kokonutz

I have three words on this most infamous of days. And I'm thinking of having big button pins printed up to wear on future UA fligts:

GOODWIN MUST GO!

And he can take Dutta with him. I'm taking this personally. And I hold this and UA's many other missteps in the past 2 years personally against him.

Time to start www.goodwinmustgo.com?????????
____________________
____________
www.saveunitedconnection.com



[This message has been edited by kokonutz (edited 07-20-2001).]

dw

hell, what about "Bring United Connection Back" buttons???

cblaisd

Folks, given the incredible privacy debacle at United.com's website being discussed at
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/007164.html

I posted the following there (and am going to do a one-time cross-post here); maybe we have a media opportunity here that United itself has dropped in our lap?

I just sent the following email to three reporters at the San Francisco Chronicle:

Dear Sirs and Ms.,

I'd like to call your attention to an incredible privacy problem that
United Airlines is having on its website. Somehow the site is allowing
folks to see other peoples' frequent flyer accounts, access their names
and addresses, and even book free tickets. You can see a discussion of
this on the FlyerTalk Bulletin Board (which, you may recall, is where the
discussion last year about the $26 "mistaken" United fares from San Jose
to Paris originated) at
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/007164.html

This is especially ironic in that today is the very day that United
Airlines has cut off access to its United Connection Software program,
arguably the best customer service and travel tool that United has ever
had (and far, far better than competitors') and angering many, many of its
best and most savvy customers. It is also ironic that the explanation for
this cut-off was "in order to serve us better" and because United's
website is getting better (!) The Wall Street Journal did an initial
story on this a couple of weeks ago. You can see a discussion of this
issue also on FlyerTalk at
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/006718.html or
http://www.saveunitedconnection.com (take a look, particularly, at the
Sample Letters link there).

The folly of this is not only is United angering its best customers (and
imperiling ALL its customers' privacy by its website debacle today) by the
withdrawl of this software, but it will cost United more in real dollars
(when they've just posted a quarterly loss!) because what could be done on
the United Connection software in literally a few minutes now will take
many times that with a "live" UA customer service agent via phone or at a
City Ticket Office or at the airport.

I selected your three email addresses off of the Chronicle website; if
there are other reporters who it would be better to send this to, please
feel free to forward or have them contact me.

You may use any of the above as a quotation, and I also invite you, if you
wish, to contact me via email, fax, or phone

[Name/address/phone deleted here]

Thank you for your consideration.

Anybody have reporters you can send a note to? You are free to use any of the above
Or you can doubtlessly make an even more eloquent and pithy case... [/i]

SNA1K

Great letter! Shouldn't it also go so the Chicago Tribune where it might hit home a little harder? Let all of the people who rely on UA HQ see that they are going to be losing more money due to stupid decisions and we might get some reaction other than canned responses!

dmfriedman

I have been in contact with the Airlines reporter from the Tribune over the last several hours. He has been talking with United to get their side of the story. Will follow up if anything is to happen...

NYC1

Has anyone paid the fee to use all the features of www.airtm.com? If so, what's the verdict?

essxjay

For all its wonders, UNCXN has never been proficient recognizing time zone changes -- at least for me.

dw

This is truly a sad day.

I went to a CTO yesterday to ticket a reservation I had made over UA CXN... the initial reservation and booking process using the software took about five minutes.

Same thing today... but without UA CXN. With no Fareshopper, I first went to Orbitz to check out the lowest fares. Then I went to united.com to check that UA's inventory matched (sometimes it does not). It was VERY SLOW, as always, and finicky, as always. FINALLY I picked up the phone and called 1P Reservations, and basically read off the dates and flights numbers I had printed out to the reservations/sales agent. Today, this took LONGER THAN 20 minutes!

Sad, sad.

cblaisd

Thanks. I've had no response from the SF Chronicle, but did have a very long conversation with a reporter from the Contra Costa Times (the East Bay newspaper in the SF Bay area); she was clearly taking extensive notes and even called me back for more clarification. She said there would definitely be a story in tomorrow's Contra Costa Times www.contracostatimes.com I have also received an email from a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and will respond now too (I've been away from the computer for 10 hours).

chix

Here is the article:

http://www.contracostatimes.com/bizt...d_20010721.htm

SFO 1K

Folks, don't slam me for this, but the Contra Costa Times article suggests that one's credit card number might be compromised and their Mileage Plus miles spent on tix for other people. If my memory serves me correctly, Award travel on someone else's M+ number REQUIRES a signature of the mile holder in person - making the cashing in of miles unlikely.

My United.com profile shows a credit card number of XXXXXXXXXXX1000. Anyone think they can abscond with my credit card number with only 4 digits is smokin something.

It's inexcusable that United could have had such a programming problem in the first place, but the sky didn't fall because of this snafu. The article grossly overstated the potential impact on Mileage Plus account holders.

cblaisd

No slams needed or intended here. Just, perhaps, a difference of opinion. And you are right, of course, about the signature requirement -- unless (if MY memory serves ) the last name is the same. Given the ease of making fake i.d.'s (lots of internet sites will tell you how) that would easily pass UA muster there is at least some possibility of fraud, perhaps. I also wonder what would happen if one called MP and asked for a transfer of miles to, say, a hotel program? I simply don't know -- does that require a signature or password? When I transferred some TWA miles to Hilton account all I was askd for was name and to confirm address/zip code. If UA is the same, that would have been a way to empty an account perhaps.

Quote:

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> My United.com profile shows a credit card number of XXXXXXXXXXX1000. Anyone think they can abscond with my credit card number with only 4 digits is smokin something.

Of course you're right. But given the glitches reported, it does make one worry that one could get to a screen that does indeed have real credit card numbers.

Quote:

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> It's inexcusable that United could have had such a programming problem in the first place, but the sky didn't fall because of this snafu. The article grossly overstated the potential impact on Mileage Plus account holders.

Maybe so. What I was disappointed with is that the CC Times article only briefly allueded to UA killing off the United Connection software. 100's or 1000's of UA customers (its best and savviest flyers) complain about this and UA does nothing -- and on the day of UCxn's death their "improved functionality" website suffers this kind of privacy problem. That's at least as big a story here! The Wall Stree Journal story on this
http://public.wsj.com/sn/y/SB995667013820336282.html
doesn't even mention the United Connection software linkage at all. My conjecture: The linked privacy/UACxn story/stories here fall into the purview of at least 3 different "beats" -- business, internet, and travel -- and so it's less likely that a single reporter is going to make the linkages in a way that I would find more satisfying, anyway. Also, clearly, internet privacy issues are much "hotter" than what could look on a superficial glance like a complaint by a handful of geeks about a software program. Yawn.

Your mileage will vary

(edited to fix code)




[This message has been edited by cblaisd (edited 07-21-2001).]

cesco.g

cblaised, thanks for the great letter! It helps in my grief on the R.I.P. of UACX.

And yes, Koko, it's time to fire up the broiler and start roasting those ...... we all know who.

Droneklax

I just had an idea:

How about a boycott of the web site?

lf tom

I want to commend all of you on your efforts to save UConn--I was proud to be on your side. United's insensitivity does not serve the company well.

Personally, I am sorry to see the loss of the best fare comparison tool at my disposal. Orbitz, Travelocity and the other airline sites just don't cut it.

R.I.P. United Connection.