What to expect on 3/3/12?

I'm flying LHR-LAX on the morning of March 3rd and am curious to hear what the community expects. Business as usual or total disaster? Here's the quote from the recent Bloomsberg Businessweek article:

I dont think it would be drastic change on a particular day

Actually, that's exactly how it's designed to occur. Big bang switchover of virtually every system UA travelers directly or indirectly deal with.

Smisek did say if it went badly, they could abort it in teh Q4 Conference Call.

Guess it would not hurt to have a print out of all e-ticketed reservations.

That's good to hear. But I wonder when they determine if things are going badly. UA 935 leaves LHR at 1030 (so 0530 Eastern) so I wonder if the call would be made by then. From the article, it sounded like they did the ops-related switchover in the middle of the night US time.

Yep, that sounds like a good idea. During the system crash of June 2011, Mrs Bruin had her boarding pass on her smartphone and wasn't allowed to board her flight, while those with paper passes were, and the GAs couldn't print out new tickets.

or request an old fashioned paper taicket on CO or UA Do they still have those?

They were offering them for extra cash at one point. I know that all airlines were supposed to be eTicket only a little while back but there are some hold-outs still, I believe.

Well, the systems are supposed to have the "big bang" change, but the theory is that the customers won't notice so much. From a passenger perspective the goal is that no one even notices. I don't think it will be that smooth, but my guess is that most of the immediate travel issues won't be issues at all.

I am more worried about the GA's using the new system and people not being patient enough to wait an extra minute to get everything done.

Considering I will be somewhere over the Atlantic when March 3 hits, I'm hoping for the best.
Of course, my sticker on my expired card will actualy be expired also when I land in LHR March 3rd. And unless the newUA will be kind enough to deliver my new 1K card to me somewhere on a beach in Maui, I think getting into the lounge will be my worst experiance that day (I hope that is).

Life as we know it will come to an end.

As a Californian, I have plenty of earthquake supplies to hunker down for a week or two.

Hmmm... I am about to book a flight to PRG, leaving on March 1, and, in view of some of these doomsday scenarios, am wondering whether I should stick with UACO to earn miles toward lifetime status, or play it safe and go with a European *A carrier...

I think that I will just flip a coin...

I to will be travelling, will be in Tel Aviv on March 3, hopefully when I check in for my return a few days later I don't see myself going to Siberia instead Also will not have my new 1k card, as I leave Feb 23, but can't worry about that. If I don't get into the lounges on my return it is no big deal to me. If they want to let me in with 1K *gold printed on my BP that's fine if not I will survive.

I have a United Club card that gets me into LH business lounges, but just for the heck for it, I will try to get in with my BP, making sure that it has UA*G and my FF# on it, by first showing it with my passport, and then if they want more, I will show the expired 1K card, and see what happens...

Oh, good point! I should bring my United Club card as well since my 1K card will be expired on 3/3 and I don't know if I'll get the new card before my outbound leg.

So I take it you voted for Y2K (few bugs, no biggie) as opposed to Rapture (non-event), Chicxulub (mega disaster), or Mayan Doomsday (we shall see... ).

I'd have went with the Mayan Doomsday... teh Rapture sounded too boring.

United Club Card...Don't leave home without it!

Agents have been working for months on this project. sUA agents are being training and working in Shares at sCO counters. Res agents are being trained in EZR throughout the system including off shore calll centers. Hundreds of sCO agents will placed throught the system as monitors/help for sUA to fall back on. Currently several small stations are working in Shares only and this does include sUA flights.

Not to go off topic too far. I personally don't know why most think that the UC is something that is so important. I find them really boring. You can't sit and relax because everyone or most everyone is on a cell phone, others working on computers, there is no interaction between anyone. I go there for some snacks a quick look at my email and I am gone, probably have spent no more than 30 minutes inside one. I would rather people watch in the terminal, I find that much interesting than the boring ones in the UC. Please don't jump on me for using the word boring, but IMO it's true.

I'm with you on this premise.

IIRC at this stage in the NW/DL merger, people were wise to have printouts of itineraries and tickets, especially ticket numbers, but it was less of a mess than folks had feared. However, when something went wrong, many agents did not know what to do with the computer system and fixing problems was very slow. Perhaps the biggest risks were things like SWU upgrades and of course codeshares, mixed metal itineraries, and tickets issued by on line travel agents. Most people with normal tickets purchased on the airlines' websites were able to do OLCI and things were fine. Of course, it would be wise to allow extra time.

I was speaking to a CO elite line agent today who told me that he has already requested March 2, 3 and 4 as vacation days. Yikes! I like the print-out idea. I have a transcon scheduled for the 4th.

Why do I have the feeling that that vacation request has a good chance of getting rejected?

I have no travel plans around those days and actually no current booked flights at all (though that will change soon). So for the time being I am not concerned.

As for printouts... I *always* have printouts of my eReceipts. In pdf format, not on paper, but I print it right after I book it, and then every time I (or UA) change something like upgrades or seat assignments.

So this CO agent would rather take time off in one of the most critical stages of the merger, especially when it directly affects the travelling public. If I were the boss he could/would have as much time off as he wished, in fact he would be fired. Obviously not a dedicated employee, probably does as little as possible when he is on the job, just enough to get by.