*no complaints here...no passive-aggressive dykwia is intended...just trying to understand how better to deal with this in future:

the short: if i miss a connection due to weather or mechanical, and united finds a seat for me on next flight, do i retain the class of ticket i booked or do i assume whatever fare class is available on that flight at that moment

the long: firm buys me A fares...pretty sure of this, but who knows, maybe i'm wrong. yesterday mechanical out of EWR makes me miss ORD connect...only attractive option is found but its a middle seat in e+. i grab it. standing on line to board, i see my name at top of upgrade list...but i know its not happening (only an 8 seater..fully booked/checked in)....but as we begin to board, i see another name pop in front of mine on list. as a GS flying on A fare, and sitting instead in middle economy, i really was curious who might trump me on an upgrade list...so i asked....and was told that "since i was on an "h fare" that the other traveller was in a higher fare class, hence in front of me on an admittedly futile upgrade list. i asked her to check my ticket again and she said "no, you are on an economy ticket w/ upgrade requested"...
dawned on me that this has happened a couple times this winter during some of the storms in chicago....which leads to the question....
so...
assuming i'm on A fares, if i have to hop a different flight at the last moment due to missed connection/cancellation whatever, do i then assume whatever fare class is available? there is never any talk (or expectation) of differences in fares, but there's also never been any talk about "u are being downgraded to __ fare class" which does seem to matter at the margin. AND if this is the case, is it wrong of me to think this is a glitch in united's system, or does united really not care at this point what fare class was originally booked

thx

This is something that changes a little bit post-merger.

I believe, and know someone will correct me if I am wrong, the new UA will re-book you into your ticketed fare class. The old UA used to just put you into the most readily available which was frequently "Y"

In the event you do have an IROP, and need to be re-booked you can always just call and get an ORC (Original Routeing Credit) after your flights and you will be credited in the appropriate fare class.

Not completely sure if this is relevent but I went from ORD>CLT in December 2013. Booked in H fare for departure, T fare for the return. Weather issues for the return leg and was rebooked on a flight 8 hours later and way given a Y fare. Noticed this as I got 1.5 PQS for that leg on my statement.

Ask at the gate: "Hi, I'm a displaced premium-cabin traveler, can you please double-check that I'm on the departure-management waitlist for the first-class cabin?". If they say "no, you're on an H fare, not a displaced premium-cabin passenger" then you can ask them to take a look at your e-ticket. Totally crazy that this stuff is necessary�

Did anyone get an upgrade? If yes and it wasn't it you, it sounds like you could talk UA into paying you a refund for the price difference between "A" and "H" or perhaps "A" and the cheapest available coach fare at time of purchase.

In a misconnect situation someone on an A class ticket can get any flight with F on it. If you don't like those options, you can get any other carrier with F seats for sale. If you don't like those options, you can take any UA flight that's full in F, take a Y seat, and gamble for the upgrade.

As for how it's prioritized, it's really a matter of how they rebooked it. If they downgraded you, you should be in Y. A GS on a Y fare as a displaced F passenger, should be at the top of the PR1 list.

The lists are so confusing and prone to error, you should make sure you're booked in Y, and the agent will put you on the PR1 before accepting the downgraded rebook. Many agents don't know these nuances (and the Helpdesk is often clueless as well), so the best bet is to assert yourself and suggest a more costly alternative to compel them to comply.

If they refuse to put you in Y and PR1, then say forget that then, book me in F on American (assuming they have space). That's a very costly rebook, so then they will be more likely to give you what you deserve on United.

HUP fare booked into A maybe?

They have always supposed to have put you in the original and often just forced Y because it is easier/faster. Some still do, though getting the old fare class assigned is easier these days, I think, so that may have something to do with it.

This was my thought as well. I've seen this with UP fares as well, where the agent tells me I'm booked in a lower class.

No idea what the formal policy is, but when I purchase the fare it's called a first class fare throughout the process. It seems there needs to be some agent training on these fares. This is not a CPU. At the end of the day, if it's H, fine. But 99.9% of people don't understand this and it causes a lot of unnecessary frustration in the type of scenario described here.

OP: as a GS you could ask for a GS sup, who should be able to handle this correctly for you.

they may put you in Y, they may put you in your original fare class, but you should not plan on or expect to get the Y fare bonus miles. if you do get them, they may be audited back (potentially well after the fact). your expectation should be to get the EQMs corresponding to the fare class you purchased.

all this stuff about upgrades should be handled as mherdeg suggests.

ok...
thx again for the responses.

to UAs credit, they did offer me AA and Delta 1st options without being prodded...just none of them got me home in time for daughters concert, so i didn't see the point

i do like the verbiage of "displaced" and will have to employ that in future

h-up fares...i got through w/ gs service and they confirmed i was not on h-up fare....here's how she dissected the situation yesterday:
> was booked thru on A fares
> when i took the middle seat i was demoted to a Y fare
> what "should" have happened was put on a wait list for available 1st, not
the upgrade list
> agent should have been able to see by looking at original ticket that booked
class of service was A

One of the better policies I've experienced at United is that they re-accommodate in the class you were in, regardless of how you got there (paid, TOD, or instrument upgrade).

I only had problems twice: once when there was really bad weather in Newark, and I opted to fly in economy rather than stay an extra day in Newark. Second when an agent claimed that "P" wasn't first class (see other threads about this unique issue.)

The agents at the 1K desk and United Clubs have invariably been helpful to me, but I know that others have had snafus.

I don't know what happens on other carriers, but I think this policy is particularly helpful. Above all, agents have usually given me a range of choices in the event of irregular operations. There are some losers out there, but most agents would rather keep you happy.

There is a set of re-accommodation rules (United first, then Star Alliance, then other options.) But they don't balk at putting me on Delta, American, Alaska, etc. if the need arises. Sometimes you have to ask, but most agents are good about this.

Had the same thing happening on a recent flight: was in paid C and agent put me on the "upgrade" list. Not sure, if this SHARES-related.
I have family member travelling with me later this month, who are WL for IN and I am still trying to figure out, what list they should go on the day of dept - if I can't get them to clear beforehand.
There seems to be so much inconsistency in how this is handled

I sure miss the FFCC list!