United MileagePlus (Consolidated) - My flights are often cancelled, strategy to mitigate risks...

I keep having flights cancelled, sometimes its MX, sometimes Crew, sometimes WX. Add it all up and a very high percentage get cancelled.

Is it possible to book the day before, with a reward ticket, to the connection city.

Here is what happened on my last flight.

CMH - ORD - HNL. CMH - ORD cancelled so I was rebooked 2 days later CMH - EWR - LAX - HNL. Obviously I didn't want this and got AA flight CMH - ORD to catch the ORD - HNL flight.

Can I book a day earlier CMH - ORD so I have a whole day to have UA unscrew from a cancellation? Are they going to charge me more miles for this?

You're allowed 4-hour connections domestically, and 24-hour connections internationally. Anything beyond that is not valid.

That said, the website sometimes offers longer connections in limited availability situations, and CSRs can override the 4-hour maximum if the situation warrants it.

I think you're hosed since it's a domestic connection

I don't risk same-day travel on UA now when flying for work. Doing AA instead next week. DL has gotten me to my destination 3 times in the past two months when multiple UA cancellations hosed me. Normally I'd wait for the next UA flight, but my patience has evaporated and now I just cancel the UA segment entirely, get the refund, and buy a walk-up fare on DL.

I don't risk same-day travel on UA now when flying for work. Doing AA instead next week. DL has gotten me to my destination 3 times in the past two months when multiple UA cancellations hosed me. Normally I'd wait for the next UA flight, but my patience has evaporated and now I just cancel the UA segment entirely, get the refund, and buy a walk-up fare on DL.


Why didn't you have UA book you on DL?

I'm using a pretty good strategy to mitigate my cancelled and delayed flight risks.

Unless I have absolutely no other choice, I now buy all my tickets on American and Southwest.

DL are pretty bad with cancellations too. Particularly on short flights with RJs. I zried a few strategies before, like booking on two airlines, it did not work, with both flights being canceled...

Why didn't you have UA book you on DL?

On my last IRROPS last week (crew cancellation 1 hr before boarding, on a seemingly great weather day systemwide, and only a 4pm flight, not a late one), the stellar so-called "Premier Access" agents at EWR said "we don't do that anymore", i.e., endorse over to other airlines. I explained I had done it a couple weeks prior (LGA UC w/PMUA agents, natch), and they stared at me like I had a 3rd eye. I went to the GS area and they didn't have anyone who knew how to do it. So I had my TA cancel my UA segment and pay the DL walkup fare. They had rebooked me on another UA flight 3 hours later, but I wasn't playing that game anymore.

Two IRROPS ago, a double cancellation (MX/WX) led me to a "home" overnight. UA didn't have a 6am LGA-ORD that day (as I guess no businesspeople ever want a first flight out), so I took the DL version instead. Nice experience.

Three IRROPS ago, the aforementioned PMUA LGA UC agent treated me like an ol' fashioned valued 1K - called DL to get me the seat, stayed on the line to get me their PNR / ticket #, etc. I have yet to see that level of service from PMCO agents in person.

I get the dreaded 4am email, Your flight is cancelled.

I called and said "why?"

No crew.

So I said, great, AA has flights to ORD just put us on that one. I had to be transferred to a supervisor, had to argue that this wasn't my fault, had to explain that having me leave 2 days after isn't really fair and isn't within the contract of carriage to just add 2 extra days onto my outbound trip when they have regular flights on my route and plenty of wiggle room. They "caved" after they saw the notes from the Executive Staff that had booked this flight. I fought tooth and nail to get this routing fixed up. It was such a pain that I never want to experience it again.