ChrisMoss7
May 14, 12, 4:03 pm
My sister has been teaching in Zambia, Africa this past year. She is coming back home for the summer with 4 bags though and I used some of my US miles for a *A Business ticket with the following routing/carriers/classes:
SA 63 LUN-JNB 13:20 – 15:25 Business
SA 207 JNB – IAD 18:50 – 06:25 (+1) Business
UA 4753 DCA - CLE 18:23 - 19:43 Coach (Business is not offered on this flight)
UA 4272 CLE – GRB 20:45 – 21:02 Coach (Business is not offered on this flight)
The 12 hour layover and airport change was not intentional but all that was available for that day. Outbound travel has already commenced so we can’t change the ticket. That is the absolutely WORST feature of this type ticket. I hesitate to use this type ticket for that one reason. Do other alliances’ tickets work that way?
But I digress. I am going to recommend that she try to same-day-confirm or standby for a flight out of IAD rather than heading straight to DCA when she arrives. I have no personal experience with United’s policy but this seems doable according to their website unless there is a problem with the booking code or using a co-terminal. I will make sure she talks to an agent in IAD before she leaves for DCA.
Even if that works to keep her from having to change airports or wait so long, the bags will be only checked to IAD. It is like she is starting over again on UA. When we flew SQ F two years ago, she made the comment that F vs Y doesn’t matter to her (yeah, I know) so the whole point of getting J on this ticket was to save on the hefty bag fees, but I didn’t think about that when it came time to accept whether changing airports was acceptable.
From my experience with these tickets, UA can not see anything other than their own segments so they won’t know she is on a J tkt or even that she flew from Africa with a departure the day before and arrived that day. I’ve spoken to US and UA agents and they confirm she will have to pay bag fees in DCA but I feel they don’t completely understand the situation. I see this as a fundamental flaw of how the ticket is structured. If it was a J tkt without an airport change but still only Y for the connection, I don’t think this would be a problem. If the connection in a different airport was in J, I don’t think this would be a problem. If it was all on the same carrier, I don’t think this would be a problem. If it was a paid ticket, I don’t think this would be a problem. All four combined though, and this is going to be a problem and she tends to freak out with things like this and I am worried. I’m actually considering flying to DC to pick her up and fly back with her on DL where I have status so we have 3 free bags each. Kind of offsets the bag fees though but the connection might be better and I wouldn’t mind surprising her.
We have about a month to resolve this. Any other thoughts of how to approach things?
Now that I think this through more, technically, in IAD or DCA during her 12 hour wait, she won’t have access to the Premium check-in line, security, lounge or anything related to flying J. : (
SA 63 LUN-JNB 13:20 – 15:25 Business
SA 207 JNB – IAD 18:50 – 06:25 (+1) Business
UA 4753 DCA - CLE 18:23 - 19:43 Coach (Business is not offered on this flight)
UA 4272 CLE – GRB 20:45 – 21:02 Coach (Business is not offered on this flight)
The 12 hour layover and airport change was not intentional but all that was available for that day. Outbound travel has already commenced so we can’t change the ticket. That is the absolutely WORST feature of this type ticket. I hesitate to use this type ticket for that one reason. Do other alliances’ tickets work that way?
But I digress. I am going to recommend that she try to same-day-confirm or standby for a flight out of IAD rather than heading straight to DCA when she arrives. I have no personal experience with United’s policy but this seems doable according to their website unless there is a problem with the booking code or using a co-terminal. I will make sure she talks to an agent in IAD before she leaves for DCA.
Even if that works to keep her from having to change airports or wait so long, the bags will be only checked to IAD. It is like she is starting over again on UA. When we flew SQ F two years ago, she made the comment that F vs Y doesn’t matter to her (yeah, I know) so the whole point of getting J on this ticket was to save on the hefty bag fees, but I didn’t think about that when it came time to accept whether changing airports was acceptable.
From my experience with these tickets, UA can not see anything other than their own segments so they won’t know she is on a J tkt or even that she flew from Africa with a departure the day before and arrived that day. I’ve spoken to US and UA agents and they confirm she will have to pay bag fees in DCA but I feel they don’t completely understand the situation. I see this as a fundamental flaw of how the ticket is structured. If it was a J tkt without an airport change but still only Y for the connection, I don’t think this would be a problem. If the connection in a different airport was in J, I don’t think this would be a problem. If it was all on the same carrier, I don’t think this would be a problem. If it was a paid ticket, I don’t think this would be a problem. All four combined though, and this is going to be a problem and she tends to freak out with things like this and I am worried. I’m actually considering flying to DC to pick her up and fly back with her on DL where I have status so we have 3 free bags each. Kind of offsets the bag fees though but the connection might be better and I wouldn’t mind surprising her.
We have about a month to resolve this. Any other thoughts of how to approach things?
Now that I think this through more, technically, in IAD or DCA during her 12 hour wait, she won’t have access to the Premium check-in line, security, lounge or anything related to flying J. : (