Wow...I don't have much help to offer other than to say that sucks and it's a reminder that we should all "babysit" our reservations by checking them on-line with the carrier periodically to ensure that dates, times, and seats haven't changed.

In the grand scheme of things, I'd probably have coughed up the 15K UA points and $35. Then at least I'd still get to go and the return flight wouldn't be forfeited (though your return fare was very cheap). If I'd had time, maybe I'd have tried to take an overnight train the night of the 1st to at least get closer, and then find a cheaper nonstop from, say, Paris. But I believe at least half the fun is getting there.

I'd say the onus is on Priceline as they failed to notify you, but I wouldn't trust an OTA to do that. That said, 3 weeks in advance isn't much notice for a schedule change of an entire day, and I'm surprised the airline couldn't offer at least some help.

It's a hard lesson to learn -- that we can't trust to be notified when timing changes -- and the sting of $115 in unused tickets is annoying, but it could have been a lot worse. (What if that had happened on the return, leaving you stuck and out of luck in LUX?)

Seth