Just spoke with a fellow f/t'er who booked a trip SFO-ORD-CDG/CDG-ORD-SFO yesterday for September and when she applied her GPU on-line for the return, she was prompted to pay the Chirac tax and could not proceed with the upgrade request until she did-and the upgrade would be waitlisted as there was no upgrade availabilty. Don't know if this applies to calling and having the GPU applied and to be fair, it does make checking in ex-CDG with an upgrade easier as now you don't have to pay the Chriac tax at check-in but imho, typical COdbaUA....collect your money now for something that you don't receive until <insert your time frame here> and then make you wait months to get a refund if the service (in this case, an upgrade) is not provided.

 

I really don't like this new trend, UA collecting fees and taxes for something you have not received yet then having to get a refund when you don't get it. This is in another thread that they are doing the same thing with the upgrade co-pays.

 

Indeed! Customers are essentially being required to make interest free loans to UA. In the case of a miles+copay, UA might have the money for months for a product it may never provide.

 

There is no reason whatsoever for this profoundly customer unfriendly practice, and I could care less how PMCO did things. Giving my credit card and pre-authorizing payment is one thing; having UA demand that I pay this tax up front when we all know that if the upgrade doesn't clear I'm going to have to do bloody battle with the refunds department is absurd. This would be reason enough for me to fly another carrier

 

I fly this a lot. I think part of the reason may be that they kept getting arguments/meltdowns at the counter when they charged people.

Agents were always incredibly relieved when I just pulled out my card and said "I know."

(That said, they pulled my GPU, didn't get me onto the list after checkin, and I'm still waiting for it to come back.)

 

I don't know this for sure, but I'm 99% positive this change is related to SHARES not being able to handle (or no one has written it) payments when something clears.

It appears (from PMCO board) that they have taken the co-pay on request since 2008, so I'm guessing that since the whole operation is seemingly CO, their method prevailed, because it was the easiest to implement in COdbaUA - basically, do nothing.

-jeremy

 

One positive aspect is that the fee will be disclosed... like a previous poster, I've noticed how the checkin agents are relieved when they deal with a passenger who expects the fee and doesn't question it.

Still, I don't like the idea of paying first. I don't trust the refund process. I'm sure I'll get my money back eventually, but if it involves calling multiple times, then I should be compensated for my time.

 

Maybe 3/3 copay upgrades from CDG will be 'on the house' with comped Chriac tax?

 

Agreed on the complaints -- bs to have to pay this upfront before you actually get upgraded.

I buy pre-ordered products all the time online (lots costing thousands of dollars) and my card doesn't get billed until the product ships.

Seems like airlines should operate the same way.

 

I just tried to use a GPU for LHR-ORD. I have used SWU's on this flight numerous times in the past and have never paid a duty or fee for the upgrade. Today, the system is attempting to collect $61 USD from me before processing the upgrade (which it appears will clear). Why a new fee all of a sudden?

 

Nasty practices- making money on the float with OUR $.

 

Yup-giving COdbaUA an interest free loan tho the last time I looked, loans generally required loan documents and unless COdbaUA is disclosing this upfront that it is in fact an interest free loan......

 

If Frenchy does it to US citizens, we should do it to Frenchy, plus we should match the extortion for landing at Heathrow

 

Just to note that with interest rates at zero I don't think it benefits them much. Secondly, last time I did this, they took the cc info, but never put the charge through. (Upgrade never cleared).

 

I recently had a miles+copay upgrade into CDG airport clear, and found a $48 charge from United on my credit card for an airport passenger duty tax. I'd heard they were doing this to LHR, but didn't know it also applied to CDG. Of course I'm annoyed at this, given that I already paid a hefty copay, but my question isn't about United's decision to impose the fee, but rather its disclosure or lack thereof.

I'm generally pretty good about reading what I'm clicking through, and I don't remember ever seeing any kind of disclosure about this $48. It annoys me even more when people charge stuff to my credit card without first telling me the amount or letting me chose the credit card. Can someone who is familiar with the online upgrade process recently tell me where this amount is disclosed, and how to know whether and how much I will be charged in addition to the stated amount in the future?

Thanks.