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An Apple a Day Keeps United Away
The Travel Troubleshooter · November 15, 2002

Q: I spent 30 minutes trying to book a ticket on United Airlines' Web site only to have the site freeze repeatedly at the "pay for ticket" stage (I kept getting a "document contains no data" message). So I called United's Premier desk to book the ticket. I had all the needed information at hand - dates, times, flight numbers, etc. The agent said he couldn't book that fare because it was a Web fare. He gave me the phone number of Web support when I declined to book through him at a rate about $150 higher than the quoted fare of $350.

Web support said there was no problem with the site and waited while I went through every step again, with the same result. The clerk said he can't take bookings and gave me another number to call, which turned out to be reservations. Same answer as Premier: we don't book Web fares.

They passed me off to tech support (which I soon figured out was Web support all over again). A testy clerk told me I should buy a new computer because United.com doesn't work with Netscape or Macintosh. I explained that my company uses all Macs and does not permit Internet Explorer to be installed on any of them. He said, in essence, "too bad for you."

I asked for customer relations. The pleasant lady said she was sorry for my "problem" (I had said that it was United's problem that it was turning away money from willing passengers) but nothing could be done. She refused to give me the name or phone number or e-mail of the president of UAL (none of these items appears on the Web site). She said she would "pass on my concerns" to management - but she refused to transfer me to anyone with any authority to book the ticket. Do you have contact information to upper management?

-- Kathleen Much

A: Talk about getting the runaround. I called United Airlines spokesman Jeff Green and asked him to untangle this web of referrals and to help you figure out what had happened with the site. I'm not sure you're going to like the answer.

The only known problem with the United.com Web site not working properly is with a Macintosh running AOL's browser, version 5.0. Green said there are some "look and feel issues" - in other words, the site might run slower and some of the windows might not open up correctly. But even if you're on a Mac/AOL 5.0 setup, you should still be able to book on the United.com site.

"When Ms. Much called customer support, she was given incorrect information," says Green. "We've tested United.com on every browser, on every platform, to make sure it works. We've tested it on every Macintosh operating system."

Green and I are both puzzled by the "tough luck" approach taken by some of the phone agents you spoke with. It wouldn't make sense for an airline that's struggling to stay out of bankruptcy to not want your business. These United owner/employees should instead be falling all over themselves to help you.

There's a good reason why a sales agent can't book a Web fare: the online prices have been discounted precisely because there's no agent involved. The carrier is saving money through automation, and it's passing some of the savings along to you. But once a person gets introduced, the price goes up.

You asked if I knew someone in upper management. I can actually do better than that - I can give you the number of someone who can help you. Actually, the numbers. Next time you run into this problem - and I'm assured that it won't happen again - call Web customer support at (800) 589-5582. If they give you the runaround, call the Web password information line at (866) 209-3323; that's the equivalent of taking it up a level, Green says.

Still no luck? Then phone United's customer relations department at (877) 228-1327, which is the highest level you can take a query like this, according to Green. Think of it as writing a letter to the president of the company, only that your question will probably get answered a lot quicker.

United isn't completely blameless. Despite its insistence that its site works with every browser, I know from personal experience that it's impractical to test every page of every site on every browser on every platform. It's just not a realistic claim, so I think there's a chance you've discovered a bug that eluded the testers. The airline might want to take another look at its site on the Mac - it could be turning down a lot of business from loyal Apple adherents.

As far as you're concerned, I would try to upgrade your Web browser. If that doesn't work, consider calling your Internet service provider to find out if there could be a problem on its end. Green says that oftentimes, Internet users will try to log on at busy times of the day and blame the Web site when it's the ISPs that's running slow. It may be something worth checking out.

The short-term solution is to just try booking the ticket on another computer. If you want to save $150, it may be the only way.

Christopher Elliott is National Geographic Traveler's ombudsman. This column appears weekly on this site.