Is this a new policy on booking award returns?

Portolan · Jul 19, 06, 8:58 pm

Disclaimer: tried search...all but single word searches failed and I couldn't think of a single word unique enough to answer this.

Question: on a cruise discussion board the topic was booking award flights. A TA posted the following as the current UA policy:

** UA SAVER / STANDARD AWARDS **

- WHEN A CUSTOMER REQUESTS TRAVEL DATES WHERE THE OUTBOUND DATE IS LOADED IN APOLLO (OPEN FOR SALE)...AND THE RETURN IS NOT LOADED (TOO FAR IN THE FUTURE) PLEASE FOLLOW THIS PROCESS:

1. BOOK THE OUTBOUND FLIGHTS

2. ADD A TIME-LIMIT FOR 3 DAYS BEYOND THE OPEN-FOR-SALE DATE FOR THE RETURN.

* DO NOT BOOK A RETURN - JUST TO HOLD SPACE*

3. ADVISE THE CUSTOMER:
- THE DATE THE RETURN FLIGHTS WILL OPEN-FOR-SALE
- TO CALL BACK ANYTIME AFTER THE OPEN-FOR-SALE DATE
AND BEFORE THE TIME LIMIT ON THE RECORD
- OPEN-FOR-SALE DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE AVAILABILITY
OF THE DESIRED BOOKING CLASS.

This would be great, but I thought that UA was only doing 3 day holds during which an entire itinerary needed to be booked with a "false" return. Then you had to call back and rebook the truly desired return when the 330 day window had moved on sufficiently (at no cost if same itinerary except date).

So, which is it? Thanks.

dcgators · Jul 19, 06, 9:02 pm

That's great news.

TerryK · Jul 19, 06, 9:05 pm

Wonderful news. I hope this feature won't get abused and dropped later.

Portolan · Jul 20, 06, 5:59 am

What I was hoping to hear was confirmation of this from someone with either 1) recent personal experience, or 2) inside knowledge of what the policy is (UnitedSkies?).

Obviously it would be a big improvement (to my previous understanding of the process, but only if TRUE!

Delta3MM · Jul 20, 06, 7:20 am

They followed these rules last thanksgiving when I booked award tickets for this thanksgiving. I booked outbound on the day they became available, and they made my ticketing date 10 days later, three days after the time I intened to get home.

But probably not all agents know this rule.

Billy

SF1K · Jul 20, 06, 10:23 am

Okay I just called and tried to use this. I can confirm that yes it is possible, however your itinerary has to be ALL UA - no star alliance partner. So it didn't work for me and I'll still have to sweat it out. Sucks to because now I know that my outbound is availbe on the flights that I want. But they said even if I book it with a "fake" return, if I then call back to change the return they actually need to cancel out the ticket and start the request from the beginning and there is no guarantee that the Star Alliance partner will put those seats right back into inventory.

Portolan · Jul 20, 06, 4:47 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by SF1K

I can confirm that yes it is possible, however your itinerary has to be ALL UA - no star alliance partner.

I'm assuming the worst, but did they say whether it made a difference if it was booked on the UA half of a code share...or is that even possible?

SF1K · Jul 20, 06, 4:50 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Portolan

I'm assuming the worst, but did they say whether it made a difference if it was booked on the UA half of a code share...or is that even possible?

It is my understanding that when you book an award it is always the "true" flight not on a codeshare.

Boraxo · Jul 20, 06, 8:45 pm

Better than nothing but still MEDIOCRE compared with AA which permits open bookings with a 14-day hold, which can usually be further extended without little hassle - and can be booked on AA partners as well.

Really there is no excuse for UA's 3-day policy except to prevent customers who plan ahead from cashing in their miles for high value high demand itineraries.