For an upcoming saver award, I just noticed an AC schedule change that produced a misconnect at YOW (original routing was YYG-YOW-YUL-SFO). Called AC, was told to call UA to fix the connection. I called Mileage Plus, which of course Starnet-blocked the most direct AC routing that day, YYG-YUL-SFO.

Agent insisted in routing me YYG-YOW-IAD-SFO (latter two segments on UX and UA, natch), with a 43-minute connection in YOW from the AC domestic segment to the UX transborder segment. That strikes me as very little time for US border preclearance and rescreening, especially with a change in carriers. Is that a fair assessment?

The MP agent looked it up and said this is a legal connection, and that I would thus be "protected" in case of a misconnect. But I shudder at the thought of whatever remaining routings/seats would be available at the time of misconnection. So, should I just go with the flow? Or should I call MP back and politely ask to speak with someone who could place me on the YOW-YUL-SFO AC routing? Or, to avoid the aggravation of Starnet issues, maybe just ask for a longer connection and later YOW departure on UA? Although, I would think the agent would have offered that if there was award availability.

Which brings me to my last question: I'm sure this has been covered before, but when schedule changes mess with saver award tickets, is there a general provision to accommodate pax on whatever flights are available, or does there always need to be saver inventory? I could imagine folks getting the rug royally pulled out from under them in some cases if it's the latter. Is there a different policy when it's a partner airline's schedule change, as in my case? (My AC segments all show AC flight numbers, if that makes a difference.)

Thanks in advance for any advice!