Does the OP assume the prevailing programmed in CO policy is the default option at least initially?

If so I think that is reasonable

I would also like to see the customer upgrades due to the change.

Thank you for the list channa. I've never flown or had to deal with CO so information like this is certainly helpful to us newbies. ^

I have one for the list. Since they will be going with the CO website, does that mean we will lose the functionality of unitedcargo.com to determine the type of aircraft in figuring out old configuration vs. new configuration? Was there a similar CO site? It might be helpful to determine if you'll be on the one CO plane with E+.

Great list channa! I hope that "new" United can work on addressing some of these issues after system integration. Not sure if fastSHARES will help make some of these things possible.

I've generally believed that anything developed/maintained by HP is not going to be a good product.

Aircraft number is on the flight status page, so you can see it from two days out. On co.com (and mobile.united.com now) you can see specific cabin configurations and amenities for that aircraft, including E+, DirecTV / AVOD, etc. It's extremely useful and accurate in my experience using it over the last few years.

Aircraft number is slowly being added for UA metal operated flights, from what I can see, but not the corresponding amenities yet. So in the future there should be no need for the non-intuitive solution of going to a cargo website.

Thanks for the info. Two days ahead of time is nice, but its not near the 9 days ahead of time on United cargo.

>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.

Do they prioritize the stack of paper BP's by status.....

Until UACO sees fit to explain, or implementation time comes and we observe, what the policies will be going forward we have two choices:
1) Know nothing and assume the March 3 policies will be total surprise.
2) Use our knowledge of existing policies and which systems they work with to set expectations for March 3.

For example it's possible they've been toiling away in secret to convert EUA from sweeps to trigger based for dynamic waitlisting. Or will run EUA sweeps every minute instead of every day. And if so I'll be pleasantly surprised. But I think the more reasonable assumption is that they'll continue the current policy since they're using the current system.

Apply the same logic to every system/policy down the list.

The CO PDA Upgrade lists and in particular the FLIFO that CO has supports significant insight into the aircraft config is very useful. In particular you can see the seating config, and whether you have IFE on the flight, if not you can buy a book to enjoy and smile at the good fortune of not having to watch the $misek video.

My understanding:
PMUA - paper vouchers (like $400 flight credit received for VDB) could not be redeemed over the phone or on the web. Either had to mail them in or take them to a ticketing agent / airport.

A post in this thread indicated the PMCO system (and assume the merged system) is capable of redeeming these types of vouchers on-line. No need to mail in or go to the airport.

I don't believe the discussion was referring to appreciation certificates, etc. that you have to go on-line to redeem anyway.

If I am not understanding this correctly, I am sure someone more CO experienced will chime in shortly.

Wow. This seems to be a pretty hot-button topic for many.

I appreciate as many details for the differences between PMUA and PMCO as possible. So thanks to those that are chiming in with information.

After many years, I have a pretty good understanding of how my United took care of things and how things were supposed to work. As they say, it is going to be a brand new ball game, so time to start learning again.

I have tried to roll with the punches on some of the changes and exercise some self-restraint. Everyone has different priorities. I did not get too worked up on the pillows and blankets. I was mildly annoyed at the undrinkable coffee. I got pretty livid about the degradation of elite / priority boarding, check-in, etc. The last one even caused me to book a flight on Delta for later this year.....gasp. But I have taken some deep breaths and resumed booking on UA for 2012.

The difficulties that PMCO has with upgrades scares me more than any of the above. SWU was the big benefit for 100,000 BIS miles with UA. But now W fares are really expensive and upgrade space confirm-able in advance is pretty hard to find. I don't think I can stomach upgrade "shenanigans" on top of everything else.

I asked before, but it might have gotten buried. Supposedly, PMCO systems "save" upgrade space for elites on the waitlist for the magic upgrade sweep. Would it not be a fairly simple thing to clear the upgrades when checking dynamically for "un-saved" seats to offer for sale. If they are hitting some data to determine if seats are available, it seems they can hit the data to clear the upgrades.

I am not an IT person, so maybe this is something difficult to perform with the SHARES system. If not, the only logical reason for not clearing the upgrade waitlist is to sell them out from the elites.
Can someone with some IT knowledge weigh in on this? I would really like to know if this is even feasible to be fixed prior to the grand integration.

NOTE: I am really referring to International upgrades. UDU is a different deal for me.

They prioritize based on who volunteers first. You need to get to the gate and sign up. I got my bump at LAX because I showed up at the gate and was the last volunteer needed a few months ago. There was another guy who was hesitating, and they had him board at the last moment. The four of us who took VDBs were led to the boarding gate until they decided at the last minute that we were all needed. This was a lot more stressful than taking a bump on a United flight.

CO VDB compensation can be redeemed online unlike UA's paper vouchers.

FUNCTIONALITY IMPROVEMENTS
Electronic VDB Certs -- CO's systems can generate electronic VDB certs as opposed to paper certs on UA.

I know - I always loved this about CO and conversely hated it on UA. I accepted a VDB in Denver August 2009 and hated it when I could not redeem online.

Does it give you change for any unused portion that you can use later?

I am having dinner/drinks in a couple of weeks with a UA CSR I have known quite awhile. I will bring the list and give a verification/validation level to each of the points that the OP has brought up.

I have talked to him briefly about the IT migration and integration going thus far (prior to the thread starting) and he says this SHARES thing is a PIA.....YMMV...

If anyone needs to feel more scared about this, take a look at the hundreds of people currently incorrectly listed as CO Presidential Plats: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...nums-well.html

This was confirmed to be an error by UA Insider well over 24 hours ago and is still happening. It's not just a display issue either; it is showing up on boarding cards and is overwhelming the Presidential Plat phone queue.

The earlier post in this thread about this being a mainframe driven system which can only be modified offline is ringing especially true right about now...