Swissair screw up
 

On a recent trip to Europe, my United connecting flight from PSP to LAX was 4 hours late and i missed my Swissair flight to Zurich. United put me on a later Lufthansa flight and i finally got to my destination, Lisbon. On my Return home from Barcelona when i got to the Swissair check in, they had canceled my reservations. I guess they figured i never got there. I made these reservations 9 months in advance so i could have my choice of seats. my wife and i had to return home on stand bye. Do i have any recourse?

Welcome to FT!
Who did you book the ticket with - UA, LH or LX?
On the basis of what you write, I would lean towards UA being the problem rather than LX. But need more information.

Swissair screw up
 

Yes you should check to see if you are covered by the EU passenger law for your return journey. You could possibly then file a claim for compensation with your carrier from Lisbon/Barcelona. Search for EU Passenger rights.

Swissair screw up
 

Had a similar experience leaving the US today, my inbound flight was late and I was re routed differently to Chicago. Luckily I was checking in online more than 12 hours early and got an out of synch message and called in. It took a few minutes to sort me out, but my flight back was changed somehow without me knowing/being informed.

Did you try online check in for your return? If so, what did it show?

Certainly looks like UA failed to update your record properly... nothing surprising there.

All speculation until OP answers the questions posed above: 1) one ticket all the way through? 2) who was it booked with.

Most likely culprit is UA for not updating. How would LX have a clue if the record isn't updated? All they know is pax didn't show for a segment so they cancelled him out.

Not that a pax should have to, but for future reference, anytime you are rebooked in IRROPS, make sure that the agent who rebooks you cancels out segments which won't be used anymore and that you reconfirm the onward itinerary which each onward operating carrier once you land.

You say you flew standby. Did you get on the same flight you were originally supposed to? The seat selection is not guaranteed, if the only consequence in the end was that you lost your seat selections then there isn't any legal requirement for compensation.

Either airline may still offer something by way of apology (I would put much better odds on UA than SWISS).

The Tickets were booked with Cheaptickets.com

You're being very economical with the facts.
If you want help, you need to help yourself and give folks more information.
What was your routing and how did you deal with the missed connection?
Who rebooked you (Cheaptickets or United or third party)?

I really wonder why people still take the time replying to these posts.... If you cannot be bothered to give more than such a reply after 2 days you really don't deserve any advice.