Comprehensive List of Expected Changes/Lost Functionality when United Moves to SHARES
Mar 12, 2012 | 2:33 pm
#181
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: PDX
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt Globalist, Amtrak peon, Colbert Lifetime Platinum, Walk Score 100
Posts: 4,553
I don't know if this is a function of SHARES, but there's a great feature now that we didn't have before: The ability to view available fare buckets within an existing reservation. The Fare Class mouseover box is there on each flight segment just as it is in fare search. ^
Mar 12, 2012 | 2:52 pm
#182
Used to be PWMRamper
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: ATL
Programs: Marriott Platinum
Posts: 999
Overheard today a PMCO trainer helping a GA to get a flight ready for boarding. What a dog's breakfast of non-intuitive letter/number combinations as commands. Printing twice a list to be able to see things you cant get to on screen, really? What's next, punch cards?
Mar 12, 2012 | 3:15 pm
#183
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Landrum, SC
Programs: UA 1K and 2MM, HHonors Diamond,Hertz PC, Marriott Rewards Gold
Posts: 1,129
As we're only a couple months away from that ominous day in March 2012, I thought it would be good to compile a list of features and functions that we'll lose when United customers move to CO's systems -- all in one place to better help our United flyers understand what features and functions we may be losing as part of United's move to SHARES. This way, many of our fellow UA travellers who aren't familiar with CO will understand what items they may be accustomed to that may not be possible going forward with the CO system.
Please feel free to chime in -- if you have anything to add, or if I'm incorrect about something, please post or PM me, and I'll keep updating this post to maintain it as a comprehensive list.
UPGRADES
RESERVATIONS & TICKETING
MULTI-PAX PNRs
GATE AGENT FUNCTIONS
CLUB
FUNCTIONALITY IMPROVEMENTS
Please feel free to chime in -- if you have anything to add, or if I'm incorrect about something, please post or PM me, and I'll keep updating this post to maintain it as a comprehensive list.
UPGRADES
- Reduced Upgrade Visibility/Transparency -- no more "Upgrade: Pending," "Upgrade: Waitlisted," or "Upgrade: Confirmed" to display upgrade status. Phone agents also have no visibility into the upgrade system to help troubleshoot if there is a problem.
- Elite Upgrades with Ticket Issues -- CO's systems will not upgrade a passenger with an out-of sync ticket. UA's systems will upgrade irrespective of a ticket sync. So on CO, if there's a ticket issue you're not aware of or has to be dealt with at the airport, it will adversely impact your upgrades from clearing.
- UDU Waitlisting -- CO uses a sweep methodology to process upgrades, while UA waitlists when you're within your window. This means that with CO's sytems, when upgrade space is available, it is not immediately allocated inside the window (must wait until the next upgrade sweep).
- Reliable Waitlist Clearing of Instrument or Mileage Upgrades -- While CO's systems will waitlist upgrade requests for instruments and mileage, waitlists do not always immediately clear when upgrade space becomes available. It may be advisable to monitor the space yourself or use a third-party tool to call in and jump the waitlist should the space become available, but CO's systems fail to clear you.
- Authoritative Upgrade List within a Cutoff -- United stops clearing upgrades at about 4 hours out, creating a single, authoritative gate upgrade list that is followed and cleared at the gate. CO runs upgrades up until checkin cutoff, which means that the gate can be open, and there are two (2) competing upgrade mechanisms using different upgrade ordering priorities -- the EUA ordering scheme and the airport upgrade list (e.g., #7 got upgraded before #1 because EUA did it not the gate, and #7 was really #1 with the EUA system, even though he was #7 on the gate display and PDA site).
- Systemwide or Regional Upgrade Requests at the Airport or Gate -- CO does not have the ability to pull miles or instruments at the airport. All upgrades must be requested ahead of time over the phone or the web, 24+ hours out.
- Upgrade Instrument History/Tracking/Auditing/Detail -- CO's systems provide only the date the upgrade was redeemed and type of upgrade instrument used (e.g., Regional Upgrade debited on 12/21/2011), whereas UA provides the specifics about the upgrades used (flight number(s), flight date, pax name, etc.).
RESERVATIONS & TICKETING
- Instant Ticketing -- United tickets reservations instantly, whereas CO queues them for minutes to an hour (sometimes more).
- Multiple Unused Tickets Against a New PNR -- UA can exchange up to three (3) unused tickets against a new ticket on a new PNR. CO's systems require that the ticket remain against the existing PNR, so if you have multiple unused tickets, they cannot be combined into a new, larger ticket.
- Failure to Show -- CO's systems will immediately delete all remaining flights if you fail to be loaded on a flight. So if an agent forgets to or incorrectly boards you on your flight, you will lose your connecting, downline, or return flights. This is not the case on UA, as UA reconciles it later, so if you make the connection, you'll still be okay.
- Change Fees -- CO's systems charge change fees as new money, whereas UA debits change fees from the ticket value (e.g., a $500 ticket on UA with a $150 change fee changed to a $350 ticket will be $0 out of pocket; on CO it would be $150 out of pocket and leave you with a $150 residual voucher).
- Award Tickets -- CO's system will not allow award ticketing at the airport or ticket counter.
MULTI-PAX PNRs
- Airport "Battlefield" Upgrades -- CO's system requires that passengers be on their own PNR when listing for an upgrade at the airport. UA can list pax without splitting the record and upgrade any or all of them without a split.
- Award Tickets -- CO's systems cannot pull miles from separate accounts for separate travellers on the same PNR. CO must generate the a PNR for each mileage account you pull from.
- Upgrade Instruments -- CO's system requires that all pax in the travel direction be upgraded by instruments out of the same account.
GATE AGENT FUNCTIONS
- Automated Ticket Reissues (to other routes/other carriers) -- CO agents have to enter far more lengthy commands to rebook a customer and reissue a ticket, often involving the helpdesk; UA has a wizard to void the affected segments and reissue them.
- Electronic VDB Lists -- While CO has an electronic VDB list, many (if not most) agents find it cumbersome to use, and as such ignore it and simply collect paper BPs and manage the oversale the old-fashioned way.
- History -- CO's systems do not provide gate agents with detailed history on various aspects such as seat or schedule changes.
- Seat Change Requests -- UA's systems have an electronic list to request a different type of seat (e.g., E+ if it's full, aisle, window, family sit together) that the GA processes in status order if able. CO's systems have no such functionality, and GAs have to stack paper BPs on the counter and process seat requests the old-fashioned way.
CLUB
- BP Scanning when Entering a Club -- UA scans your BP and if you're a club member or *G with int'l flight, they enter you that way. CO must swipe your card and manually enter flight details if applicable.
FUNCTIONALITY IMPROVEMENTS
- Electronic VDB Certs -- CO's systems can generate electronic VDB certs as opposed to paper certs on UA.
- OAL Itins in Reservations -- CO's systems will display award reservations wholly on other carriers in your manage reservations list. UA's system requires that at least one segment be UA to display.
- Post-Check-In Upgrades -- CO's systems do not require an uncheck/recheck to process an upgrade received after checkin. The checkin is transferred, and if you don't claim it before boarding, the gate reader will print it.
- EUA on Codeshare Itins -- CO's systems will process complimentary upgrades on codeshare itins, while UA's systems will not.
Looks like you were correct. I wonder if it will ever get fixed. I've lost a lot of faith, since miles are not posting from a reservations that has believe it or not, three separate confirmation numbers for the SAME ticket, with no changes made. Go figure!
Mar 13, 2012 | 9:58 am
#184
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SAN
Programs: UA 1MM/1K, HH Diamond
Posts: 7,297
My LHR-IAD flight on Monday, which showed as a 77Q 36 hours out, got swapped to a B777. Third time this has happened to me.
In past years, UA has been able and willing at the airport to change my NC ticket to a different connection with the lie-flats. Once they pulled an additional SWU, but it got ironed out in the end. This time I get told by the frontline UA folks the absurd line "Sorry, we can't touch your reservation at this point. We can't see your M+ account, and we can't move things around to another flight. We can, however, downgrade you on your current flight if you don't want to use your cert." I know in the wide scheme of things this is a minor thing -- reading about people losing confirmed transpac upgrades makes my own blood boil -- but it's just so intensely customer unfriendly to be told over and over again that simple things can't be done because the "system won't allow it" is just ridiculous. I can appreciate that PMCO folks were used to this, but we PMUA folks were most certainly not, and the extent to which they've utterly failed to manage expectations is staggering.
Mar 13, 2012 | 11:20 am
#185
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: LGA/JFK/EWR
Programs: UA 1K2MM, Hyatt Globalist, abandoned Marriott LTT (RIP SPG), Hertz PC
Posts: 21,318
I know in the wide scheme of things this is a minor thing -- reading about people losing confirmed transpac upgrades makes my own blood boil -- but it's just so intensely customer unfriendly to be told over and over again that simple things can't be done because the "system won't allow it" is just ridiculous. I can appreciate that PMCO folks were used to this, but we PMUA folks were most certainly not, and the extent to which they've utterly failed to manage expectations is staggering.
Mar 15, 2012 | 5:54 pm
#186
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA
Programs: DL SM Plat, B6 TrueBlue, UA MP, AAdvantage
Posts: 10,008
Overheard today a PMCO trainer helping a GA to get a flight ready for boarding. What a dog's breakfast of non-intuitive letter/number combinations as commands. Printing twice a list to be able to see things you cant get to on screen, really? What's next, punch cards?
In February I was in YQB, checking in my two kids as unaccompanied minors. The airport staff there work for a contractor which handles all the airlines. As I saw the young lady struggling with the very long and complex commands and constantly calling in for assistance, I asked her which airline had the most complex system to use.
Without hesitation, she answered: "Continental."
Mar 17, 2012 | 9:30 pm
#187
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Posts: 11,869
I am really at a loss re upgrade balances. It used to be straightforward to view deposit, reserved, used (incl date, flight, pax), expired activities. Now, most of those features are gone. 
The current system is so trivial and incompetent. We need to have these back!
The current system is so trivial and incompetent. We need to have these back!
Mar 26, 2012 | 5:54 pm
#188
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Seattle WA
Programs: AS Titanium/OWE; Marriott LT Platinum
Posts: 1,977
Has anyone had experience with a SDC involving a waitlisted instrument upgrade in this new world of no instrument upgrade waitisting within 24 hours?
Can a talented agent pull off the change and apply the waitlist request to the new flight, or are you SOL if you SDC?
Can a talented agent pull off the change and apply the waitlist request to the new flight, or are you SOL if you SDC?
Mar 26, 2012 | 6:59 pm
#189
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: ABE/PHL/EWR
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 396
The whole upgrade sweep thing is very annoying. It was NR1 after the 1P sweep at T-48...I had a companion which is why I missed it at that point. T-24, I check in, the reservation splits, I get the last UG almost immediately. A few hours later, it's back to NR4, my companion is still #1, and not being upgraded. Bring back the instant upgrades!
Aug 26, 2012 | 1:54 pm
#190
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Seattle WA
Programs: AS Titanium/OWE; Marriott LT Platinum
Posts: 1,977
So here we are almost 6 months in.... And pretty much all of the shortcomings noted in Post 1 still exist
Sep 4, 2012 | 4:54 pm
#192
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Benicia, California, USA
Programs: AA PLT,AS,UA PLAT,PP,J6,FB,EY,LH,SQ,HH Gld,Hyatt Disc,Marriott Plat,IHG Plat
Posts: 11,029
Actually, I am. As cynical as I am about this management team, I nevertheless naively thought that some of the systemic shortcomings would be addressed. But I guess most of them are here to stay.
Sep 5, 2012 | 11:59 am
#193
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: SNA
Programs: UA1K
Posts: 4,055
it amazes me how much of a disaster it is, and here we are six months in and it is still a mess. only a matter of time before the next network meltdown like the one that took place last week.