Booking @ united.com.au

[M@rcoPolo]

The Aussie site is driving me crazy...

I'm trying to book SYD/LAX/SYD leaving on 9/1/12 and returning on 14/1/12 - I want to book using an upgradeable fare and then use SWUs to upgrade...

Problem is even if I specify I want to upgrade with SWUs the site would return an itinerary in L that is not upgradeable... if I choose "refundable" it bumps it all the way up to M (at double the price, almost)

What's the trick to get the site to book in V or W? Alternatively if I call UA in Sydney can I book over the phone without added fees?

 

[serfty]

Could be to do with fare bucket availability.

UA often vary the loadings between Oz and USA origins. Here's the loadings ex USA:

Flight Availability Search
Departing SYD on 09/01/12 12:00 AM for LAX
Returning on 14/01/12 12:00 AM 
Flying UA  
Direct/Non-Stop Only


                                                                     Frequency
Flight        Stops  Depart             Arrive             Aircraft  Reliability     Available Classes
0 Connections
UA 840        0      SYD                LAX                744       Daily           F1 J9 C9 Y9 B9 M9 U0 H9 Q9 V9 W9 S0 T0 L0 K0 G0 A1 D9 Z9 E0 
                     09/01/12 3:20 PM   09/01/12 9:48 AM             90% / 29m
                                                            Frequency

Flight        Stops  Depart             Arrive             Aircraft  Reliability     Available Classes
0 Connections
UA 839        0      LAX                SYD                744       Daily           F4 J9 C9 Y9 B9 M9 U0 H9 Q9 V9 W0 S0 T0 L0 K0 G0 A0 D1 Z0 E0 
                     14/01/12 10:15 PM  16/01/12 7:50 AM             79% / 27m

 

[serfty]

Using "Expert" mode on United.bomb shows all '9' for the economy fare buckets except for U0 and G0 on both flights and and K0 on UA839, so it's not that.

ITA shows the W base fare is AUD2415 with an all up of AUD3071 (although united.bomb shows $2947 wich includes $500 in fuel surcharges).

 

[clifford]

The Aussie site is driving me crazy...

I'm trying to book SYD/LAX/SYD leaving on 9/1/12 and returning on 14/1/12 - I want to book using an upgradeable fare and then use SWUs to upgrade...

Problem is even if I specify I want to upgrade with SWUs the site would return an itinerary in L that is not upgradeable... if I choose "refundable" it bumps it all the way up to M (at double the price, almost)

What's the trick to get the site to book in V or W? Alternatively if I call UA in Sydney can I book over the phone without added fees?

The trick to get W class fares is not to use the Australian website, as it is no longer being fully maintained and hence is unreliable.

I have just checked the US website (ual.com) and it tells me that the cheapest upgradeable fare on the dates you mentioned is USD 3139.50 for W class. Of course, there are no upgradeable seats available at the moment, so it's a bit of a lottery as to whether one will become available. And if you have no elite status with UA your chances will be even slimmer.

You may cough up USD 3139.50 (what's that in Pacific Pesos?) and get nada in the way of upgrades, and end up with a very expensive (and quite unpleasant) Y class experience. I'd personally recommend that you don't bother.

If you've got USD 3139.50 sloshing around for your ticket, why not look at Virgin's Premium Economy? Would have to be hugely better...

Please note I am UA 1K 2MM, so I do have a little experience with UA. And since the takeover by Continental, I have decided never to buy a ticket on that airline again.

 

[M@rcoPolo]

Ended up calling UA in Sydney and booking a W fare over the phone for AUD 3071

I know chances are slim, but I may get some help from UA's new "recalculation" of lifetime mileage on 31/12 - I have just over 800k BIS miles with UA but I should be comfortably over the 1MM line as over the years I flew many times premium cabin on UA + many miles on SQ/TG/LH/Ansett...

So I guess IF the recalculation happens before I fly out a Premier Gold status will help somehow...

Indeed it was much easier in the days I was UGS but that was some time ago

 

[Shanye2233]

United Awards to Hong Kong and Beyond for 4 Miles - View from the Wing

Gone now I believe

 

[burmans]

United Awards to Hong Kong and Beyond for 4 Miles - View from the Wing

Gone now I believe

Huge hype in the blogosphere over this, and it all happened in the wee hours when we were asleep.

 

[Shanye2233]

Im in for 5 tickets fingers doubled crossed. I was up until 5am trying to get miles into my account. I have received e-ticket for all travels.

 

[smit0847]

Im in for 5 tickets fingers doubled crossed. I was up until 5am trying to get miles into my account. I have received e-ticket for all travels.

Whats the route? Originating in China?

After the YGN mess apparently 'mistake flights' to and from the US are protected by DOT laws and must be honoured.

 

[Shanye2233]

Doesn't sound like it , they just cancelled everyone ticket . I had SYD lax ewr hkg icn SYD all in F

 

[smit0847]

Doesn't sound like it , they just cancelled everyone ticket . I had SYD lax ewr hkg icn SYD all in F

Keep an eye on the relevant Flyer Talk thread about it - as with the YGN thread I expect that various US residents will contact DOT and post their success/failure/process on FT - if they get them reinstated just follow the process they took. Most people got their cancelled YGN tickets restated after going through the DOT process - DOT has made it illegal for airlines to cancel tickets because the airline made a mistake (typical US!!) and many people have now successfully completed their trips as originally ticketed.

 

[Shanye2233]

I hope so I paid over $800 in taxes . I'm a 1k gold im
not happy .

 

[smit0847]

I hope so I paid over $800 in taxes . I'm a 1k gold im
not happy .

What's a 1K gold?

'There's no such thing as a free lunch'

The DOT process will take several weeks (if not months). If your travel was booked in the next 4 weeks I would forget about it.

If you have time read through the 300+ page YGN mistake fare thread on flyer talk which will fully explain the process and peoples timing. The more people who signed up for the deal and are angry about it being cancelled the quicker the DOT process will be (at least thats how it was for the YGN deal).

 

[etops1]

Damn, 4 miles is about how much is left in my UA account, would've been perfect!

Interesting that their website is supposedly sophisticated enough to allow "personalised pricing" i.e. charging a higher fare to mac users etc. but this stuff up can occur.

Good luck to those already in the air on these tickets.