With the MR forum thread on the AKL deal so unwieldy (and rapidly degenerating), would anyone fall over in a faint if I started a new thread here for those considering changing their itinerary?

No? Ok, great.

Here's what I gather from the various threads here on FT and over on menstravelforum:

1. Making a change on the outbound, while technically permissable, does not seem possible on this deal, no matter how or where you booked, without an alarming refare.

2. Making a change on the return is clearer. Although various agents have given different responses to callers, changes to date and time (but not route) should be possible without fees or refare. For the Orbitz-buyers, this is most easily done *after* the trip has begun because control has now been passed to UA.

3. Those of us who booked on Orbitz, with a non-UA leg, have received paper tickets, which complicates the change process becuase Orbitz wants the ticket mailed back to them before doing any (or even quoting any) changes.

Question: Is there an easy way to convert the paper ticket to an e-ticket? Someone mentioned in the MR thread that you could take your paper tickets to a UA counter and have them convert them to e-tickets, but is that true when one leg is on another *A carrier? Does it matter if that flight is also available (but not booked as) a UA codeshare?

Anything else to share?