Originally Posted by
inpd
When I booked the award seats the connection legal. Now they are not.
Anyway, just when you think United are lost cause, you get a really good agent. She understood the situation straight away, said "Yikes, you can't make that connection" and rebooked me on later flights (opening up awards with the help of her supervisor) all done in 10 minutes.
United's problem is not across-the-board incompetence; it's rampant inconsistency. There are some very helpful agents, and even the mediocre ones are empowered to give you the moon during schedule changes/IRROPS. As so many of us have seen, it helps to approach that transaction with information in hand to help the agents help you.