Originally Posted by
lotemblizej
He then asked me if I was off the BRU plane yet and I told him no, since I wanted to be sure I had confirmed flights before leaving the BRU flight. He told me I had to be off the plane, so I got off and was able to book the same flights in the lounge (and ended up arriving in VIE earlier than I would have via BRU). But I wonder whether anyone has advice on what to do in that situation. Given the BRU delay was rolling, I was concerned if I got off the flight without a confirmed backup the BRU plane could leave without me while I am trying to get rebooked and UA could say they don’t need to get me to VIE since I voluntarily got off the plane.
UA generally doesn't do protection flights anymore -- if you wanted to fly via FRA, you were abandoning BRU. Therefore, you needed to get off of the plane, because he agent needed to un-check you in and restore the flight coupon so that it could be revalidated for IAD-FRA.
If the VIE flight had departed without you, UA would still have taken care of you. They'd rather get you to your destination than give you a refund.
