Originally Posted by
mgcsinc
Everything I've read about layovers says that I'm right, viz., that a layover can legally be the next available flight, even if >4 hours, but that there are mysterious rules applied by the airlines about when this is permitted. Maybe everyone else is wrong about this, but I'm just relaying what almost every source says on the topic.
Originally Posted by
aacharya
I totally agree with channa on this one. More power to you on the website, but agents won't do it.
In case anyone is curious about primary-source data here (vs. what agents / united.com will / won't do), the Contract of Carriage says
Connection means a stop at an intermediate point on the route to be traveled where a change of planes is made and which
does not fall within the definition of a stopover.
…
Stopover means a deliberate interruption of travel by the Passenger, agreed to in advance by the carrier, at a point between the place of departure and the place of destination. For International flights a Stopover will also be deemed to occur at an intermediate point from which the Passenger is not scheduled to depart on the date of arrival, but if there is no connecting departure scheduled on the date of arrival, departure on the next day within 24 hours of arrival shall not constitute a Stopover. If a portion of the routing is traveled by surface transportation, one Stopover shall be deemed to have been taken for such portion. For Domestic flights, a Stopover will also occur when a Passenger arrives at a point and fails to depart from such point on:
1) The first flight on which space is available; or
2) The flight that will provide for the Passenger’s earliest arrival at intermediate or junction transfer point(s) or destination point, via the carrier and class of service as shown on the Passenger’s Ticket; provided, however, that in no event will a Stopover occur when the Passenger departs from the intermediate/junction point on a flight shown in the carrier’s official general schedule as departing within four hours after arrival at such point.
It is hard to imagine that if you fly JFK-LAX/overnight/LAX-OGG and take (1) the first flight on which space is available, which is additionally (2) the flight that will get you to your destination earliest, that you have triggered a CoC-defined stopover.
Interestingly, the number "Four hours" is a bit magical elsewhere in the CoC:
5) Baggage will not be checked:
a) To a point that is not on the Passenger’s Routing;
b) Beyond the Passenger’s next point of Stopover or, if there is no Stopover, beyond the final Destination of the Ticket;
c) Beyond a point at which the Passenger wants to reclaim the Baggage or any portion thereof;
d) Beyond a point to which all applicable charges have been paid;
e) Beyond a point at which the Passenger is to Transfer to a connecting flight, if that flight is scheduled to depart from an airport different from the one at which the Passenger is scheduled to arrive; or
f) To an intermediate point unless the intermediate point to which the Baggage is to be checked is a permissible Stopover point at the fare paid (except if the Passenger is making a connection to the first available UA flight departing from such intermediate point and the connection exceeds four hours, the Passenger may reclaim his/her Baggage at such intermediate connecting point).