Originally Posted by
transportprof
Has anyone ever succeeded in gaining a change fee-free booking when the schedule of other flights between two cities adds in new service?
My specifics are as follows. Booked LHR-SFO-YVR with a 5+ hour layover at SFO to ride in the bubble of the 747 (never miss a chance to do this the way UA is going with 777 expansion, etc.).
In a recent sked change, UA has added a brand new UX flight SFO-YVR that departs two hours after the LHR flight lands, and thus gets to YVR three hours before my currently booked connection. There's even R space on the E175 at present.
If that flight would have been in the system, I'd have booked it as a connection, but it didn't exist a few months back when I booked (to get the R space on the 747 UD).
Any strategy to change this without paying hundreds of dollars, before a SDC at check in at LHR, when seats might no longer be available?
I have had success in a similar situation, but there was also a change to the booked flights which helped put the itinerary into a more "flexible" state. Basically I explained it as, "I obviously would have booked the more reasonable and convenient connection if it were offered when I bought the tickets" and that seemed to work OK.