HELP! Partner carrier schedule change on award ticket. United says not my problem..
 

I have a business class ticket from Denpasar to Chicago and the overnight segment operated by Thai got switched out from a lie-flat to a old style recliner type seat. Schedule pushed out by 2 hours and a different aircraft.
United says they can't do anything about it and said call Thai. Is there anything I can do about it?
Thing is that I just had a knee accident while in Indonesia and cannot really walk so a good seat could really come handy especially on a long flight like this.

Agent says not United's problem call Thai. When I asked for a supervisor he put me on hold for 30 minutes and then hung up.

HELP! Partner carrier schedule change on award ticket. United says not my problem..
 

Switch to DPS-SIN on SQ and then route SIN-HKG-ORD on UA? UA should be able to make open the SIN-HKG-ORD segments; will depend on whether SQ has DPS-SIN available.

As I am sure it states that plane and seat type are not guaranteed there is not much you can do. If they keep you in the same class of service then they are abiding by there contract.

Maybe they(Thai) might give you miles for the plane, seat change and delay but you need to call Thai directly.

The only way UA will get involved if it is a codeshare with a UA flight number in it.

The only ever compensation I ever got for seat change from a lie flat to recliner was when UA started selling only that plane type for the route I was on. Needless to say I got quite a few $350 travel vouchers for them changing equipment.

play the schedule change angle to get them to change to the routing you want (the suggestion above sounds like the way to maximise lie flat seats). I agree you won't have much luck getting them to open up seat space due to aircraft type...but you have much better chances if you tell them the schedule change doesn't work for you.

Thanks so much for the replies!
United says the change is 1:50 min so it is a "legal" change. On top of all that now they also say that my US-EUR(Stop)-ASIA(Final)-US ticket is "round-the-world" so if I want to make any change that would be an additional 260K miles:(
So I would not be able to change this even if I was willing to pay all the fees.

What is your actual routing and class and for when? Thai doesn't offer a non-stop from DPS to ORD, of course, and Thai is also notorious for changing out aircraft.

I would not expect United to open inventory in this case. That said, you should be able to switch to another routing (provided there is availability) without any cost. It sounds like you got a bad agent. Do some research online to see what else might be available for your schedule and then call back and try again. You do not need to pay a different rate (again, sounds like a bad agent). This thread may help:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...eb-2014-a.html

UA is simply the ticketing carrier.

If OP wants to make changes, he will need to locate available award space on other carriers and propose that to UA. Because there is no IRROPS (the schedule change apparently does not cause an "illegal" connection), UA has no obligation to change anything, but might.

OP should also understand that his new ticket will also need to conform to all ticketing rules because it would be voluntary change. Thus, if this changes a RTW itinerary and more miles/fees are involved, those will be for OP to pay (unless he can get UA to waive them).

If this is a Round the World award, contact UA and ask for the Star desk. Since this is the return portion, I am guessing that your outbound flights were over the pacific and these segments need to go over the atlantic. You have some options, I would first ask for "the pie in the sky" and see if you could route SQ from DPS-SIN-JFK, if not available, look at TG for earlier/later flight to BKK and either LH/TG through Europe. AI just joined and there maybe availability through India. I would focus on the schedule change not working for you, more than the aircraft type being changed.

Hope this helps.

+1. Sound advice and wisdom.

It's not United's problem. UA doesn't control TG scheduling or aircraft selection.

TG, moreover, is renowned for switching aircraft. You don't know for sure with TG what your aircraft will be until you show up at the gate.

If you post your routing, people can suggest changes. But don't expect UA to do anything beyond waiving a change fee.

Schedule change
 

2 pax (+ 1 infant), travelling on reward ticket from BKK to YUL.

Original schedule was on Feb 27th, BKK-NRT, then NRT-YYZ (on AC002), then YYZ-YUL.

Received a revised schedule:

BKK-NRT, then HND-YYZ (on AC006), then YYZ-YUL.

No clue what happened to AC002?

Anyway, we cannot be changing airports in Tokyo - bags, infant, borders, immigration, blah, blah. all this in less than 3 hours - ain't happening.

We are flexible to a degree where we can transfer at any airports outside USA (Since one of the pax needs a visa to go through US). We are even ok to leave on the 28th. I called reservations, they could only find transfers through US.

Any ideas?

You need to find a UA supervisor willing to conference in AC to get you on NRT-YVR-YUL.

This was an AC schedule change, AC should be able to do it. Your biggest challenge is finding someone over at UA who knows how to get AC to do this.

Call UA and ask for the Alliance Desk.

Assuming this is Y, NRT-YVR is available, but YVR-YUL is the one that needs forcing.

thanks, I will try asking for Alliance Desk. Hopefully they will know what this is and how to get me there :confused: It's such a pain dealing with clueless agents :(

The revised schedule is a product of a computer, not a human being. I suggest that you check online for acceptable alternatives, and then call United again. Since you have posted in this forum, I assume that you have used UA miles to book your award flights. That may pose some problems because of your inability to transfer in the USA. Like all airlines, UA has more control over award space on its own flights than on flights of its partners. Because of the significant change, UA will refund your miles and fees at no charge, but you may not wish to do this. Would it be possible for the member of your party who needs a visa to transfer in the USA to a) obtain a visa or b) fly separately?