RichardJFuller

Hi FlyerTalk community,

I am a United 1K member, and had a recent issue with a reservation, and I would like some advice from this community please. I had a paid flight booked from BOS-SFO-*** for 5 people including myself, and United decided out of the blue months after ticketing to modify my itinerary to BOS-ORD-***. The original BOS-SFO flight which I purchased is still operating with the same flight number but was moved to leave 5 minutes earlier (7:55am vs. prior 8:00am). This travel is for several months in the future, not this week. Obviously the premium service transcontinental flight is a better flight and for the middle of the winter a safer routing to minimize chances of winter weather delays. I called United when I noticed the change and they seemed happy to make a change for me if I wanted , but my original BOS-SFO flight, while still operating is now sold-out so they were not willing to put me back on it. They claim that due to the fact that there was a schedule change, all they can do is offer me options based on current availability. While United was not willing to offer me any further explanation as to why they removed me from the flight to begin with, I later found out that the flight was originally a 777 when I booked it, and it is now scheduled to be a 757. Is it reasonable for them to bump me given this situation, or should I expect to have a higher priority to prevent being bumped off a now oversold flight as a 1K member? Until I found out about the plane change, I was very upset, but I am still not sure if I think it is reasonable for Untied to bump me or not. United certainly made no attempt to call/text/e-mail me about the change. I ended up cancelling the flight with United for a full refund and booked a transcontinental flight on another airline (trying Virgin America for the first time...).

I am curious if United is 100% in the right here, or if it is reasonable for me to have expected more from them given the situation?