Originally Posted by
channa
It's most definitely allowed. In fact, *A has an agreement in place amongst each other to take each others' award tickets in IRROPS situations.
That draconian language doesn't matter, because Star Alliance rules are far more customer oriented, and as long as UA wants to put that Star on their website and planes, and take the bookings that come with, they have to follow Star Alliance rules.
Star Alliance requires OAL rebooks if there is no inline or alliance rebook in the customer's best interest. It does not differentiate award tickets from revenue tickets, and they require rebooking in all irregularity situations, regardless of the cause of the irregularity (e.g., weather, mechanical, etc.).
channa, any chance of pointing us towards these rules? As I have some international awards coming up this year, I wouldn't mind having the rules tucked in my hip pocket. I've found showing a printed rule can help a lot especially with the pmCO airport staff.