Feb 27, 2013, 5:45 am
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
This wiki was created to distill SDC (specifically not standby) down to a set of rules in the hopes of benefiting others.
The official "rules" can be found here. In practice, some of the rules almost always apply almost, and some are more flexible.
Note there have been reports of SDC to one segment removing confirmed CPU upgrades on downline segments. If maintaining the confirmed upgrade is important then these changes should be handled with care.
Most Frequently Asked Question: When do I call/go online to make the change?
Follow this flowchart:
Question 1: Are you within 24 hours of your first originally scheduled UA(*) operated flight that you're trying to change off of? If yes, continue to question 2. If no, continue to answer 1.
Question 2: Are you within 24 hours of the first UA operated flight you're trying to change on to? If yes, continue to to answer 2. If no, continue to answer 1.
Answer 1: No, you cannot call/go online yet to make an SDC.
Answer 2: If the answer to both questions is yes, then you can call/go online to make an SDC.
General Baseline Rules
These are the general rules that usually apply to SDC's; falling outside these rules usually requires payment of a full change fee and the fare difference:
How to SDC
SDC can be accomplished in a few different places (in rough order of likelihood of being able to get the rules bent):
NB: An SDC where the original itinerary (in one direction) has three or more segments cannot be done online.
Nuances and Loose Rules
Now for the hard part: figuring out where the flexibility is in the rules. This list is compiled from the responses to people saying "Can I do X?" where X is something that is not clearly permitted by the rules. One's likelihood of success here depends a bit on the method used for the SDC.
For each item, the following codes apply:
Y = possible using any method
A = possible using an agent (phone/counter), perhaps having to HUACA
A* = mixed reports of success with an agent (phone/counter),
N* = possible only if you find a very accommodating agent
N = little or no reported success.
If you encounter issues with an agent (phone or counter/gate), you can ask the agent to reference GG SDC. Additionally, GG SDC line 61 specifically references that fare classes are supposed to level out 3.5 hours before departure, so you might be able to use that to your advantage if fare classes have not leveled out and you're trying to ask an agent to open up the correct inventory or force you onto the flight.
The official "rules" can be found here. In practice, some of the rules almost always apply almost, and some are more flexible.
Note there have been reports of SDC to one segment removing confirmed CPU upgrades on downline segments. If maintaining the confirmed upgrade is important then these changes should be handled with care.
Most Frequently Asked Question: When do I call/go online to make the change?
Follow this flowchart:
Question 1: Are you within 24 hours of your first originally scheduled UA(*) operated flight that you're trying to change off of? If yes, continue to question 2. If no, continue to answer 1.
Question 2: Are you within 24 hours of the first UA operated flight you're trying to change on to? If yes, continue to to answer 2. If no, continue to answer 1.
Answer 1: No, you cannot call/go online yet to make an SDC.
Answer 2: If the answer to both questions is yes, then you can call/go online to make an SDC.
General Baseline Rules
These are the general rules that usually apply to SDC's; falling outside these rules usually requires payment of a full change fee and the fare difference:
- The departure time of the first segment of the old itinerary and the departure time of the first segment of the new itinerary must both be within 24 hours of the moment that the change is made.
- The ultimate origin and destination airports must remain the same.
- Routing can be changed (addition, deletion, or change of connection points) but the routing rules of the original fare usually apply.
- All remaining unflown segments in single fared itinerary are considered together (i.e., if you're flying WWW-XXX-YYY-ZZZ, you can go to a kiosk at XXX and potentially fly XXX-AAA-ZZZ or XXX-ZZZ direct).
- SDC can be done an unlimited number of times, and can therefore be used to extend a trip indefinitely (pending availability).
- SDC costs $75 for GM's and Silvers - the fees is waived for Golds and up (plus any applicable fare difference, see below). *G's may also get free SDC, although there is no mention of this in the official rules.
- Non-elites on the same PNR benefit from any waived fees for SDC.
- No fare difference is charged so long as there is availability on all of the new segments in the originally ticketed fare class. Fare class availability in all classes often opens up after T-24 and almost always opens up at T-3 unless the plane is very full.
- SDC on bulk tickets, including United Specials, is not permitted.
- SDC is permitted on both domestic and international itineraries.
- The proposed remaining itinerary must be operated by United or United Express®, and the ticket number must begin with 016. (see nuances below)
How to SDC
SDC can be accomplished in a few different places (in rough order of likelihood of being able to get the rules bent):
- United.com “change flight” link before checking in, within T-24. (Many have reported recently that this has problems and attempts to collect the full fare difference and $200 change fee.)
- "Search Other Flight Options" button during OLCI. (This has spotty availability, particularly if the change would involve paying an additional fare due to fare bucket non-availability.)
- United mobile app
- Kiosk
- Phone
- Counter/Gate (although reports are that most airport agents are not familiar with the SDC policy and may not allow you to SDC to a valid itinerary--you can try to direct them to look up GG SDC, but they often won't understand that what you're trying to do is permitted by those rules)
Nuances and Loose Rules
Now for the hard part: figuring out where the flexibility is in the rules. This list is compiled from the responses to people saying "Can I do X?" where X is something that is not clearly permitted by the rules. One's likelihood of success here depends a bit on the method used for the SDC.
For each item, the following codes apply:
Y = possible using any method
A = possible using an agent (phone/counter), perhaps having to HUACA
A* = mixed reports of success with an agent (phone/counter),
N* = possible only if you find a very accommodating agent
N = little or no reported success.
- Violating various non-routing fare rules (day/time, minimum stay, etc.): Y
- Change destination to ultra-close airport (e.g. JFK-> LGA; see the old S*FAR/STANDBY): A
- Change destination to a co-terminal (e.g. JFK -> EWR): N*
- Change destination to an entirely different place: N
- Change itinerary at the beginning to include illegal layovers (> 4 hours): N*
- Change itinerary at the layover point (using kiosk, app, or agent) to create an otherwise illegal layover: Y
- Change itinerary at the beginning to add a layover point not permitted by the routing rules: N*
- Change itinerary at a layover point to add another layover not permitted (either in terms of number of segments or routing rules) by the routing rules: Y
- Change to a flight exactly 24 hours before or after the original flight: N*
- Change to a flight exactly 24 hours before the original flight, if the previous day's flight has been delayed: Y (based on one report)
- Combining separately-fared segments to do SDC (e.g. XXX-YYY+YYY-ZZZ -> XXX-ZZZ): A
- Change UA-codeshare, non-UA-metal segment to UA metal: A
- Change from UA metal to UA-codeshare, non-UA-metal segment: N (see post 1813 for one exception)
- Change from UA-codeshare, non-UA-metal segment to a different UA-codeshare, non-UA-metal segment: ??
- Change on a non-UA ticketed segment: N* (with potential dire consequences)
- Change from an upgraded flight into Y on the new flight: A
- Change from a CPU-upgraded flight and get confirmed into available R space on the new flight: N*
- Change from an instrument-upgraded flight and get confirmed into available R space on the new flight: A*
- Non-elite on different PNR benefiting from Elite's waived-fee SDC: A
If you encounter issues with an agent (phone or counter/gate), you can ask the agent to reference GG SDC. Additionally, GG SDC line 61 specifically references that fare classes are supposed to level out 3.5 hours before departure, so you might be able to use that to your advantage if fare classes have not leveled out and you're trying to ask an agent to open up the correct inventory or force you onto the flight.
original posting by mgcsinc, initiated by jackal
UA Same-Day Travel Change (SDC) Fees/Questions *now with WikiPost* {pre-2015 Archive}
Nov 13, 2014, 6:59 pm
#4291
Join Date: Mar 2006
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I have a US *A award ticket. Final segment is LAX-SFO on UA. Could I SDC the final leg, after flying all the other legs? FWIW, I have successfully done a SDC on a US Airways ticket on UA metal before, back when US was still part of *A.
Nov 13, 2014, 8:03 pm
#4292
Moderator: Budget Travel forum & Credit Card Programs, FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Nov 13, 2014, 8:52 pm
#4293
Join Date: Aug 2011
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 8,634
I think once the offending segments are used, the automated methods might work, and if you're going earlier, a gate agent will probably be happy to do it, too.
Nov 14, 2014, 4:05 am
#4294
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Nov 14, 2014, 2:56 pm
#4295
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 130
SDC layover -- possible?
Hey Guys -- I'm flying from BQN to MSP with a layover at EWR. My flight departs at 2:15am on 1/3. I'd like to do one of the following and wondering if either would be allowed. I do have Gold status so I shouldn't be charged for these changes (assuming they are allowed), correct?
- Option A) delay departure until 1/4
- Option B) add long layover at EWR, fly EWR to MSP on 1/4
When and how do I try to initiate the SDC? What are my chances of this succeeding?
- Option A) delay departure until 1/4
- Option B) add long layover at EWR, fly EWR to MSP on 1/4
When and how do I try to initiate the SDC? What are my chances of this succeeding?
Nov 14, 2014, 3:13 pm
#4296
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Redwood City, CA USA (SFO/SJC)
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Posts: 8,826
Hey Guys -- I'm flying from BQN to MSP with a layover at EWR. My flight departs at 2:15am on 1/3. I'd like to do one of the following and wondering if either would be allowed. I do have Gold status so I shouldn't be charged for these changes (assuming they are allowed), correct?
- Option A) delay departure until 1/4
- Option B) add long layover at EWR, fly EWR to MSP on 1/4
When and how do I try to initiate the SDC? What are my chances of this succeeding?
- Option A) delay departure until 1/4
- Option B) add long layover at EWR, fly EWR to MSP on 1/4
When and how do I try to initiate the SDC? What are my chances of this succeeding?
SDC works quite well on the phone app. If you want something not shown, in-airport customer service people can do things the app won't. Haven't had much luck on the phone.
Chances of success depend upon flight loads. If you have elite status, it will go easier. At higher elite levels, you can just walk up to a gate and ask if they've got room on a given flight. Even with a long standby list, you'll go right to the top. A confirmed seat isn't as important with UA 1P or above status.
Nov 14, 2014, 3:25 pm
#4297
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 130
In the hours prior to departure you look for flights between the original and 24 hours forward from your present time. You can't start the process until 24 hours prior to the original flight, and it's a "rolling" 24 hours. You can keep pushing it further and further, as flights allow. Keep in mind many (most?) flights don't open up for SDC until 3-4 hours prior to departure.
SDC works quite well on the phone app. If you want something not shown, in-airport customer service people can do things the app won't. Haven't had much luck on the phone.
SDC works quite well on the phone app. If you want something not shown, in-airport customer service people can do things the app won't. Haven't had much luck on the phone.
Nov 14, 2014, 3:58 pm
#4298
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What is the difference between overbooked and oversold? I mean that question sincerely, since I have always used the terms interchangeably but am looking to learn more. Both to me mean that the airline has sold more tickets than there are seats on the plane, and they do so expecting that some number of those tickets will not be redeemed for that particular flight.
To me, the fact that they are selling two more tickets reflects that they think the upside of marginal Y revenue combined with the expectation of some number of people misconnecting outweighs the potential problems of having to deal with an oversell situation when the flight goes out.
To me, the fact that they are selling two more tickets reflects that they think the upside of marginal Y revenue combined with the expectation of some number of people misconnecting outweighs the potential problems of having to deal with an oversell situation when the flight goes out.
overbooked: the airline has sold more seats than exist on the plane
oversold: more people have checked in for the flight and are expected to show up than seats that exist on the plane
The biggest difference is that "overbooked" is generally a term used in advance of the flight, but the airline expects that some of those bookings will disappear through cancellations, changes, no-shows, and misconnects. "Oversold" is a term used at the gate and is much more serious, as (barring last-minute no-shows or misconnects) more people are going to be standing at the gate than can be accommodated on the plane. The gate agents then have to scramble to figure out how to handle the extra people.
"Overbooked but not oversold" is rarely a concern as there is usually a statistically significant no-show factor, plus possible misconnects and things, that will bring the number down to par or just below sometime before the flight departs. It's when fewer people than normal no-show and actually do check in that the flight is actually oversold.
I'm sure someone here has explained it much more clearly and concisely than I just did...
Nov 15, 2014, 9:13 am
#4299
Join Date: Apr 2012
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BB10; Touch) AppleWebKit/537.35+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/10.2.1.3247 Mobile Safari/537.35+)
Yup. At T-3, I played around with my phone for a bit, and the flights I wanted showed up, but when I selected them, the app said that itinerary was no longer available. After that, the flight disappeared from the booking engine (so, it was sold out) so I ended up having to wake up at 4 for my 6AM flight 
Originally Posted by craigsnyc
Nov 17, 2014, 9:02 am
#4300
Join Date: Jul 2012
Programs: AA EXP, BAEC Gold, *Gold, Skyteam E+
Posts: 62
Same day flight change - United award booked w/ US miles
Hi,
I booked an award on United using dividend miles prior to US leaving *alliance. I understand you can do same day change on United awards, provided there is availability. However, does this also apply for United awards booked through partners?
Thanks
I booked an award on United using dividend miles prior to US leaving *alliance. I understand you can do same day change on United awards, provided there is availability. However, does this also apply for United awards booked through partners?
Thanks
Nov 17, 2014, 1:06 pm
#4301
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- Change on a non-UA ticketed segment: N* (with potential dire consequences)
Since your ticket is booked on US Airways ticket stock, you will not be able to SDC.
Nov 17, 2014, 1:58 pm
#4302
Join Date: Jan 2007
Programs: PC Pl, UA 1K, CC Gl
Posts: 2,235
From the wiki:
Since your ticket is booked on US Airways ticket stock, you will not be able to SDC.
- Change on a non-UA ticketed segment: N* (with potential dire consequences)
Since your ticket is booked on US Airways ticket stock, you will not be able to SDC.
Nov 17, 2014, 2:56 pm
#4303
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2008
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From the wiki:
Since your ticket is booked on US Airways ticket stock, you will not be able to SDC.
- Change on a non-UA ticketed segment: N* (with potential dire consequences)
Since your ticket is booked on US Airways ticket stock, you will not be able to SDC.
Nov 17, 2014, 5:49 pm
#4304
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
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That said, good luck with trying it. Maybe it'll work out for you.
Nov 18, 2014, 12:37 pm
#4305
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 163
Success on LH ticket stock
FWIW, I tried (on a paid US ticket with solely UA segments) online, by phone, and at the airport multiple times and failed each time. That combined with the horror stories of canceled itineraries and things posted on FT makes it a less than certain event.
That said, good luck with trying it. Maybe it'll work out for you.
That said, good luck with trying it. Maybe it'll work out for you.
Ticket stock: LH (out LH #/oper, return UA interlined)
Flight#: UA
Operated: UA
Changed to: UA coded/operated
Called and first agent saw the LH ticket and said "I can't touch it", HUCA, second asked for my PNR, confirmed both flights were within 24-hours (asked for my current time zone) and had it done in two minutes with no other questions and at the SDC fee (aka, no charge for Golds+).
I suspect it's probably safer on a return flight where you don't need to mess with keeping the ticket intact really and UA already controls the capacity.