Pass Travel UPDATE April 18, 2014
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1) Some same-day multiple listings are now OK: read carefully!
Quoted from an April 11, 2014 email received from the ETC:
“Pass riders may list for more than one space-available flight on United and United Express for different destinations for the same day of travel. Listing for multiple flights includes booking a space-available ticket on the same day to two different destinations, i.e. ORD-CUN and ORD-SJU. It also includes bookings for the same day, for the same origin and destination with a different connection city, i.e. SFO-EWR and SFO-DEN-EWR.
It's not necessary to list for more than one space-available flight for the same origin and destination for the same day, for example; for all flights from ORD - SFO. Airport gate agents will continue to roll over pass riders to the next available flight of that day if pass riders are not cleared.
Pass riders are still expected to arrive at the gate within the appropriate time for their original scheduled departure and cancel any flights in advance that they will not be using.”
Abuse of pass travel policies and listing procedures will not only risk loss of pass travel it will invoke the WRATH of your fellow pass riders! Do NOT make unnecessary multiple listings but, if you must make them, do your fellow employees/retirees a favor and CANCEL all listings you don’t need as soon as possible. Also remember, it is NOT OK to:
1) List for the same flight twice (using a vacation pass and a personal pass).
2) Make a space-available listing on the same flight when using a myUAdiscount ticket.
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Pass Travel Guidelines are located in the “Working Together Guidelines” pdf found under the Employee Services tab on Flying Together.
2) Be a Savvy Standby at the gate
OK, you listed. You checked-in. You’re at the gate. The flight looks tight. Don’t chew nervously on your finger nails, check your smartphone or tablet! You should already have “Flying Together” bookmarked so you can verify the standby list and loads in employeeRES. But, when “push comes to shove” in the boarding process, also having the United app on your mobile device is really smart.
Go to united.com> Travel Information> Mobile tools to download the United app; it’s free for everyone. Open the app, input your flight, look at the Standby and Upgrade lists (they include both revenue and non-rev pax), and watch (in real time) as the seats in the Seat Map are assigned by the agent. This is a great tool, especially at airports that do not have Gate Displays.
Recently the company launched a new United app for Android users (an updated iPhone app is coming later this year). From the United Daily 4/8/2014:
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“We launched a new United application on Tuesday for customers who are Android users, including the latest generation of devices running KitKat. Our United app is now optimized across each supported operating system – Apple iOS 7, Android and Windows Phone 8. Customers can use the app to book flights, check in for flights, see flight status and view MileagePlus accounts. In addition to revenue travel, employees can also use the app to manage pass travel by adding their reservations to the app, checking in through the app and monitoring flight status information for gate locations and standby lists.
The Android version enables users to rotate the screen vertically or horizontally, view multiple flight statuses and boarding passes for multiple travelers on one screen and quickly access the app through a widget on the phone’s or tablet’s home screen. We will introduce many of these elements to the Apple iOS 7 version later this year as we continue to update and improve our app across Apple iOS, Android and Windows devices.
Download the (Android) app today from the Google Play store.”
3) Sign up for automatic trip alerts, include your pass riders!
Know about delays/disruptions. Posted on the employeeRES landing page:
“New Save your travel contact information in employeeRES Apr. 02, 2014
Like our customers, as part of building a more flyer-friendly experience, we’ve made some changes that will improve our ability to notify pass riders of flight updates via email and/or text messages when they happen. When you book a trip in employeeRES, you now have the ability to let us keep you updated while you’re on your trip. While revenue passengers may save their contact information to Mileage-Plus through check-in, employees (and retirees) will update their preferences through employeeRES.
Go to employeeRES> QuickLinks> Employee Profile> click on the “Add/Edit Secure Flight and Travel Contact Information” link > enter e-mail for e-mail notifications and phone number for text notifications.”
Note: To add travel contact information for your eligible pass riders, go to the employeeRES> QuickLinks> EmployeeProfile page. Scroll down to the list of pass riders names (below the yellow band), then click on the “Edit” link under the “Secure Flight/TCD” column (far right). Repeat for each of your pass riders.
Trip Alerts are additionally available (for employees/retirees only) in employeeRES> QuickLinks> Trip Alerts. Sign up for alerts to be emailed “before the day of travel”. Receiving that alert 24 hours before departure is a good reminder to “check-in” for your flight!
4) Flying Together not working with Internet Explorer
Can’t log on, some things just don’t work? Microsoft’s updates can cause compatibility issues with Flying Together. Try using GoogleChrome or Firefox as your browser AND read item #3 in our: 2014 February Pass Travel UPDATE
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5) Recent news snippets from the United Daily (archive on Flying Together) .Use the “United Daily” link above, then scroll down to the date of the article you want to view.
3/24: Wi-Fi available on more United flights WiFi information
3/25: New Terminal “B” opens in Boston April 30, 2014
3/28: More Asia flights: 777 to TPE and 787 to Chengdu!
3/31: More Caribbean and Latin America flights this summer
4/03: EWR, SFO major runway closures; also FLL, LAX, SAT
4/08: New United app for Android devices available
4/09: UAL’s new 787-9 rolls out of the factory: bigger, farther, better.
4/16: All gates at ORD now have jet-bridges
Kirk Moore
Chairperson, RAFA Travel Benefits Committee 4/18/2014