I'm trying to book an intinerary with both UA and Air China flights - UA to PVG, Air China to KWL.

Found the itinerary I wanted on ITA. I called the elite line yesterday and the agent made a reservation. She said that it could take up to 24 hours for Air China to get back with a confirmation. Once that happened, I could go ahead and purchase the itinerary.

A few hours later, a message showed up on my UA reservation with a confirmation number for Air China. Unfortunately, I can't find anyway to look at that confirmation number on the Air China site.

I called today because my reservation expires tonight. I just wanted to be sure everything is OK. This agent says if it's been over 12 hours, it means Air China has no seats. She recommended I cancel the UA flight, reprice and book UA just to PVG, then try to find alternate transportation from PVG to KWL. She also said that the first agent should never have booked it this way.

So....I went to the Air China site and found the flights I wanted, seats available in Y (which is what I want).

My original itinerary has long layovers in PVG, but I still don't want to risk booking as two separate tickets, because if there are any problems on the UA flights, that will leave me completely unprotected.

Air China's call center is now closed, unfortunately, and my reservation expires at midnight.

Any suggestions?