United Airlines has introduced EasyUpdate to its suite of wireless services. The company describes the new service as “a significant enhancement in the way United communicates to its customers.”

EasyUpdate gives customers the option to decide how they receive information on their trip, the kind of information they can get and when they receive updates on their travel. Previously customers could only get updates on a text pager or e-mail enabled phone or PDA, and were limited as to when they got updates on travel.
With United EasyUpdate, travelers can receive a phone call at home, at work or on their cell phone, get an e-mail or receive a message on their fax machine, text pager or other wireless device, the airline said.

“United was the first airline to give business travelers the convenience of one-time registration,`` said Chris Bowers
, senior vice president of marketing and sales. “United EasyUpdate takes the airline`s Proactive Paging service a large step forward by giving our customers the ability to tailor our service to meet their specific needs and allows customers to receive information via voice or text.”

Customers wishing to take advantage of this new service need only register once using their Mileage Plus number at the airline`s Web site. There they can select the type of time-sensitive information they want to receive, such as departures, delays, arrivals, gate changes, cancellations, rebooking or upgrade confirmations.

Bowers said EasyUpdate lets customers request any number of messages to be sent to any combination of devices they choose. A customer can even have the same notification sent to multiple destinations to keep their spouse, colleague or assistant informed. Travelers who use EasyUpdate can also indicate what time of day they`d like to get these messages and view all United correspondence in their own message center.

Functions available in EasyAccess include:

 

Book a Flight: This function allows the customer to purchase a round trip or one-way flight through your wireless device.
Flight availability: This feature allows the customer to view domestic and international availability up to 331 days in the future on United flights. For Palm OS device`s without a wireless connection, the downloadable electronic timetable is available monthly on the Web. 

Flight status: This gives the customer up-to-the-minute flight status that includes departure/arrival times, gate numbers and departure/arrival status for United flights.
Flight paging: Much like the Flight status alerts feature on united.com this allows customers to request flight paging for future United flights.

Mileage Plus Summary: This function provides you with access to a summary of your Mileage Plus account.
Mileage Plus Award Travel Availability: This function permits customers to view domestic and international Mileage Plus award availability up to 331 days in the future on United flights.
Upgrade status: This lists current and future upgrade status of your upgrades on United flights.

Related stories on ITN:

(15/02/2002) United Airline`s CTO to Keynote BEA e-World

(03/08/2001) UAL offers wireless PDA flight bookings

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