WARNING - United Mileage Plus VENT ahead!!!

[agnes!]

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH.

I am BEYOND mad right now. We are trying to redeem United Mileage Plus miles to use on USAir, which is SUPPOSEDLY "easy" to do.
YES, we are willing to spend 50,000 miles for travelling DCA/MCO on our dates March 30th/April 7th.
YES, we are Executive Premier Mileage Plus members.

And YET I have WASTED at least TWO HOURs on hold today. When I started it was MORNING. I have been given so much BAD info it is almost laughable.

Hold on, I am getting ready to scorch the Earth.

agnes!

 

[CarolA]

You aren't going to like this but you waited too late. That's Spring Break time to a major desitination, other folks booked at 330 days. I hope it works out, but I doubt it's going to be easy at all! LOL!

 

[agnes!]

Hahahahahahahahaha.
Well, I FINALLY spoke to a LIVE person , had to call on my dime to a 605 area code(got right through).

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...WASTED two or three hours.

Yeah, you're RIGHT CarolA, I DON'T like it. SO happy others are able to book at 330 days, we were not. I am not used to trying to do a cross-booking from one airline to another. Though I have redeemed FF miles before, this was a new thing for us to try.

Turns out that USAir will only allow UNITED FF members to book at the SUPERSAVER/25,000 mile level, so even though we have oodles of United miles, USAir won't let us spend them.

That's their right, I just wish SOMEONE could have TOLD me that this morning when I started out.

Sometimes I HATE FF programs, and I ESPECIALLY HATE UNITED's so-called customer service. I have been wandering in VOICE MAIL H3LL for HOURS.
Hahahahahahahahaha.

agnes!

 

[CarolA]

Sorry it didn't work out. I don't have much experience with either of these programs. (Have a lot with AA, DL and SW, but that doesn't help)

I assume that United isn't an option at all? Sometimes I can get DL flights at the last minute for the cheaper milage.

 

[DisneyDotty]

Have you looked at flying into Tampa? We've done that twice w/ our FF miles because MCO wasn't available. Wasn't a bad drive, and gave us a great reason to stay on Clearwater beach a few days!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I won't defend United Airlines and their voice menus. I wonder if companies like United and Citibank know how awful their systems are?

However, the lesson from this experience is that it's usually necessary to book frequent flyer tickets as far out as possible. That can be difficult if one has to wait for vacation schedules at work.

The other advice I would have for anyone using frequent flyer points is that there are usually better uses for frequent flyer points than flying to Orlando. From most airports in the US, it's possible to fly to Orlando for somewhere around $200 roundtrip if one watches for good fares. But to Hawaii, it's often $800 to $1,000, especially if you include a stopover of a few days at a west coast gateway. So I'd rather use 35,000 points to fly to Hawaii than 25,000 to fly to Orlando.

Of course, getting frequent flyer tickets to Hawaii is even harder than to Orlando, but that's another story.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I have found trying to book FF tickets a real chore for any airline, except the ones where my husband is an elite member. He has never had a problem booking United FF tickets.

The other advice I would have for anyone using frequent flyer points is that there are usually better uses for frequent flyer points than flying to Orlando.

This is 100% correct! I'd much rather use the miles for an upgrade to business/first class on an international flight!

 

[cfknight]

usair is crap. I had the same problem. The lady told me there was nothing available until mid may.

 

[CPer'sMom]

Why not use your United miles to fly IAD - MCO? There are several n/s flights each day.

 

[Armadillo4]

I'm sorry to hear that you had a terrible experience with the United reservations staff and automated phone system. Was this on the dedicated phone number for Premier Executives or the general UA award travel number? I wouldn't be surprised if you had bad service on the general member line, but the Premier Executive agents should be better trained and provided you with better service.

Why not use your United miles to fly IAD - MCO? There are several n/s flights each day.

I'm guessing the OP is closer to DCA, but this is not a bad suggestion at all. It might be a bit more hassle to get to IAD from their location, but it would be easier to book an award flight on United metal than to get an award seat from a Star Alliance partner. The OP can also use their 50000 miles to book United from DCA, but with 1-stop. Either of these options can be done on the United website without having to deal with a phone agent. That's still no excuse for poor customer service on the phone though.

Other than the convenience of DCA for the OP, I would definitely recommend flying on United metal (vs. USAir metal) as this will give you access to exit rows (as a premier executive) and economy plus seating--even on Ted flights. The extra legroom is definitely a nice perk.

 

[bicker]

I won't defend United Airlines and their voice menus. I wonder if companies like United and Citibank know how awful their systems are?

They know exactly, and work very hard to match their expenditures for telephone communications with the willingness of their passengers to pay for service. They even have better telephone customer service available for their best customers.

 

[Lewisc]

They know exactly, and work very hard to match their expenditures for telephone communications with the willingness of their passengers to pay for service. They even have better telephone customer service available for their best customers.

SW has great phone service for all customers. It's a lot easier if the airline doesn't give passengers a reason to call. SW says one of the reasons they don't book against a projected schedule is the time that would be spent calling, and answering calls from, passenger that have their flights changed.

How many DIS call to complain everytime an airline changes a schedule and their seat assignments are lost?

 

[bicker]

SW has great phone service for all customers. It's a lot easier if the airline doesn't give passengers a reason to call.

Well put. If you provide such a low-level of service to start with, people have much lower expectations, and therefore you don't need as much customer service staff in order to still provide superior customer service.

 

[bavaria]

Granted I only book a ticket for myself, but here I sit in Orlando after flying down using United miles (only 25,000) booked less than a month prior to departure on my desired dates, desired flights.

Last year I booked a ticket on Lufthansa using miles to go back home 3 days out during World Cup.

I actually manage to get what I need 90% of the time using miles (and I clear out large volume of miles every year)

Sorry that it didn't work out for you, but there are definitely options. And as some already pointed out, the IAD-MCO or DCA-MCO flights are very inexpensive.

 

[Lewisc]

Well put. If you provide such a low-level of service to start with, people have much lower expectations, and therefore you don't need as much customer service staff in order to still provide superior customer service.

It's not the level of service you provide but rather the ability meet the level of service your customers are expecting. Many airlines let customers select seats a year in advance. The "fine print" (CoC) says the airlines are not guaranteeing a specific flight time let alone a specific seat. Based on posts on DIS many (most?) passengers who aren't frequent flyers think they have been guaranteed that seat on that flight at that time. The airlines allow people to believe they're getting that level of service. Makes sense you'll need customer service staff to explain the real rules when the schedule changes. Now if the airlines were going to actually provide that level of service, lock in to a schedule once they start booking, they wouldn't need as many customer service staff.

 

[bicker]

It's not the level of service you provide but rather the ability meet the level of service your customers are expecting.

No, not really. What matters is your ability to meet the level of service your customers are driven to respond to. In this case, passengers are unwilling to accept the prices necessary to support the level of service they "expect".

 

[CarolA]

No, not really. What matters is your ability to meet the level of service your customers are driven to respond to. In this case, passengers are unwilling to accept the prices necessary to support the level of service they "expect".

I agree, the American public has shown that what really matters with airlines is the bottom line.

Look at the posts on here. Most folks are out there complaining if they can't get a $69 or less deal. Something has to be cut to give us "el cheapo" fares. Service loses as a lot of the other airline costs are not really negotiable. People get on here and SCREAM about "Horrid service" but for next year's trip if the horrid airline is cheapest, back they go.