EWRFlyerAL

My ORD-DEN flight was delayed on Friday due to weather and a minor mechanical issue. I called GS from the plane while boarding to ask to be protected on the later DEN-LAS flight. The first agent told me they don't do that (even though the app was showing that I would land 6 minutes before the connection departed). I called again and the second agent protected me (with the app showing me arriving at the same time as the connection departed). When I arrived in DEN, the connecting plane went mechanical. We got a new plane and then that one went mechanical as well but it was able to be repaired. Throughout all of this there were no agents meeting my flight, no updates to my reservation proactively. It did not feel like the way GS used to.

Plane-is-home

Major fail on their side

bmwe92fan

TOTALLY AGREE! But let's be honest -- GS isn't at all what it used to be - and honestly - UA doesn't seem to care at all....

SFO_UGS

Quote:

Originally Posted by EWRFlyerAL

....edited Throughout all of this there were no agents meeting my flight, no updates to my reservation proactively. It did not feel like the way GS used to.

Not surprised. Three or 4 flights ago, I had a connecting flight: CHS-IAD-SFO. (And I HATE connecting; and on United, a flight into or out of CHS to/from the West Coast is challenging.) When the IAD-SFO leg boarded and rolled out to the runway, we had a mechanical. Then, the crew timed out. I asked the GA if there was a GS representative available and she said "no," but directed me to an obscure office where I could them. Then, another GA said, "No, you can't go there" and provided a useless rationale as to why not. I wasn't up for the confrontation. So, I called GS to be protected on ANY flight to return to SFO that evening. The first agent wasn't helpful. She seemed new and not sure what to do. I immediately hung up, called again, and the second agent (experienced, better informed) protected me on two flights. (Both required another stop at DEN.) Middle seats, but oh well. I was happy she found any seat at that point. Ultimately, they found a new crew and 4 hrs later, we boarded the original, direct flight to SFO.

If there are helpful and PRESENT GS agents when something goes wrong, let me know! I haven't seen any when things go awry. They always seem to be present when I board an on-time flight, but when the flight is seriously delayed or cancelled, they are no where to be found. That's been my experience in the last 3 or 4 years (prior to the pandemic). My best guess is that with the rise of the Internet, the pandemic, and their new QR code assistance, they're moving away from person-to-person interaction. Which is fine. Just try to be helpful, please, if you believe that a GS flyer is important. Otherwise, don't offer the service.

nomad420

Same issue here have posted about it many times. I apply them to basically everything that I (or my wife book). I am constantly applying them my families bookings as well and I think I have had one (maybe two) clear all year. I am currently now 1K but I had only slightly better odds at clearing my PP upgrades as GS. To be fair my typical travel is on high traffic and high profile routes like SFO-HNL, BOS, DEN, EWR, KOA, SEA.

manstein58

more or less worthless unless flying on regional jet routes has been my experience. Like Weimar money

EWRFlyerAL

I called GS yesterday to talk about the five recent delays I have had, the poor food quality, and just to share some thoughts around how much the program has degraded. The agent I spoke with has been there for over 25 years and was sympathetic. She said they have been getting lots of complaints from GS members around food quality, the changes to the companion upgrade benefit (opening only on one leg), and just the general GS experience. According to her, they are hiring GS phone agents and bumping up the number of premium employees in airports. The GS experience will be getting better soon (we'll see). As for the food, she said that there are some tweaks coming soon and that they are told to say that they're still recovering from Covid and supply chain issues.

UAFLYER22

Is the ability to use PlusPoints on award tickets a GS specific benefit?

bmwe92fan

Yes

n8-the-gr8

I'd be curious to know United's approach and rationale for GS teams at various airports.

I haven't seen or engaged with a live GS agent at the airport since February 2020 but on a recent flight from PHL, there was an agent greeting GS by name as we boarded with our upgraded tickets (both cleared apparently). Wasn't particularly necessary but was surprised to see Philly still have any GS agent presence given that it's not a major airport for United.

To this day my best GS experience was also at Philly in 2019 when I had a delay and an agent from the airport called me directly, had protected me in First class on all departing flights, and was at the gate to greet me as the first flight option boarded. Obviously that's in part driven by local management and training/experience but still seems so bizarre at a station like PHL compared to the lack of proactive service at so many hubs.

manstein58

PHL has prided itself on offering a nice GS experience for at least the last ten years

Raven139AS

Can pile on here from earlier this week.

Den-iad RT (me with minor on same pnr, wife on separate pnr).

Had plus points applied to all but when outbound FC showed full t-72 I called gs line to pull them off the table for the outbound.

Repeatedly asked GS agent that she only pulled outbound PP’s off the res and return leg still applied.

At t-72 for return, called to push through PP upgrades to which gs agent said, what pp’s? The previous agent had removed them completely from the res.

Fast forward to outbound departure. I’m still #1 on upgrade list and it clears as CPU. Res for me and minor gets split.

On the app PP’s have been deducted for the flight (should’ve been cpu) and another 20 points deducted for the return flight (which had already cleared/pushed through).

So a couple things:

1. clearly agent messed up the removal of PP’s on outbound and mistakenly removed them from return
2. Surprised that gate agent split pnr with a minor for cpu without calling me to gate first. Wouldn’t this be a potential policy issue?
3. Some sort of IT mess up resulting in additional PP’s being removed for return because of pnr split when cpu cleared on outbound.

The real dilemma is whether I call a gs agent to get my pp’s back. Like others have stated, have 1300 and not sure it’s worth my time to explain this all out to probably just get pushback for PP’s I likely will not use.

kb1992

Agree that PN is hard to find, and it's increasingly difficult to use PP.

However, I have some success with PP, and CPU without PP. Cleared every EWR/IAD-SFO/LAX.

Got CPU cleared EWR-PHX, ORD-BOS as the only one cleared.

If I can get PP upgrade next month SFO-PVG on XN saver award ticket, I would have hit the jackpot.

I am confident that the value I get from 40 PP would be a world record.

The J fare for my flight is $18,000.

cesco.g

The LAX GS crew - especially the first/morning shift - IME is still among the most consistent and best around, even though unfortunately their office/room upstairs has been closed.

ctownflyer

Flew in F with DW and 2 young kids a few years ago from LAX-CLE and had scattered seats. GS checkin agent proactively says, oh we can't have that, and proceeded to get us 4 seats together.