Airlines love to talk about the advantages of mergers, and United and Continental are no exception.
As a travel agent based in Northern California, many of my best clients are United elite frequent fliers, which means they are used to the vagaries of dealing with the airline. Even without upgrades, this has generally meant that as one client said, “Fly a lot of miles and you get treated less badly.” Or, to put it more simply, United airport agents are a little more flexible with their elites.
Today, an Executive Premier (Star Alliance Gold) client, discovered on his first Continental flight, booked as part of a United triangle ticket, that the newly merged airline may not have the same policies.
The client, who usually flies to the East Coast, had a business meeting in Austin on his way to Washington, DC. Admittedly, he slept through his alarm (which on a separate tangent, is a good reason to set an alarm AND take advantage of hotel wake up calls).
He was staying near the airport, had a 5:45 a.m. flight via Houston and called United on their Premier Executive line as soon as he woke up, 15 minutes before departure time. Fortunately, he was flying midweek and there was plenty of space on later flights. However, the United agent told him the ONLY option was paying a $175 change fee.
She also gave him the impression the change was more difficult because of the Continental flight. Aren’t the two airlines are supposed to be almost merged?
Plus, United has a policy on their website saying that changes to same day travel can be confirmed on “an alternate United or Continental flight departing within three hours of the time of your request” for a fee of $75, which is waived for Mileage Plus members fliers at Premier Executive level and above.
The client hadn’t heard that rule, and at 5:30 a.m. he had neither time nor inclination to argue. Plus, standby apparently wasn’t an option. So he paid $175 for the agent to change him to a 6:45 a.m. flight, rushed to the airport, and made the plane. Arriving in Washington, D.C. only a little over an hour late (but grumpy, since there were empty seats on his flight out of Austin and his connecting flight from Houston).
Now, perhaps this was an isolated incident and a mistake by the reservations agent. However, I have heard other grumbling about travel involving combined United and Continental flights. Even one United agent said she’d love to take leave until this merger was done.
While I certainly understand the airlines’ need to make money, it strikes me that the most frequent fliers are the last people the newly created United wants to annoy. In this case, not only was the United agent not flexible and didn’t suggest standby, she didn’t apparently even know their own rules.
Since it’s hard to get anything more than apocryphal information in this industry, I’d love to hear others’ experiences. Have you had a problem with a United or Continental flight lately? Have you noticed a difference in treatment, especially when you need a favor? Even if you’ve had better treatment, would like to hear about it in comments.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
