QIK /SHARES migration

[crusher]

Pacer to Sabre problems were minimal. The first day was a little dicey but that had more to do with res-decs issues and takeoff numbers. Most issues were pretty well taken care of in less than week , can't say that for shares after a YEAR. IT SUCKED THEN IT SUCKS NOW. I would much rather have a system where I tell it what I want rather than it deciding if ,when and how I might obtain it.

 

[john john]

...please provide specifics -

If you need to be told about all the SHARES/QIK problems you must be far away for intense every day use. Every front line employee will tell you how bad he or she hates the system. HP and you attitude of get the job done has every thing to do with the employees not the POS system. My God how many pages of fixits are they and how many have been fix 100% and how many to go to be fix 100% and how long does it take.BUSY BUSY BLINK BLINK TIMEOUT TIMEOUT LOOP LOOP

 

[CLT CS AGENT]

response to CLT CS AGENT

1. When entering city pairs and it says "no service available" – see my response to crusher – there is an automated system that automatically adds all city pairs reported

The system should already know this.

2. The ability to find international connections after irregular opps – see #1

BIG TIME WRONG! I had 10 Sepcial Military Ops that needed to get to DOH, their CLT to LGW was delayed due to MTC. They were going to misconnect in LGW. Your QIK would not find find them a flight from CLT to DOH or even LGW to DOH! These guys had their laptops out on my ticket counter trying to find airlines and connection points to DOH from LGW. I called my wife at home and had here also log on to a travel web site to help. Keep on blowing your smoke, AWA blow hard.

3. Sabre would let you check in up to 10 pax at one time – QIK will allow 6, go to Ctrl+G, F10, opt 8 or Ctrl+C, F10, F9, opt 4.

By this time I could check them in one at a time...yawn

4. Checking bags with more than 2 connection points, now we have to write out manual bag tags. How classy. – we have this activated in shares now and I have been told the updates to the print server is in progress. I didn’t know that having to handwrite something was the definition of being not classy

This is an automated world, when an agent pulls out a paper bag tag and starts writing on it, it doesn't envoke professionalism. The same way when you have to write out a meal voucher or a hand written hotel voucher.

5. Reroute and adjust ticket in a matter of seconds with limited entries...AND IT WOULD WORK – funny thing about this – we currently use sabre’s product (TIPS) for reissues – HAHA – we are finally migrating away from TIPS and the 10-15 masks you would have to fill out and going to a new reissue tool. It is the same tool that the web uses for the fare shopping experience.

Not talking about TIPS, talking regular rebooking.

6. Busy Busy Busy.....TIME OUT! – and sabre never did this? I don’t think so.

Maybe once a year, not almost every day.

7. The ability to do command pricing without having to call the help desk and sitting on hold for more than 25 mins and then having to answer to a help desk agent for why I am doing this. – what type of pricing do you need?

There are a few reasons an agent will need to do command pricing...one is an unticketed reservation dropped out of the system and you try to help the pax get back the price they had. Hum, that falls under helping the customer, something you implied we were not doing.

8. If it is sooooo great then why did the company have to hire over 100 extra employees in CLT alone to deal with the slow down caused by this WONDERFUL system! – so you are blaming the system for training issues and the agents not knowing (and in some cases, unwilling to learn) the system?

Don't pass that off on training (which by the way SUCKED) Station manager Terry Pope at CLT even acknowledged that QIK's flaws was a reason for the extra personnel. Otherwise why open 10 extra stations in CLT just to check people in.

While I will give them credit for making some changes to QIK, it just reflects the way this company does business...always playing catch up and scrambling around to fix something instead of being prepared and ready in advance. – again, I would like to point out the THREE YEARS it took sabre to catch up when “pre-merger†US Airways migrated to sabre.

In all honesty, I will never understand why you folks won't admit you screwed up instead of passing it off on something else.

Keep telling yourself that we are the problem if that makes you feel better.

 

[JetguyCLT]

Check out this jenkity stuff.....Today in CLT some sets at the gates were displaying the upline and equipment type in the flifo? What the puck?

 

[REACC1]

I have been reading alot of these posts now for about a year now and I have posted once before. I really have gotten tired of hearing all the complaining about the computer system that we have here at US Airways. I have worked with both sabre and shares and I know they are different, but they both let you get the job done. Yes, I know it might not be the same work flow that you have been doing for years, but they both have the entries needed to get the flight out.

I keep hearing that shares does not have all these functions that sabre has. What things in sabre were you able to do that you can't in shares...please provide specifics - I am tired this generic complaint that shares is a sub-par reservation system and that sabre is the "end all be all" of reservation systems. Is that why even AA is shopping for a new system? (yes I know this to be true).

Also, even the title of this thread says that we are just one year into the use of this system as a new airline...when pre-merger US Airways migrated from pacer to sabre, was sabre ready to go and everything complete the day of migration? Sorry, dont think so...couldn't do manual fare quotes and didnt even have TIPS complete and done for three years - let me repeat that - THREE YEARS! So as far as I am concerned, we still have a good two years to see where the shares system is before we start comparing it to the "end all be all" reservation system.

the other thing I like to hear is that in sabre you were able to do all the native entries you wanted...right - dont think so. Sabre did the same thing that QIK does, but in sabre they were called "masks." Yeah, you were not able to do any native entries to reissue a ticket, issue SSTs, hotel/meal vouchers, OSDB...need I go on? It is the same thing.

So because agents dont know how to use the system and say "this Shares system is horrible," you are going to blame IT for all your problems? I personally know many of the IT personal here at US Airways, including the QIK Development team, and I know they they are working their tails off to get QIK and Shares working at a level that every agent can be happy. I know that QIK has projects complete and ready to go (Standby Lists enhancements, 2nd Bag, new format lists, Upline flight), but are waiting on many other factors before they can be fully released to the agents (Shares, ACS, Training, etc). It will take time - it took sabre 3 years, so why dont you give our IT team that same amount of time? Stop complaining and start taking care of the customers!

Hey you, in denial,
It was apx three days with pacer to sabre cut over, I was pissed then, and I was just a youngish man. OVER THREE MONTHS, for the initial cut over from Sabre to shares and QIK SUCKS big time. It doesn't work period! They may be "working their tails off",but they apparently do not care or understand what is happening on the front line, (they really need to understand the front line to truly grasp what they go through.) It is apparent that this will never happen.This is the direct result of their incompetency! I am not here to goad you, It is what it is. You put your car in drive, why would it go backward? Picture that, and why would any one want that to happen? The system is counterproductive. Why in the world can they not test it out and make it operational before the debue is beyond me. Shows impulsiveness which is personally weak to me.
Why in the world would a res sys pull up a res when unsolicited? Why would it put a name in an sst that wasn't requested? These time sucking things have happened to me personally and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
I am trying like hell to take care of the passenger dispite the "tools" I have to work with.
Bottom line, IT sucks!

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

I suppose that if the only car I had ever seen or driven was a Trabant, I might think it was a nice automobile indeed. Certainly beats walking. If, on the other hand, I was used to driving, say, an Audi and suddenly had start driving a Trabi, I would be rather disappointed. For mousetrap and the other boosters of QIK/SHARES...did you actually work with Sabre? If you had, you might understand the frustration that may of us feel with QIK/SHARES.


It's almost time for John Stewart so I don't have time to add anyting to the points made by crusher and others countervailng Mousetrap's contentions exept this.

What the blazes is the "automated" process for adding availability markets?
True, the "availability" group as they are called in QIX fix DRS does add city pairs from time to time. But sometimes only after repeated requests. And sometimes not at all.
Thank goodness that some Sabre sets can still pull up schedules. (Nothing can be booked on these sets, but the information can be used to long sell segments in QIK. Of course, good luck getting the OAL space to actually show if the space was confirmed or not).

 

[InternationalShannon]

What da puck????

Why oh why when I did a GoFirst today did the pnr upgrade in o class and didnt give me the prompt to pay? I had to go do an SST. Every go first did that to me today. Is it just me? It could be just me because I normally give them away***

Has anyone else noticed this and had to do a stupid SST?


***note that was a joke. InternationalSNN does not endorse giving away free upgrades nor does the airline. InternationalSNN always follows policies and procedures. InternationalSNN is also fully aware that management is reading her posts and would like people to stop printing them and trying to get her in trouble. InternationalSNN would not make her screen name so obvious if her intent was to post things that could get her fired. Traveling out of D-Con? Yes, I am THAT Shannon. I dont care who knows.

Thank you and have a nice day.

 

[john john]

Thank goodness that some Sabre sets can still pull up schedules. (Nothing can be booked on these sets, but the information can be used to long sell segments in QIK. Of course, good luck getting the OAL space to actually show if the space was confirmed or not).

Talk to me how can this be done. We use to be able to do it but they caught on and took it away. Please any thing to help with the POS system to help with the customer

 

[atoguy]

Ok...I just started my 26th year. I used Piedmonts old system, then Usairways, then Sabre. I got to know them all well because I feel that is the only way I can do my best to help the customer. So when I knew we were going to change again I got involved to learn all I could. And it is still the same people over and over who have just refused to learn the system we go to. I have put out local papers in station with Qik Tips on them. Alot of the folks loved them. But I can go around and have people say, oh how can I do this or why can't we do that. And most of what they are asking was put out in one of the Qik Tips papers I did or ones from the training department. One agent even put the papers in a binder to refer back to. So even though they know they are there and you give them information, they don't use it. Granted there are things we can still use. But just like with any system we have been on we have always found a work around. We had to do that with Sabre in the beginning since Tips came in like 3 phases over a couple years.

 

[crusher]

Th difference is that Sabre worked from day one , the same cannot be said about this crap system which is marginally functional over 1 year later and still hasn't had the basic enhancements taken care of such as flifo and standby list processing. Need I remind you of the original qik/shares standby list and what a cluster that was to simply look at? When will Tempe stop trying to do EVERYTHING on the cheap and spend some money for a system that actually works rather than continually putting more and more makeup on this pig? Qik shares will never ever be a quality reliable MODERN system. It will always be years behind the competition. The basic problem here is that shares is an inferior system compared to the others that are out there such as Sabre and Amadeus and will always be inferior since EDS has no reason to really improve it as it has limited customers for the system. With long term contracts they know the airlines can not just walk away from it. So there is little incentive to really update it. It's technology is at least as old as Sabre , but Sabre actually does the job.

 

[phlagent]

Amadeus is on its way.....look they are uasing the amadeus platform in Europe website.
we have to have Amadeus by the end of 2009 for the star allaince. that is one thing you can look forward to
this junk we use today will soon be history.....................................

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

we have to have Amadeus by the end of 2009 for the star allaince. that is one thing you can look forward to
this junk we use today will soon be history.....................................

While I do so hope you are right, AFIAK having all member carriers on Amadeus is only a goal, not a requirement for *A. A few months ago, Tempe put an FAQ stating that US does not plan to adopt the system.

(The nay-sayers out there would probably say it's non issue, since we'll probably get kicked out of the Alliance anyway, )

 

[InternationalShannon]

(The nay-sayers out there would probably say it's non issue, since we'll probably get kicked out of the Alliance anyway, )

Dp you think that things would change if the *A threatened to kick us out? That makes me wonder...

 

[crusher]

Do you really think that this group of penny pinchers would actually spend the funds that would be required to get us a real res system? I tend to doubt it myself . Remember they really think that they saved 100 mil with the change to qik/shares , but they obviously failed to take into account the lost revenue and the much increased labor costs and increased headcount with all the included benefits for the IT dept and customer service , not to mention the constant training cost of the revolving door mentality. The 100mil just flew out the window. The change was a major negative on the balance sheet. They will never admit to the loss , the failure , and the incompetence. The "High cost of Cheap " rears it ugly head once again. If we're lucky someone will actually want us as a merger partner and we can kill 2 birds with one stone 1) Get rid of Tempe management , 2) Get a REAL res system. Any outsider looking at this res system has to be shaking their heads wondering how we can expect to continue with this POS. Something I'm sure most front line employees wonder about as well.

 

[700UW]

So where is the poster who said there is nothing wrong with shares go?

The person disapeared after you all posted the problems.