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Pass Travel UPDATE                         Aug 26, 2014         

1)       LAST CHANCE!  San Diego!

2014 is the first time a RUAEA convention is open to all 63,000 UA/CA retirees; RAFA members & their guests are most welcome to attend in San Diego this year!  There will be tours around the city, bay and zoo; a benefits panel discussion on retiree healthcare & pass travel; lots of socializing; shopping; nightly raffles, nightly auctions and an island casual outdoor banquet dinner.

It happens October 1st - 4th at the Town & Country Resort, but you must sign up A.S.A.P.; the deadline is Aug 31st for guaranteed group rates!

For a pdf of complete information, how to book the hotel & schedule of events, click:       http://www.ruaea.org/resources/pdf_loader.asp?fn=2014-Convention-Package.pdf

For a registration form, click the link below, print it, fill it out and mail it in NOW:     http://www.ruaea.org/resources/pdf_loader.asp?fn=2014-Convention-Registration-Form.pdf

See you in San Diego!!!

2)  New United number: 877-825-3729   International use: 847-825-3729

This is a new, centralized number for employees/retirees to reach United.

STOP and put it in your phone/address book right now!

Call  877-825-3729 and select option #2 (for retirees), then choose option:

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#1  Employee Travel Center (and the United Pass Line**)

#2  United Airlines Benefits Center (health insurance, etc)

#3  Human Resources Operations (life events, dependent verification)

#4  Payroll (employment verification)

#5  United We Care Employee Relief Fund


The only other phone number you might need is

Website log-in help  (for Flying Together)…………800-255-5801


** Use the United Pass Line, 877-825-3729, opt 2 (retirees), opt 1 (ETC) + opt 1(ePass) to create, change or cancel a pass travel booking by phone. The 6 digit password = your birthday: mmddyy     You may create, change or cancel a  listing for free if you only talk to the computer, if you speak with a live agent its free to change the dates and/or times of an existing listing or to cancel a booking.  The $25 Booking Service Fee is charged for new bookings, changes to origin and/or destinations and changes to type of ePass (personal to vacation and vice versa) because they require a new eTicket to be issued with the assistance of an ePass Desk agent. RAFA recommends you learn how to book, change and cancel pass travel for free by using employeeRES online.

 

Here is the official company notice posted on August 20, 2014 in the United Daily:

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Got a question? Call 877-UAL-ESC9

           

Employees and retirees are now able to call just one number to reach frequently used employee services. Have your United ID (U-ID) ready when you call 1-877-825-3729 (877-UAL-ESC9) to reach the Employee Travel Center, United We Care, Employee Information Services, Payroll Care Center, Employee Service Center, Pilot Service Center and Pilot iPad Help Desk. Internationalemployees/retirees should call 847-825-3729 (toll call) to reach these services.

If you dont know your U-ID, you can find it by hovering over your name on the upper left-hand corner of the Flying Together welcome screen. We will discontinue the previous phone numbers on Oct. 1, so please update your phone lists.

Our work to consolidate employee service phone numbers is part of our Project Quality initiative to take $2 billion out of our annual cost structure by 2017 by improving the quality and efficiency of everything we do. Through Project Quality, we will improve not only our financial results, but also our operational reliability and customer service, for better consistency and less stress for customers and employees.

3) New TSA fee effective July 21st for some non-revs

 From the employeeRES home page:

 NEW

 TSA Aviation Security Fee (AY) to increase

 

Beginning July 21, the TSA Aviation Security Fee (AY) applied to employee pass travel will change.  The current $2.50 fee per enplanement will increase to $5.60 per segment and will be assessed on:

  *All service-charge-applicable passes, such as personal ePasses, purchased for premium cabin travel for all employees and retirees with less than 25 years of company service and their eligible pass riders

  *All buddy ePasses

The AY fee is not charged on:

  *Positive-space company business

  *Space-available vacation ePasses

  *Economy cabin pass travel

4) Pass Travel Tips

The Employee Travel Center created a summer newsletter titled Pass Travel Summer Tips which can be found on the Travel tab of Flying Together.  We all can use these helpful tips anytime of the year.  Look for the fall edition with more travel tips in the near future. 

5) Pass Travel using your computer, smartphone and/or tablet with website, bookmark, shortcut, app.confused?

Recently I went to Europe and was able to buy ZED tickets on Lufthansa from Italy to Sweden and Germany, and list for my return flight on United, AMS-IAH-SFO, all on my iPhone using the FlyingTogether full site and my credit card; cool!”……SFOSW retiree

Can you do that?  Nope? OK, lets review:


Employees & retirees use Uniteds intranet website, FlyingTogether. The general public uses Uniteds public website, united.com, and they can download the United Airlines app to their mobile devices.read on.


For non-rev flying we use the "Flying Together website (it requires a file number and password).  The web address (url) for "Flying Together” is: https://flyingtogether.ual.com


Using a computer: If you type that address into your computers browser (Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, etc) it will take you to the FlyingTogether full site. 

The Travel" tab has everything you need to know about non-rev flying (programs, policies, tutorials). You can list for United flights on employeeRES, buy discounted confirmed seats (myUAdiscount) and buy Other Airline (ZED) tickets.


Using a smartphone/tablet: If you type the address https://flyingtogether.ual.com into the browser on your mobile device it will take you to a different version of Flying Together called "FT Mobile, which is simpler and easier to navigate on smaller screen.


One option on the FT Mobile menu is the Travel tab; if you click on that youre taken to Mobileres (a simplified version of employeeRES for UA non-rev travel designed for mobile devices). There you can check loads, list and check-in for United flights*.

To access Mobileres directly on a smartphone or tablet, use this address:

 https://mobileres.ual.com


*Important note when using Mobileres: you cannot list for any United flight that incurs service charges, departure taxes or customs fees because Mobileres does not accept credit cards. Likewise, Mobileres cannot be used to buy myUAdiscount tickets or tickets on Other Airlines (credit card needed). 

However, at the very bottom of the Mobileres screen is a link to Full Site; click on that to go to the full "Flying Together" website.


You may list and pay for United flights with service charges/taxes/fees using your mobile device by accessing employeeRES via the Full Site.

You can buy Other Airline tickets and MyUAdiscount tickets using a smartphone/tablet on the Full Site. Go to the Travel tab, Travel Programs, then go to the "Other Airline" or myUAdiscount" page.


When using a computer you should bookmark the Flying Together website so you dont have to type the address into your browser again, although you will still log-in every time. If you dont know how to bookmark a website in your computers browser, ask a kid or Google it.

When using a smartphone or tablet you should create a shortcut icon that appears on your home screen so you dont have to type the url address for FlyingTogether or Mobileres into your browser again. If you dont know how to do that on your mobile device, ask Google.

Note: the shortcut icon for Mobileres looks quite similar to the app icon for United Airlines.which brings us to the United Airlines app. 


United Airlines has an award-winning app for the general public; no password is required. This is an excellent app for mobile devices and especially for Mileage Plus members.

NOTE: non-rev travel cannot be booked using the United Airlines app, HOWEVER, when traveling non-rev, its very smart to have the United Airlines app on your device.

Why? Because the app updates the standby list and seat chart in real time as the aircraft is being boarded.  Check it out!


More information about the United Airlines app and where to download it is here:

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/wireless/default.aspx

Once downloaded, the United Airlines app icon will be added to your mobile devices home screen.

6) Can un-Enrolled Friends fly into the new year?

Thanks to Carol Schmus, HNL RAFA, for passing this along:

If you change your enrolled friend(s) from 2014 to 2015, your 2014 EF(s) must complete all standby travel by 12/31/2014.  But what if your 2014 Enrolled Friend(s) buys a full fare discount ticket using myUAdiscount?

 

If your 2014 EF(s) departs on a myUAdiscount ticket in 2014 and plans to return in 2015, the ETC says: Your enrolled friend may travel on the return portion of the myUAdiscount ticket although he/she has been removed during the Open Enrollment period.

7) 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.

         7/25:  GUM-Japan svc reduced, SFO-GDL stops in Sept, more IAH-NAS

         7/28:  New onboard safety demos are global

         7/31:  UA flight attendants and other employees star in new safety demo     

         8/12:  SFO departure runway construction finishes a month early

         8/20:  New centralized phone number: 1-877-825-3729

         8/20:  Need a ride with Uber? Use the United Airlines app

         8/22:  Terminal 1 in ORD revamped with new kiosks

         8/22:  Stream movies to your device inflight on over 100 PDE planes

         8/25:  Daily non-stops EWR-Sarasota resume Feb 12th

         8/26:  Uniteds new 787-9 coming soon; will fly farther with 33 more pax

                 

        

Kirk Moore

Chairperson, RAFA Travel Benefits Committee                                               8/26/2014





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