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Home  >  Airline Merger • Continental Airlines • shares • United Airlines  >  Armageddon for United/Continental Passengers on 03 March?
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Armageddon for United/Continental Passengers on 03 March?

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 1, 2012 Leave a Comment

At 0100 Central Time on Saturday, 03 March, United Airlines will flip the switch, transitioning from its Apollo Reservation System it has used for the last four decades to Continental’s in-house SHARES system. Will the transition be smooth? History suggests no.

To be blunt, the history of these kinds of data transitions is horrific. When US Airways and the old America West combined computers in March 2007, travelers were inconvenienced for weeks, and as many as 70 percent of the carrier’s planes ran late for days. Tiny Virgin America spent months trying to straighten out its operations after a transition to new software last fall. And despite United’s claim that it has done four full-scale dress rehearsals in anticipation of this weekend’s change, one usually compliant securities analyst used the airline’s recent earnings call to raise the specter of War Games, the 1983 Matthew Broderick movie about a new defense computer that almost starts a nuclear war.

There is really no use now in speculating how things will go, but I would urge you to take steps to prepare yourself for the worst. First, print out your mileage and upgrade balances from united.com before the transition. In case there are any hiccups in the transition of points or upgrades from one account to another, you want proof of what you had with pre-merger United (PMUA).

Second, if you are traveling, look into alternate routings on United/Continental to get you where you need to go. In case of delays, it always helps to have options ready to feed to the agent–at least on United, that can occasionally result in being booked into first class if economy class is full.

Last, avoid checking bags if you can–there are few things worse than lost or delayed luggage and the new luggage processing system may present issues for baggage handlers that at the very least delay delivery of bags.

I’ll have some thoughts on the end of United as we know it tomorrow or Friday, but look on the bright side tonight–there is no argument that at least when it comes to websites, Continental has a far better product. Particularly when it comes to booking award travel, the new system will be quite advanced and make it refreshingly easy for consumers to book flights on (and likely lead to a noticeable drop in Star Alliance award inventory).

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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