Finally! United.com "Chat with us" option plus NEW SMS option
 

Needed to call UA, and was looking for the number when I spotted this.
As someone who hates to be on the phone, this was amazing! Super fast and easy.

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/contact.html
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ba9a61d1fa.png



Still needs some work as the page did time out on me, but the chat window remained open and active.
Hope this eventually gets pushed to the app for in-flight support!

Looks like a virtrual chat, not a live person -- is there a way to get a real human?

or is Alex back?
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cont...al-expert.html

That's what I thought at first or that they would just tell me to call, but It is a live person and I was able to get my issue resolved completely over chat.
I was connected to Mailyn D., but scrolled up to the top for the screenshot. Those are just the options like the phone system.

In general, I've had good experiences using the chat option on United's facebook page.

Sometimes there are chat agents logged on, sometimes there aren't. The website won't let you get into queue if there aren't agents to take your 'call'.

I was thinking: "Wait, didn't we have 'Ask Alex' way back at the merger?" :D

I have had reasonable luck with Twitter DMs and response time, but if this offers more real-time responses when available, it could be an improvement. I still prefer calling the 1K desk, but that's not always an option.

Around 15 years ago chat was "the thing" in the call service industry, but everybody soon found out is was really expensive and many dropped it. Problem is there is a long turn around around between replies. Even with agents handling a few concurrent chats it still slow compared to voice.

Email and twitter and much better from a cost perspective

"I think you're trying to get a ticket reissued. Would you like help with that?"

But back on topic: yes, it would be great if the domain that this runs off of (if not united.com; I haven't checked) is whitelisted for free access on UA inflight wifi. It would be great to have a text-based way to solve problems while in the air (without paying for wifi service).

I second that !!!! that would be really convenient ...

Yup, still buggy. The page actually timed out on me while I was on the chat, but I could still send and receive messages.
I find that I'm often just waiting on the line while the agent is working on the issue, so chat seems like an ideal solution.

Would be great if they can add this as a feature on the app like amazon does so you can just get a push notification when the agent replies.

The issue with Chat function for customer service is how many simultaneous chats the agent is expected to work. If they are handling one or two at a time, it can work OK. But bean-counters want them to handle more, and then it gets frustrating and not effective. And they also tend to want off-shore / ESL agents to handle them, as there is no voice accent issue, which is OK if the agent has the necessary language skills. But Chat tends to bring out acronyms and internet slang, which can be a struggle.

It could be a great niche for in-flight assistance though.

If United is rolling this out, it is due to some perceived cost savings for them and not as a customer service enhancement.

As someone that used to work in a travel call center, the above information is critical. Chat agents must handle multiple chats in order to make it cost effective. For simple requests, it can work.

If you want the undivided attention of an agent, always call.

Not if they are chatbots ... most of the basic questions can be easily answered via "digital assistants".