Is there something funny going on with SHARES recently?

Just now, I tried to change my seats for an upcoming flight, and the UA website asked if I wanted to pay for E+ seats or keep my E- seat. Which was funny because I already had E+ seats, and the last time I checked, United provides E+ seating as a benefit to Elites. However, this just seems to be a nuisance because regardless of which E+ seat I select, the system doesn't try to charge me.

The story is different when I try to adjust my SO's seats - separate itinerary, and 1P (Gold) status, and this time around, trying to change from E+ middle seat to E+ aisle seat, the web site wants to charge $36. I checked the receipt, and it clearly shows the Premier Gold /*G status, so now I'm not sure why the web site is asking for the $36. I'll call in and get this fixed, but just wondering if this has happened to anyone else recently?

 

I had this exact same issue twice last week. Logged out, went back to select seat, and everything was fine. Bucket it into the UA IT issues.

On another note, when I got to the airport, was #1 on upgrade list, but the agent was having an issue processing the upgrade as it kept on wanting to charge for it. In the end, she offloaded me on the flight, add me back on, came up on upgrade list again, and was cleared. She mentioned that things have been messy with SHARES the past two weeks with elites on upgrades and E+ seats for some reason, and they have been completely random cases.

 

It doesn't try to sell them - it simply asks if you want an E+ seat. Once you click on the banner, it will go away.

I've never seen the pricing, ever. So I can't explain the Premier Gold's situation.

 

The issue has been resolved.

I called this one in and the agent trace the problem back to the fact that my SO never updated the numeric 012xxxxxxxx mileage plus number through the company's travel agent. So whenever a flight was booked, the old MP number was used. United's web site seemed to be able to handle this use of the old and new MP number interchangeably until now. Anyways something on the website seemed to break with the use of the old number - the correct Elite status is shown, but the E+ seat selection benefit was not conferred.

So the agent pulled the old MP number off of the reservation and put in the new one, and that solved the problem - I can now change E+ seating on the reservation at will without having to pay additional.

 

I have two segments tomorrow. My first segment allowed me to upgrade at check-in with no problem. My second segment kept showing me prices when I would select a E+ seat.

Thought it was weird, so figured I would try again later. Just got this message at the top of the page for my second segment:

Looks like the seat change page has a glitch where it wants to charge for E+ and they have now added a message while they work on a fix.

 

Hi All,

Recently the UA website has tried to charge me for booking E+ seats during check-out. I now have to call in after my res clears, and request the seats.

The last agent I talked to said "a few folks are having this issue, your mileage+ number was not associated with your res"

I asked what i could do, and she offered to connect me to the web team, and suggested I call in to book tix in the future.

Anyone else run into this? Its obviously incredibly annoying, and the feedback that there is no solution was no re-assuring.

E

 

Log out and in. Or pick seats after ticketing.

 

Your profile doesn't list what your Elite status level is. Only UA Gold and above (or probably *A Gold) can book fee-free E+ seats at booking. Silver members (and no-status members) will get charged attempting to book an E+ seat until 24 hours before a flight.

Assuming that you're already Gold+...I have no advice for you, as this has never happened to me.

Best of luck,
mvitale

 

Seconding the logging out/logging back in strategy. Sometimes even this is not enough--you'll need to manually remove any cookies that United stored on your computer. You can usually do this through your browser's privacy settings panel.

 

Only UA gold and above (not *gold)

 

Thanks. Learn something new every day...

 

Yup. *G lost the ability to get E+ free about 10 years ago now. In those days, they didn't sell access either, you had to be Elite from either UA or a * partner, or got it free on a full Y fare. How times have changed.

 

Booked a SFO-DEN flight on UA through UA.com. Seat assignment during purchase was normal: as Gold, I selected an E+ seat no problem. Now (apx. T-30 hours), both in the iPhone app and online, I am being treated like a non-Premier (the injustice!). I get the "if your new seat is more expensive, you pay ... if less expensive you get nothing back" message, hovering over E+ seats displays a price, and trying to select a different E+ seat both in browser or in app takes me to a purchase/checkout page.

I am signed in and have confirmed (more times than I should admit) that my UA Gold status is showing in my profile. This does not appear to be happening for any of my other UA reservations.

Am I missing something? Just a glitch with this reservation not "taking" my Gold status? Is this common?

 

I would just call reservations and have an agent reseat you.

 

This happened to me recently when trying to book a quick trip to SAN on bomb. What fixed the glitch for me was logging out and logging back in to clear things up.