Originally Posted by
docbert
UA1851 (SJC-IAH) connecting to UA1851 (IAH-BWI) should be able to access the same married segment inventory as the one-stop UA1851 (SJC-BWI), so what happened for the agent is the correct behavior, whilst what happened on the website is not.
The other option in this case is to book the single flight, and then call and ask for it to be split into two. Might take a few calls to get an agent that knows how to do it, but it can definitely be done.
This is correct. The website UI will only offer two options:
(a) UA1851 SJC-BWI as a direct flight, with through inventory
(b) UA1851 SJC-IAH; [ghost fare break]; UA1851 IAH-BWI. This will construct using the broken fare inventory
even after the segments are reassembled and it is fared though. This is a known bug (or feature
) of the UA website. The final itinerary re-assembles as UA1851 connecting to UA1851 with a through fare but the wrong inventory.
It sounds like the agent is (correctly) able to apply the through inventory to the connecting option. The application in (b) is technically illegal per inventory rules and should not be allowed to price.