milesmilesmiles

Oh no

mvitale

Unfortunately, that's not really the case. My password is secure (30+ characters, multiple numbers, letters of both case, and special characters) and I'm still getting prompted to change my password every time I login. I'm currently delaying that for the second round of live-beta-testing to happen.

helvetic

My point was precisely that that doesn't have to be the case.

When you log in, you send UA your current password. UA can at this time test it and determine whether it needs to be updated, without ever storing a cleartext or decryptable version of it.

This functionality does not require there to be a way for UA to look at stored passwords at all.

AKCuisine

So not everyone gets a security question about their favorite breed of dog with a list of answers that includes - I'm not making this up - "Kuvasz," "Vizsla," and "Xoloitzcuintli" among others?

Seriously, were the people who came up with the questions and answers high on crack?

goodeats21

I haven't been through the process yet (thank you to all the early adapters for testing it out ), but I believe that there is no point at which you are required to submit your existing password to United for them to make that determination.

As I understand the flow, you can log in with PIN and establish your security questions/answers. At that point, United will either ask you to establish a new password (if you don't have one or if it determines your existing password is "weak")...or will simply bypass the password part if your existing password is "strong" (already meets new criteria).

I am sure that if I am misunderstanding this, someone will be along shortly to correct me. As I mentioned, this is not at all my area of expertise. I just found it interesting as a curiosity since United Insider provided the detail that they evaluate existing passwords somehow.

It is comfortingly consistent for United to roll out this whole thing with all the glitches and warts, but at least we are getting rid of the PIN for on-line access to our accounts. Baby Steps...with some trips and falls...but progress.

EmailKid

I was unable to log in AT ALL via new .bomb, but in the end I was able to navigate to one of PMCO pages and log in with my Pin.

Established 5 stupid questions and answers, but at no time was I asked to update my (what most websites report as ) WEAKpassword

mahasamatman

Not if it's done correctly. If it's done correctly, they never get your current password. They only get an encrypted version.

Ericka

For what it's worth....I just got through the process for both myself and my son without issue on the website (ipad). The system asked me for passwords after the security questions. I was able to log out and log back in again with the new passwords.

FlytheTail

Likely related to this "enhanced" security - can log into my account but log in doesn't stick when trying to search for fares. Can't select the option to search for SWU-able fares nor will it show fare class inventory.

TravelTexan

The website forced me to update so I did (and I had not been using a PIN, but a password). So, now I can log on, but every time I try to check my reservation or do a search for a trip it "forgets" that I am logged on and I have to do it again. So, my new username and password work, sort of. Does not matter what browser I use, the same situation happens (Win 8).

MojaveFlyer

It is simply astounding to me that a company that so much wants us to use online systems (so they can employ fewer humans of course) to the extent that we are charged $$ to reserve by phone, can botch up their online system so much. I'm going to hold off doing this as long as possible. My time is too valuable.

greg99

Apparently.

I seriously don't know the answers to some of the questions (including what month my wife and I met - I know when we first started dating, but not when we met), and the answer lists to some of the questions don't include the correct answer (e.g., the make of my first car).

I understand the rationale for not wanting people to type the answer, but there weren't actually 5 questions to which I can reliably remember the answers, so I'm going to have to write them down and leave copies in places where I can find them.

Which sort of defeats the purpose, huh?

Greg

narvik

Exactly! The answers to the posed questions were simply impossible for me to determine, especially with the limited answer selection. I simply chose the first option to each question. My favourite fruit was APPLES growing up and my LEAST favourite fruit was also APPLES.

Oy vey!

IMH

You're not alone. Also, many people just won't have answers to some questions (I never wanted to be anything when I grew up, for instance).

For now, I've changed passwords without adding 'security' questions. Let's see what happens next.

dorisrpas

I updated my account login info last week without incident (so far). Today I called in to ask for ORC and the agent asked me for my "PIN or password."

I was surprised she added the "or password" since I thought with all the new security changes the PIN was gonna be exactly for when call in so password would stay confidential.