chitownflyer

This is strange. I am using Explorer 11 with Windows 8.1. I"ll try a different browser and see if I get better results.

milepig

Just spotted another inconsistency. Checked in through the app for INTL flights tomorrow so needs to print the BPs.

The app shows a departure gate, but the printed BPs say "not assigned".

physioprof

Trust the app. It updates the BP every time you refresh to reflect the latest departure gate.

johnden

This is a noble concept, and sometimes it is the reality for business critical software. For consumer products, this is almost never the case. Microsoft tried this with Windows for many years, the bloat grows exponentially with each release.

For a consumer product it is all about tradeoffs. Most consumers like a simple and intuitive feel (which changes with every generation). Interest drops and frustration quickly increases with additional options. Very few users are experts in the product, we can't all be experts at everything all the time!

Then there is also a psychology layer to entice the kind of consumer behavior that aligns with the business model. Too many options prevents a company from steering its users in the desired direction.

Business travelers usually have their own portals/services/TAs. Consumers want the lowest price and simplest experience. Expert travelers using UA.com may not be a market UA wants to support. If we are headed toward a commoditized travel market where price + (ambiguous marketing effects) is king, extra features that don't monetize easily are dead weight.

Many other factors, all a tradeoff/compromise. Can't please everyone.

halls120

This. One of the key downsides to the new site is that you won't be able to individually select class of service for each leg of a multi leg trip. That function lets you put together a cheaper overall fare, which is of course not in UA's interest.

milepig

Understood. In my case the app had the gate when I printed the BPs from the app, but when printed they showed "not assigned" on the actual BP. So it looks like the app has information earlier than the BP printing engine.

milepig

This was working in the app very recently. Hope it doesn't go away. The downside for me was that when I tried to change things later the system just barfed it up. The app also consistently finds flight options/prices that I can't replicate on the web site.

cfischer

the new site is terrible. The award search is not good at all. I want to be able to change my search dynamically when looking for award space ... this is now super cumbersome.

sbm12

Can you give a specific example of segments/CoS choices where it is not working for you on the new site but does on the old? Because I keep getting the option to choose both Y and F on every flight, even if I don't want to, on the new site.

halls120

I flew IAD-SFO-SYD-AKL earlier this year. On the existing site, when I tried to book the first leg domestic first, the second leg BF, and the third leg Y, those were the selections I was offered. When I tried it on the beta site, all I'd get on the third leg was a business ticket. When I ran the booking in reverse, if I started with Y on the AKL-SYD leg, I could never get the new site to show me a BF fare on the SYD-SFO leg - just Y fares.

I just tried the same search on the existing site, and it's now doing the same thing. So I guess mixing fares on an itinerary is now consistent on both sites.

Ran the search on the new site, and if you choose F/BF to SYD, the only seat you get offered on SYD-AKL is Business. If on the return you choose economy on AKL-SYD, you can't choose BF on the SYD-SFO leg.

milepig

I wonder if this is on purpose to avoid having people save money. I recently saved a chunk of change by booking the short leg of my ORD-YYZ-LHR in E . For that length I didn't care and in the end the upgrade came through.

AA2MM

I was able to do it on the mobile app, but not on the website.
Another problem I run into is, I have cancelled an int'l trip and the agent booked my new travel under that same old PNR, and now, it won't show up on my Reservations, as booked and ticketed.
Everytime when I need to check on my upgrade, I have to search it with the PNR address and name.

sbm12

Dunno what specific entries you're using for multi-city, but I can make that search show me the cabins you specified without much trouble. I did IAD-SYD on day X and SYD-AKL on X+2. And it was far cheaper than even Y one way, to say nothing of saving thousands on the one way C fare.









I do see the lack of options on the return for AKL-SYD-???-IAD if the first segment is selected as economy.

I also cannot help but wonder if part of this specific case is related to the way AZ markets trans-Tasman flights.

JVPhoto

I don't like on the new display that it doesn't show a +1 etc for the arrival date/time. You have to click details and then look down below and check.

sbm12

Look at the image in the post above. It shows +2 for SFOSYD; it is light blue text above the times.