time my car service hasn't taken me to Level 3 was today ()

Mats

Hi.
The line for security at Newark Terminal C took 65 minutes at 8:00 pm on 27 May.

The sign at the entrance said, "Security wait time: less than ten minutes."

The C1 checkpoint was closed and C3 was limited to passengers travelling from gates in the C3 concourse.

There was no Premier Access line, and Newark closes all of PreCheck at 8:00 pm.

I emailed 1KVoice to express my concern, making it clear that I know that United does not control the TSA. They do, however, control Premier Access (it's their product and they sell it,) and they also work with the TSA and PANYNJ regarding checkpoints.

"Valerie" at 1KVoice responded with a canned email about PreCheck eligibility. That wasn't the point of my email.

If anyone else has experienced a similar situation (I had the same in November), I think it would be helpful to write to United. They may be working on a solution, but they're not communicating it to us.

Incidentally, Valerie's canned email talked about how PreCheck status is coded and not visible to the passenger. It hasn't been that way for years. The logo is now clearly visible to passengers on printed and mobile boarding cards.

I've always been so pleased by prompt and thoughtful responses from 1KVoice. This was a dismissive reply that showed that Valerie hadn't actually read my succinct email.

If you have a moment, please tell United about any similar delays you are experiencing. It's time for United to at least say, "We're trying" or even "we care."

channa

You also need to reply to the email and request better info. UA watches metrics, and if people just delete the email and move on, their attempt to blow off customers with canned answers is working. But if you reply (or escalate to the DOT), that makes their approach more costly, so they will do something about it.

sbm12

What about this is a DOT-worthy complaint?

Also, if the line at C3 was shorter I'd likely have insisted I was going to use it. They all dump out into the same area. Just say you're going to one of the restaurants or the club in that area.

channa

UA BSed him and gave him wrong information in his reply. The DOT complaint will ensure someone responds more thoughtfully. It will also penalize UA for writing such a shabby response in the first place.

PTahCha

So it's an empty threat to a worthless response?

Madone59

Mats Did you miss your flight? Other then having to stand in line, which is annoying, did this have any adverse effect on your day, or your travel with United Airlines?

I just flew out of Miami, lines were massive, wait was awful - I never for a millisecond thought about complaining to my ticketed carrier (AA). No surprise 1KVoice blew you off. DYKHLIW must be the new DYKWIA

Billiken

65 minutes?
Holy cow.....that's like the day before Thanksgiving.

mherdeg

Well, in the DOT's Air Travel Consumer Reports they show shockingly few complaints about the TSA — a total of 5 complaints about the TSA in Feb 2015 listed under category "COMPANIES OTHER THAN U.S. AIRLINES* BY COMPLAINT CATEGORY**".

That "5" is because the DOT is not the right place to write about the TSA. But, still!

Compare that "5" versus the 1,040 complaints about US airlines and 15,227 "opinions" about US airlines in Feb 2015. (Those "opinions" are all people mindlessly following the instructions of certain travel bloggers to escalate nonsense complaints to the DOT, which had the effect of killing consumer 399.88(a) protections.)

The "5" is so much lower! Think how lonely and unappreciated the bureaucrats must feel whose job is to forward and log mis-categorized TSA complaints. Only by starting off your TSA complaint at the DOT can you make these people's jobs worthwhile.

So now, whenever I have a complaint about TSA process, I make sure to file it as a DOT complaint, even though I know this is not the place where the government wants to receive information about this kind of issue. That way the DOT can log the incident in their list of complaints about the TSA; they will still forward the complaint to the correct people (not DOT), but their metrics will also indicate that they did it.

LarryJ

I saw that the C1 checkpoint was closed for construction but didn't know that the lines were that long at C2/C3. I might have tried going down to A and taking the bus from there to C70.

Anyone know what they're changing at the C1 checkpoint?

zrand007

The IAH Terminal E PreCheck lane is consistently closed on Sunday evenings despite a number of qualified travelers trying to use the lane (myself included). The standard security line is a mess when it comes to handling PreCheck; one agent will look at your BP and tell you to put your phone through the x-ray machine, while the metal detector agent will scold you for not showing them your BP.

To your point, I tweeted United and was bluntly informed that TSA controls the security, implying that the company has nothing to do with the quality of the airport experience. I find it hard to believe that United doesn't have influence over the way TSA operates and the security experience at IAH considering it's basically a fortress hub for them.

Mats

The second reply was a canned response about PreCheck eligibility. I actually had PreCheck; that wasn't the issue. I was rather irritated that the woman answering the email just used a canned response about a different issue.

United does have a voice mail box for customer experience issues, so I left a message on that. It's worth a try.

I reiterated that I understand that United does not control the screening process, but United does market Premier Access, and that is under their control. I also suggested that a warning about wait times should be on the United web site if this is a regular occurrence, and that signs at the airport should be updated (those--I think--are from the PANYNJ).

I pointed out that no United staff are present at the checkpoints (only AirServ), so one does not know if United is even aware of the delays.

In my case, I can't argue adverse action (beyond bafflement and annoyance.) I got to my gate just in time for them to post a delay.

For me, I had a dog with me, and had just come off a flight that lasted 14 hours due to delays. So I don't want to sound "entitled" to better treatment, but I was certainly surprised and annoyed.