Introducing United Exclusive Assistance "United Signature Service" [Q&A-Experiences]
 

Hello, is there a service available on United that is similar to AA Five Star. Essentially a service that you can pay for an an individual trip basis that allows you to receive extra assistance at the airport. Thanks

http://www.aa.com/i18n/urls/fivestarservice.jsp

Not that I have seen, but the service offered by AA seems to be very cool and well worth UA offering to passengers, and should ideally be close to the service they aim to offer GS passengers post merger..

Not *yet* is the answer...

They are aware of the program and taking the steps to launch it -- it might involve some redeployment of the existing concierge teams. Squarely fits in the 'pay extra for value added services' mantra.

EWR seems like a great place to test this.

Would love this for my grandfather when he flies into town. He manages just fine, but this would be a great added srvice that I would happily pay for. I hope united considers something like this. Really cool.

Global Services handles all concierge services at UA.

Short answer, yes. VIPs will be handled by GS whether they are GS or not.

However, I or my aunt could use this AA VIP service rather easily. The GS agents are rather elusive to me unless I am GS or am VIP enough to have an agent who knows how to contact them on speed dial.

I love this program and agree that United should do similar. I'd pay to use it - or pay AA to use theirs.

Introducing United Exclusive Assistance - "United Signature Service"
 

Hi everyone,

We have partnered with Global Airport Concierge (GAC) to develop a concierge service called United Exclusive Assistance. This offering provides an additional resource to help customers navigate the airport environment, as well as help with departures, connections, and arrivals. Currently, the service is available at ORD and EWR and can complement any customer’s journey. Our long-term plan is to make this service available for purchase at other locations, so more customers can customize their airport experience.

During our soft launch, we received positive feedback regarding the program’s offerings. While many appreciated the assistance at check-in and security, others also found this service useful for terminal transfers, baggage assistance, and general peace of mind. For more information, please visit here.

Looking forward to reading your feedback.

Thank you,

-UA Insider

Unclear whether this is a mobility assistance program, or a VIP scheme.

I'm assuming this is the result of the survey questions that asked about things like having your carry-on baggage loaded for you.

I clicked through to the information page from which you can click through to see the many options for services - everything from checkin assistantance, to rental cars, hotels, lounge access, etc.

But, when you click through to "Book" and you're offered a form that wants to know nothing beyond your flight, the date, class of service and how many are in your group. From there the next step is to "request quote". But, you haven't told them what services you want a quote for!

It would be useful to have some idea of the range of prices before you get to the quote stage.

http://united.globalairportconcierge...x.php/services

Departure service

Your United Exclusive Assistance concierge will:

Meet you curbside or at a designated point of arrival
Monitor your flight
Assist with priority check-in
Expedite security screening through the Premier Access® lane (where available).
Arrange United Club access (an additional charge may apply)
Guide you to your departure gate
Coordinate special requests
Help you rebook or reschedule travel if your flight is delayed or canceled
Provide language assistance (if requested at the time of booking)

a) This makes so much more sense than the AA Five Star program. Will totally use for my in-laws traveling through ORD from small town Wisconsin.

b) looks like a BD deal with http://www.globalairportconcierge.com which also serves SFO, SAN, IAH, LAX, SEA, and BOS. Wonder why the offer is only for ORD + EWR? Also, will it be cheaper to book directly or via UA?

I can see infrequent travelers or folks that need mobility help using this.

If the added fee income helps keep UA ticket costs lower.... ^

This seems like a great idea. They do need to clarify if baggage assistance is included.

Good on United.

I wonder if you will be able to select people who speak specific languages. It would be very useful for the M-I-L

Great as a first step to eventually imposing fees to use a live agent at the airport. Get people comfortable with the idea first, then implement the fee once it seems more "reasonable" to pay-for-service.