United Airlines Chat
I don’t fly United as much as I used to. But when I do these days, it’s fine enough. With a healthy Travel Bank balance, I’m dabbling more with the airline, including their more premium offerings. I just booked a transcontinental flight in Polaris business class, and I’m closer to blowing more funds on a United Club membership. I certainly didn’t go into this itinerary planning to deal with a United Airlines chat agent. But I was pleasantly surprised by the efficiency of the process, perhaps a pleasure by normal chat standards. Here’s a bit about my experience.
I Went Against My Principle…
…of separately booking flights involving a long layover (I also book round-trips as two one-ways, instead). I prefer the flexibility of keeping things separate, including the ability to make changes to one part of the trip without affecting the other. In these cases, I’m less likely to need help from a rep. But this time, the price was a bit cheaper booking the two flights with a long layover as one itinerary.
Of course, I subsequently needed to change my second flight, and naturally, I couldn’t do that with my multi-city ticket. I immediately began dreading the inevitable phone call to United.
Enter United Airlines Chat
But as I sought out the phone number, I came across United Airlines chat on their Help Center page. I remembered my positive experiences embracing chat capabilities – SiriusXM, AAA, and Amex, among others – and quickly opted to try a new one. Why not?!
I simply clicked “Chat Now” and was immediately connected to a bot. I requsted to change a trip with an agent, and the bot provided a five minute wait time. Within one minute, a rep joined the chat. I provided my confirmation number, described which flight I wanted to change, and finally, my new preference. The agent also requested my date of birth, email address, and phone number for security reasons.
The conversation continued, sometimes taking a few minutes for the agent to respond. I found myself clarifying (maybe more than necessary) via chat, ensuring the accurate flight date, class of service, and seat assignments. I’m glad I did. The agent almost erroneously rebooked my ticket in economy. We caught it, though. I owed a small payment for the fare difference, entering in my credit card info in a separate window. The entire chat process took a bit over 20 minutes.
Conclusion
I recommend clarifying everything up front, as the agent abruptly left the chat after making the changes (see above). But hey, I was ready to get off the chat after 20 minutes, too. Overall, I shouldn’t overstate the capabilities of United Airlines chat. But these days, I’m happy enough when things just work correctly. Average is the new excellent; at least I’m not disappointed that way. So then, I’ll add United Airlines chat to my pile of not-painful options for travel support.
Have you used United Airlines chat? How was your experience?
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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
