If you’ve been reading Your Mileage May Vary for any length of time, you’ve probably seen that we’ve made it pretty clear that we’re not really big fans of United Airlines. Here’s why.
In full disclosure, I will admit that I’m actually going to be taking a United flight home from San Francisco in a couple of weeks. The main reasons include time and cost. But if I’m going to be perfectly honest, not flying with them is really much more of a “Joe” decision than a “Sharon” one. I’ve respected his preferences, but (A) he won’t be on this flight and (B) I simply have different hills I prefer to stand on. Heck, I even scored a pass to a United Club lounge!
All that being said, I do pay attention to United, to an extent, just so I know what’s going on. And through that, I found THE BEST video ever.
If you’ve ever made a plane reservation, you know that the airline in question will almost always try to upsell you. United is no different. When making your reservation, they may offer the opportunity for you to pay for:
- A standard checked bag
- United Club trip pass
- Getting to choose your seat
- Getting a better seat
- A meal or snack that’s better than pretzels or cookie
- etc., Etc., ETC.
But United? I gotta hand it to them. Cuz Alex Z., who advertises himself as an “entertainment website” on Facebook, posted a short video of what may be THE most honest message United has ever written when it comes to upselling.
What other airline is going to admit they’re having trouble upselling your flight? LOLOL!
Alex Z. isn’t the only one to have this problem, by the way. Someone else mentioned it on Twitter a few days earlier:
@united so for days now, I try to upgrade a planned purchase from Basic Economy to Economy and all I ever get is: We're having trouble upselling your flight. Please try again later.
Maybe it's time to fix it?
— Monica Simmons (@AKMooselover) May 1, 2022
The actual problem
Some people thought the problem was limited if you were trying to book via Google flights. But after some sleuthing, I found what may be the issue, from a third person who mentioned it, asked United and got a reply.
According to the United representative they were speaking to, that error can happen when the flight in question isn’t officially confirmed. For example, the airline may still be forecasting how many flights out of City A going to City B they actually want to have on a given day. So if it happens, they suggest to keep trying to book the flight. Eventually, it will be confirmed (and then you can book it), or removed from the system.
Which has got to be one of THE MOST stupid ways to have a placeholder for a potential flight I’ve ever heard of. But there ya go. It also doesn’t explain how someone was actually trying to upgrade and they had problems upselling her, too. So, I dunno.
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