kevflyer

Did a test booking (SFO-IAH) as well and see this:

That was on the US site. While the Canadian portal doesn't even show that text.

*Update* Found it. Although this version of checkout doesn't appear every time. When it does, click on 'find those payment options by clicking this link' leads to an older checkout page which shows the pay in person option.

mozilla

Given the lack of "Click to Pay" and "PayPal Credit" as payment options, I assume you were on a Canada POS when making these screenshots?

FWIW, I am unable to reproduce this activation of "Pay in Person," even when transferred over from the new checkout flow in their A/B testing. This is in a US POS. It does still appear in the checkout flow of non-US POS.

Let's see if it comes back after the extended weekend.

Note that a week ago, I was on the new flow checking out, and "Pay in Person" did appear when I transferred over to the old flow. The fact that it does not appear in the new flow does suggests "Pay in Person" may be discontinued as an accepted form of payment in the US.

kevflyer

At the time I was on the US POS.

mozilla

Can you reproduce this again?

Was this booking for a flight in 24-48 hours?

kevflyer

No. My test booking was for SFO-IAH on 7/30. Oddly enough it's not working on the US POS now BUT it is working on the Canadian POS...

Flying Machine

Interesting I�m gonna try and will report back shortly

porciuscato

I've thought about that occasionally and in fact, I worried that it might go away because there are some pretty obvious abuse possibilities, e.g. you could get a free, never-ending fare-lock by repeatedly rebooking a fare this way (I'm not sure it even did expire after 24 hours,so maybe you didn't even need to rebook). I'm also not sure you needed a MP number or credit card number to do it: if so a bad actor could have played some real games with the inventory.

I was first told about it by a GS rep, because she couldn't get a fare that I was getting online. It has been extremely useful in the last few months because I always seem to need help applying my many thousands worth of FFCs and ETCs and it's hard to get the agents to book the exact flights and fares that I want.

Flying Machine

I think it worked in United�s favor as well. People who would put it on hold one day, only to find out that the fare went up the next day.: would purchase at the previous held price. This would make a guaranteed booking for UA where someone may have walked away. Yes I know you can argue that they could get more revenue if you definitely needed to travel. However, in my case I pretty much used it for every reservation I would put it on hold with the pay at airport function, and then within 24 hours I would either recheck the fare, purchase, or let it go. I think more than 75% of the time I made the purchase.

WineCountryUA

Doubtful this is the purchasing model UA had in mind for this function and if this was the most common use, no wonder UA would think about closing it down. UA has long offered 24 hours cancel for free (before DOT rules came to be) but this effectively extends that to 48 hours. Holding inventory without paying is not UA's ideal mode of operation.

Flying Machine

It�s still a free cancellation in 24 hours, even if it wasn�t UAs intention many people participated in this. A while ago it went away for a period of time to only come back. Why ticket, then cancel, when you could just use the pay an airport function. Some people do pay at the airport even though it�s an extra fee

WineCountryUA

That could be the problem, it likely does not work to UA's advantage

I suspect this is a very, very small number. Most UA tickets counters will not take cash and the number of alternatives now offered few really need the "pay at airport",. So, UA may be willing to give up what little business this option allowed to address the "unintented" use.

If this function is gone, it will make some other uses problematic, such building a complex PNR for an agent to mirror -- such as when using FFC. That will be unfortunate. Doubt UA would have any issue with that use.

Bottom line, the intended use had probably diminished and UA saw no reason to allow other undesirable uses. Or this is a temp glitch and the function will return in the future. With UA, it could be either.

sincx

Has anyone else been having trouble with "Pay in Person" recently? I keep getting the message "Alipay, Pay in person and online check are not eligible forms of payment based on your current selections." I triple checked and there's no pre-applied ETC.

Flying Machine

I noticed at LAX at the regular check-in counter (I was real early one morning before TSA opened and took a walk) there�s a machine that converts cash into a debit card. I assume it charges a commission..

I really used the pay in person option allot (A hack that I used to hold the reservation for a day or so) Guess I�ve got to give them their $5.99 in the future if this doesn�t come back