UA Insider this afternoon announced on the forums that both United And Singapore Airlines have “agreed” to remove award inventory from online searches on the web or a mobile device… beginning tomorrow December 13. Regular revenue availability will still appear, where appropriate, is my assumption.
From the announcement:
Hi everyone,
I wanted to give you an early heads up about an upcoming change to the Star partner award availability you see displayed online. Singapore Airlines and United have agreed to remove Singapore Airlines inventory from our award flight search results on united.com and on the United Mobile App. This will take effect starting tomorrow, December 13, You will still to be able to book and change award reservations involving Singapore Airlines by calling our reservations lines.
Please let me know if you have any clarifying questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them.
So, as one forum member asked, will phone service fees be waived for those who get charged them now that they won’t be able to book SQ awards online? [Updated to add:] UA Insider recently posted that NO, phone service fees will not be waived, explaining:
The simple reason–and this is a consistent policy across all airlines which are not yet online–is that there is substantial additional work required to price and ticket these awards in our contact centers.
Ugh… another change no one is going to like. I’ll update this post as UA Insider reveals more/answers questions.
– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.
Related:
Flyer Unfriendly: United Pulls Upgrade, Elite Award Availability From ExpertFlyer
Recap of United’s Downgrades: Award Charts, ExpertFlyer and Meals
The New United Airlines Upgrade and Award Fare Buckets
Singapore Airlines Trip Report: JFK-FRA-JFK in Business Class
I can’t imagine United was the one who requested this. I assume the best way to check availability is to use the ANA tool, is that a reasonable assumption/plan?
@Kris: Yep, that’s my plan. Use the ANA tool and then call UA reservations to book.
WTF?
C class availability has gone from ANA too so that’s not going to help you! This issue is NOT limited to UA.
@Barry: Thanks for the info on the ANA tool… hadn’t searched for SQ on there for a while.
and by the way on “Lifemiles” it seems to be gone as well… Anyone knowing if you can still see it with the (paid) KVS tool ?
@Andre: Great question about KVS. Hopefully someone with a subscription will answer.