Jul 8, 2015, 8:53 am
Last edit by: PV_Premier
UA.com waiver information:
Airports:
All cities
Original travel dates:
July 8, 2015
Flight changes:
The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new flights departing between July 8, 2015 and July 10, 2015, as long as travel is rescheduled in the same cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.
For wholly rescheduled travel departing after July 10, 2015, or for a change in departure or destination city, the change fee will be waived, but a difference in fare may apply. Rescheduled travel must be completed within one year from the date when the ticket was issued.
All cities
Original travel dates:
July 8, 2015
Flight changes:
The change fee and any difference in fare will be waived for new flights departing between July 8, 2015 and July 10, 2015, as long as travel is rescheduled in the same cabin (any fare class) and between the same cities as originally ticketed.
For wholly rescheduled travel departing after July 10, 2015, or for a change in departure or destination city, the change fee will be waived, but a difference in fare may apply. Rescheduled travel must be completed within one year from the date when the ticket was issued.
Waiver Posted for SHARES Outage on July 8, 2015 - UA Has Resumed Operations
Jul 8, 2015, 3:35 pm
#211
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: London
Programs: UA GS
Posts: 2,438
Jul 8, 2015, 4:11 pm
#212
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA 1K & 2MM, Bonvoy Titanium & LTP, HH Gold, Accor Silver, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 2,350
Jul 8, 2015, 4:15 pm
#213
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA
Posts: 14,741
Someone above reported the screen jumping to someone else's reservation this morning while an agent was in the middle of their reservation. Perhaps something similar in your case - someone else trying to use one of theirs, correct number entered, and it hiccuped over to your account midstream.
Jul 8, 2015, 4:17 pm
#214
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Hyatt GLOB, Marriott Lifetime PLT, UA 1K 1MM.
Posts: 1,728
on UA1165 today, EWR-SAN departing at 7:25P. OLCI worked fine, printed my BP at the kiosk fine. other than a one hour delay from the inbound being late and the UC being crowded (both things which quite frankly seem normal on UA now) everything seems to be normal for me. no insane lines on the level 3 checkin counters, no long lines at the service counter at the C-3 UC. if anyone's out of EWR tonight, it doesn't seem all that bad on the surface.
Jul 8, 2015, 4:25 pm
#215
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: In between IAD and DCA
Programs: UA Plat 1.1MM , Marriott Gold Elite, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,262
Besides late departures due to delayed inbound aircraft, everything at LAS was going well. GA's were in good spirit and the flights were boarding very quickly.
Jul 8, 2015, 4:45 pm
#216
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: NYC: UA 1K, DL Platinum, AAirpass, Avis PC
Posts: 4,599
I think the core of people's perceptions from 2012 had little to do with the system itself shutting down. There were glitches the weekend of the transition, a big outage one day in August, and a smaller one in November (I was at headquarters with a number of Flyertalkers that day - and it was barely part of the conversation).
Instead the big issue was not training the agents properly in real world situations and not having a GUI ready for them to use to rebook quickly.
Which set up the ongoing frustrations when run of the mill operations issues cropped up. Agents simply didn't know how to handle them.
That's solely management's mistake and was more a people than core technology issue. It has since been rectified - took too long - but the agents are nimble now.
And paying attention to that earlier would have saved them far more than the cost to get it ready.
As for major system outages since 2012...
There was one in April 2014, the pilot dispatching issue in January 2014, and the brief shutdown a month ago.
Not terribly out of line with AA/US (2013 major outage, US Airways down earlier this spring) - who is also running on creaky rails - while Delta seems to only have front end website issues.
The way they're handling the website rollout - by erring on the side of great caution is indicative of their learning. And the recovery today is indicative that the agents have the tools they need now.
Instead the big issue was not training the agents properly in real world situations and not having a GUI ready for them to use to rebook quickly.
Which set up the ongoing frustrations when run of the mill operations issues cropped up. Agents simply didn't know how to handle them.
That's solely management's mistake and was more a people than core technology issue. It has since been rectified - took too long - but the agents are nimble now.
And paying attention to that earlier would have saved them far more than the cost to get it ready.
As for major system outages since 2012...
There was one in April 2014, the pilot dispatching issue in January 2014, and the brief shutdown a month ago.
Not terribly out of line with AA/US (2013 major outage, US Airways down earlier this spring) - who is also running on creaky rails - while Delta seems to only have front end website issues.
The way they're handling the website rollout - by erring on the side of great caution is indicative of their learning. And the recovery today is indicative that the agents have the tools they need now.
Thanks for posting those links, Cerealmaker, to keep things in perspective. I'm willing to give an airline an adequate amount of rope with these types of outages. They've happened to SABRE, Apollo, and SHARES (admittedly less so with CAL's operation only). The issue I have here is that we have seen a pattern of continual IT dysfunction ever since they did the systems integration in 2012.
The problem was, as we all know by now, that senior management was engaged in a rushed time-table for the systems changeover (their bonuses were tied to these deadlines), a schedule that did not give IT an adequate amount of time to plan for the added load of the entire worldwide pmUA operation on SHARES and it's associated back-end infrastructure. As such, the switchover was painful, it cost hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue, and a huge hit to the company's reputation.
There's little doubt anymore that the entire switchover was mismanaged, and I'm not blaming IT here - they were given unrealistic timelines, wholly inadequate resources, and the mandate to "switch it all over at once". In hindsight, this was not the most prudent strategy to go about a systems integration with the country's second largest global network. I have a friend who's a professor at Cal who is using this as a case-study in his class; I suspect he's not alone.
My point is, you'd expect that the company would have gotten their act together by now, but instead the opposite is true. It's one high-profile hit after another - whether it's these outrages or selling international F class tickets for nothing, UAL seems to be constantly in the national media for inadequacies related to their IT systems. This is not just a FlyerTalk myth perpetuated by "pmUA people" - the company has still not given IT the latitude and resources it needs to run an effective operation. This is not to mention the multitude of "minor" bugs that plague the system on a daily basis.
So no, my first reaction is not to try and write this one off as "happening to all airlines" and thus not being that big of a deal. Quite the contrary - it's just another reminder (the second global outage in nearly 30 days) of how much more work this company needs to do to get it's "stuff" together.
The problem was, as we all know by now, that senior management was engaged in a rushed time-table for the systems changeover (their bonuses were tied to these deadlines), a schedule that did not give IT an adequate amount of time to plan for the added load of the entire worldwide pmUA operation on SHARES and it's associated back-end infrastructure. As such, the switchover was painful, it cost hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue, and a huge hit to the company's reputation.
There's little doubt anymore that the entire switchover was mismanaged, and I'm not blaming IT here - they were given unrealistic timelines, wholly inadequate resources, and the mandate to "switch it all over at once". In hindsight, this was not the most prudent strategy to go about a systems integration with the country's second largest global network. I have a friend who's a professor at Cal who is using this as a case-study in his class; I suspect he's not alone.
My point is, you'd expect that the company would have gotten their act together by now, but instead the opposite is true. It's one high-profile hit after another - whether it's these outrages or selling international F class tickets for nothing, UAL seems to be constantly in the national media for inadequacies related to their IT systems. This is not just a FlyerTalk myth perpetuated by "pmUA people" - the company has still not given IT the latitude and resources it needs to run an effective operation. This is not to mention the multitude of "minor" bugs that plague the system on a daily basis.
So no, my first reaction is not to try and write this one off as "happening to all airlines" and thus not being that big of a deal. Quite the contrary - it's just another reminder (the second global outage in nearly 30 days) of how much more work this company needs to do to get it's "stuff" together.
Jul 8, 2015, 4:48 pm
#217
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,085
it's not as much the issue itself (which is just another ridiculous piece in UAs race to the bottom) but how poorly UA handled the situation.
Flight were messed up and delayed all day and yet they can't even get the flights going where they have an AC and crew. My boss was flying BOS-EWR today and as soon as they took off the pilot announced they had to divert to ALB since EWR traffic is too heavy and they can't get a slot. SO WHY DID THEY TAKE OFF FROM BOS? The flight ultimately arrived 4 (!) hours late as they were sitting in ALB for hours. I am sure UA will claim 'weather' as they always do
Can't make these things up. UA should just compensate everyone who had to misfortune of flying with them today.
Flight were messed up and delayed all day and yet they can't even get the flights going where they have an AC and crew. My boss was flying BOS-EWR today and as soon as they took off the pilot announced they had to divert to ALB since EWR traffic is too heavy and they can't get a slot. SO WHY DID THEY TAKE OFF FROM BOS? The flight ultimately arrived 4 (!) hours late as they were sitting in ALB for hours. I am sure UA will claim 'weather' as they always do
Can't make these things up. UA should just compensate everyone who had to misfortune of flying with them today.
Jul 8, 2015, 5:48 pm
#218
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Houston
Programs: UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 12,693
Flight were messed up and delayed all day and yet they can't even get the flights going where they have an AC and crew. My boss was flying BOS-EWR today and as soon as they took off the pilot announced they had to divert to ALB since EWR traffic is too heavy and they can't get a slot. SO WHY DID THEY TAKE OFF FROM BOS? The flight ultimately arrived 4 (!) hours late as they were sitting in ALB for hours. I am sure UA will claim 'weather' as they always do
Delayed due to severe weather conditions in our route network (Arrived Gate 3 Hours 38 Minutes Late - Diverted to Albany, NY, US (ALB))
Jul 8, 2015, 6:06 pm
#219
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,085
Flyer friendly indeed.
Jul 8, 2015, 6:11 pm
#220
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: KEWR
Programs: Marriott Platinum
Posts: 794
it's not as much the issue itself (which is just another ridiculous piece in UAs race to the bottom) but how poorly UA handled the situation.
Flight were messed up and delayed all day and yet they can't even get the flights going where they have an AC and crew. My boss was flying BOS-EWR today and as soon as they took off the pilot announced they had to divert to ALB since EWR traffic is too heavy and they can't get a slot. SO WHY DID THEY TAKE OFF FROM BOS? The flight ultimately arrived 4 (!) hours late as they were sitting in ALB for hours. I am sure UA will claim 'weather' as they always do
Can't make these things up. UA should just compensate everyone who had to misfortune of flying with them today.
Flight were messed up and delayed all day and yet they can't even get the flights going where they have an AC and crew. My boss was flying BOS-EWR today and as soon as they took off the pilot announced they had to divert to ALB since EWR traffic is too heavy and they can't get a slot. SO WHY DID THEY TAKE OFF FROM BOS? The flight ultimately arrived 4 (!) hours late as they were sitting in ALB for hours. I am sure UA will claim 'weather' as they always do
Can't make these things up. UA should just compensate everyone who had to misfortune of flying with them today.
They took off from Boston because there was a slot available and the flight was released by ATC. Enroute, something changed; weather, emergency aircraft, change of runway configuration, controller saturation, etc. it could have been a bunch of different things which caused a unforeseen delay thus causing a divert.
Problem with the Boston/Newark flights is you are restricted to 16,000 feet so you burn a lot of gas down that low and descend real early into EWR per ATC. I know the easy solution is to just "add more gas." Trouble with that is that with such a short flight there is not enough time to burn it off without exceeding maximum landing weight limitations should you be lucky enough to get right in without delays.
So there is a logic and balance from a flight planning/loading perspective. Hope that helps explain that situation a bit better.
Jul 8, 2015, 6:29 pm
#221
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,085
this is what happened today? And then you must hold that flight for hours in ALB because there is no slot in EWR? Give me a break please, there is poor planning and there is United.
Jul 8, 2015, 6:44 pm
#222
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: KEWR
Programs: Marriott Platinum
Posts: 794
Jul 8, 2015, 7:09 pm
#223
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,085
it's just surprising that is appears to always be the default answer from UA ... then when you look at other airlines flying the same route they then don't appear to have such issues .... must be localized issues over Terminal C in EWR
now > 1000 UA mainline flights severely delayed today; if you add UAX I bet it's getting close to 2k.
now > 1000 UA mainline flights severely delayed today; if you add UAX I bet it's getting close to 2k.
Jul 8, 2015, 7:23 pm
#224
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,035
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/U...028Z/KSAT/KIAH
Jul 8, 2015, 7:25 pm
#225
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Ann Arbor Area
Programs: UA Million Miler, BonVoyLifetime Platinum, UA Platinum, President's Club,
Posts: 1,494
It was a nasty shock for those on my flight from CUN-IAH this morning. I was in 1A and overheard the FAs talking a bit and was pretty sure we'd be de-planed. The pilot kept us informed but had NO idea what was going on. He said that he was waiting for more info and said something about Chicago and a Ground Stop and that whatever it was, it was affecting all or most of UA. Luckily he stuck it out and right after getting a call that we were to be de-planed, he said things were working and he was expecting another call soon.
We sat at that gate for over an hour with the door open (it had been closed and the movies even started but once it was open again, no movies for us until we took off.) The heat and humidity was crazy! I don't know if they realized how bad it was for those of us up near the door. The real cool air didn't start until we finally got the all clear to leave- till then it was just fan. But we did get going and so many people were relieved.
I was lucky to get to immigration 1st and had planned a 3 hour layover so even though I had to go through customs and security again, I caught the tram from E to B. I didn't have time for the shower I needed so badly after sitting in Cancun's crazy hot airport and United's hour plus of no cold air while waiting, but I was one of the lucky ones who made my flight.
There were so many people who did NOT make theirs and I felt for them. Hopefully it was early enough in the day for most people to reschedule. I almost wished we would've been taken off. I wouldn't have minded another day in Cancun, as long as I had AC.
I've been reading about it all over and my hubby watched it on TV at home. It was a strange day to be traveling UA, but I'm hoping it worked out for most. The only irritating part for me was the crazy heat while waiting to find out what was going on, and the fear. They really sounded like they had no idea what was up. That was scary.
We sat at that gate for over an hour with the door open (it had been closed and the movies even started but once it was open again, no movies for us until we took off.) The heat and humidity was crazy! I don't know if they realized how bad it was for those of us up near the door. The real cool air didn't start until we finally got the all clear to leave- till then it was just fan. But we did get going and so many people were relieved.
I was lucky to get to immigration 1st and had planned a 3 hour layover so even though I had to go through customs and security again, I caught the tram from E to B. I didn't have time for the shower I needed so badly after sitting in Cancun's crazy hot airport and United's hour plus of no cold air while waiting, but I was one of the lucky ones who made my flight.
There were so many people who did NOT make theirs and I felt for them. Hopefully it was early enough in the day for most people to reschedule. I almost wished we would've been taken off. I wouldn't have minded another day in Cancun, as long as I had AC.
I've been reading about it all over and my hubby watched it on TV at home. It was a strange day to be traveling UA, but I'm hoping it worked out for most. The only irritating part for me was the crazy heat while waiting to find out what was going on, and the fear. They really sounded like they had no idea what was up. That was scary.