Be careful when SDCing on which day is offered
Sep 17, 2014, 9:33 am
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,005
Be careful when SDCing on which day is offered
You know how you can view available alternate flights at the 24 hour mark of your original scheduled flight? Well I am booked on a 7 am flight tomorrow sna-den-ord. When I checked in this morning I wanted to see what other options I had for tomorrow. The non stop at 10.30 am popped up "confirm change for $0". Sweet. I immediately changed it and was pretty pleased.
Fast forward to 10 minutes ago. I'm sitting on a coference call bored as hell so I take a quick look at my BP for tomorrow. Um it's for TODAY. I just assumed all options to change were for tomorrow (the original day of travel) but this is not the case. Just make sure you take a good look at the date of the flight you want to change.
Fast forward to 10 minutes ago. I'm sitting on a coference call bored as hell so I take a quick look at my BP for tomorrow. Um it's for TODAY. I just assumed all options to change were for tomorrow (the original day of travel) but this is not the case. Just make sure you take a good look at the date of the flight you want to change.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Sep 17, 2014 at 5:18 pm Reason: edited title to reflect actual issue
Sep 17, 2014, 9:37 am
#2
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: United 1K
Posts: 360
This almost happened to me too. It was one of those cases where I was just about to click on it and suddenly realized my flight would be taking off in an hour instead of the next day. Love the feature, but maybe they should have a special note appear that makes you aware of this. Easy mistake to make.
Sep 17, 2014, 9:39 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: UA Plat 2MM; AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 35,068
Yup. The SDC rule is 24/24. You can change within 24 hours of your booked flight, to any flight within 24 hours of your request. Which means you can go almost a full day earlier or later.
Sep 17, 2014, 9:42 am
#4
Join Date: Mar 2008
Programs: DL BA Amex
Posts: 916
You said you were bored with the conference call... Well there's your excuse to get out of it... "Oh sorry I gotta get to the airport... Bye!"
I double check and then triple check my reservations for dates and times... I've never missed a flight because I've had the date or time wrong in my head. Come close a couple times because I just can't seem to get out of the house and on the road early enough!
I double check and then triple check my reservations for dates and times... I've never missed a flight because I've had the date or time wrong in my head. Come close a couple times because I just can't seem to get out of the house and on the road early enough!
Sep 17, 2014, 9:43 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Houston
Programs: UA Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 12,693
It is pretty nice how they let you bring your flight forward almost a full day; far more generous than most airlines policies.
Sep 17, 2014, 9:52 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2008
Programs: DL BA Amex
Posts: 916
DL's on he other hand, is worthless.
Sep 17, 2014, 9:57 am
#7
Join Date: May 2005
Location: BTW/WAOC
Programs: QR Platinum, UA Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 265
Well, this has nothing to do with the app. The next day 10.30 am departure option will not show up at 7.00 am today.
Last edited by andryas; Sep 17, 2014 at 9:59 am Reason: grammar
Sep 17, 2014, 10:18 am
#8
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: LAX
Programs: UA:1k; MR: PLT; Hilton: Gold
Posts: 1,324
This is by far the biggest reason I fly United. I love that for work travel if I finish up a project early, I can get a confirmed seat earlier and not have to standby. For personal I love that when I book far in advance I know that I can still change when the time comes. And the fact that I can turn a layover into a a quick stopover to visit friends The amount of money it's saved me on change fees is insane.
Sep 17, 2014, 10:21 am
#9
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 5,825
Sep 17, 2014, 10:21 am
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,005
So I guess you answered my own question why tomorrow's 10.30 flight isn't showing up as a possibility of changing to...it's not at the 24 hour mark. Hopefully it will pop up later this morning and I'll snag it.
Sep 17, 2014, 10:37 am
#11
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: UA Plat 2MM; AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 35,068
DL's difference is that the new flight has to be on the same day as the original. So you can't move it +/- a day, but you have a bigger window in some cases.
I called the other day at 1pm, exactly 24 hours out, to move a 1pm flight the next day to 6pm. With CO I would have ad to wait another 5 hours to make that change, who knows if space would still have been there, and little chance at CPU since CO runs a big CPU at 24 hours.
Also, DL has any F bucket availability for paid F customers who SDC. The new flight can be F1, you're booked in some discounted F bucket, but you can have it anyway. That is more generous than CO's policy.
Sep 17, 2014, 10:38 am
#12
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: COS
Programs: United 1K & 1MM, IHG Plat Elite, Hyatt Gold, Marriott GE, Hertz 5*, National Exec
Posts: 270
I never trust their website or app within a 48-hour window. If there's a flight I want, I make a note of it and call the 1K desk. (Now the whoever-in-the-he77-calls-in desk.)
Sep 17, 2014, 11:29 am
#13
Join Date: Mar 2008
Programs: DL BA Amex
Posts: 916
Worthless?
DL's difference is that the new flight has to be on the same day as the original. So you can't move it +/- a day, but you have a bigger window in some cases.
I called the other day at 1pm, exactly 24 hours out, to move a 1pm flight the next day to 6pm. With CO I would have ad to wait another 5 hours to make that change, who knows if space would still have been there, and little chance at CPU since CO runs a big CPU at 24 hours.
Also, DL has any F bucket availability for paid F customers who SDC. The new flight can be F1, you're booked in some discounted F bucket, but you can have it anyway. That is more generous than CO's policy.
DL's difference is that the new flight has to be on the same day as the original. So you can't move it +/- a day, but you have a bigger window in some cases.
I called the other day at 1pm, exactly 24 hours out, to move a 1pm flight the next day to 6pm. With CO I would have ad to wait another 5 hours to make that change, who knows if space would still have been there, and little chance at CPU since CO runs a big CPU at 24 hours.
Also, DL has any F bucket availability for paid F customers who SDC. The new flight can be F1, you're booked in some discounted F bucket, but you can have it anyway. That is more generous than CO's policy.
I guess to be fair I should just say the DL policy was worthless to me.
Last edited by bajrbajr; Sep 17, 2014 at 12:02 pm
Sep 17, 2014, 11:40 am
#14
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Colorado
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,158
This exact thing happened to me last year. Wanted to switch to an earlier flight for the next day and it switched me over to that day. I didn't know about it until I got a call on my cell phone from the gate agent asking if I was going to make the flight.
I don't fault UA for offering a generous SDC policy but the mobile app is confusing and can trip you up if you're not careful.
I don't fault UA for offering a generous SDC policy but the mobile app is confusing and can trip you up if you're not careful.