UA can't book a reasonably priced cnxn on Star Alliance partners, but Orbitz can?
OK, it happened to me again on this trip to Greece--I tried to book a ticket SEA-SFO-ZRH (on UA) with a connecting flight ZRH-SKG on Swiss. Return route in reverse. To book that on UA the fares were in the $3K plus range, but to book the same ticket on Orbitz was in the $1300 range. United 1K desk couldn't do any better than the $3K range. So I booked separate flights on US and on Swiss, but of course if there's a cancellation then you're not protected like you would be if you booked it all as one itinerary. So, why can Orbitz do that for me, but United can't? And is there a work around with UA that I should know to ask for? Thanks! And while I'm asking, is there a way to book GPU upgradeable fares through Orbitz? Can I ask for a W fare and apply a GPU after ticketing?