Originally Posted by
fthelp
I had a flight from PHX to BOS (connecting via DEN) at 2pm. W class ticket. I am Premier Gold.
My last day meetings got canceled. I called United the evening before departure at 9pm asking to change to an earlier flight departing at 8am which had lots of seats on same fare class. Agent said need to pay change fees and the earlier 24 hour (flat tyre rule) is gone. Is this true?
You’re conflating two separate things. The flat tire rule covers people who arrive late for their scheduled flight; it allows UA to reinstate those passengers’ tickets, even though nominally a non-refundable ticket is forfeit as soon as one leg is no-showed. The policy you wanted is same-day confirmed change, and there’s been no change of which I’m aware.
You saw W inventory when you searched PHX to BOS?
Originally Posted by
fthelp
I saw W for PHX-ORD-BOS and was curious why agents were quoting rules have changed.
I agree with
meijiem. You got a MOLA — Mistaken or Lying Agent. But I’m surprised the check-in agent wouldn’t confirm you the next day if W was still available.
Originally Posted by
fthelp
I went to airport at 6am hoping to get standby on 8am flight. Check in agent said standby rules allow only for same connection city and 8am flight was via ORD. I argued my origin & destination are same, but no luck.
The agent was correct to deny you. On a connecting itinerary, you cannot change the routing. The idea is, you could stand by for an earlier DEN flight, because you were confirmed on a later DEN-BOS flight and therefore there was no chance of you being stranded; if you failed to clear standby on an earlier DEN-BOS flight, you’d just take your originally scheduled flight. However, suppose they allowed you to stand by for a flight to ORD, and you arrived, only to find that everyone in Chicago had simultaneously developed a taste for clam chowder, and there were no seats available on any BOS flight for several days. Now, you’re stuck.