:-) Hey, now, one can dislike an opinion without disliking the person giving that opinion. No offense intended.

None taken.

Negative connection time on United booking?
 

Quick question - Ticket booked through United early, itinerary was AKL-IAH-IAD-YUL with a 1h20min connection time in IAH (AKL-IAH leg is on Air New Zealand).
At some point the booking changed and now has me on an IAH-ORD flight departing 50mins BEFORE my Air NZ flight even lands in IAH (no notification from UA, I just noticed when I logged into the app) .
I wonder if this is related to schedule changes due to the 737 Max grounding, has anyone encountered this previously and what was the resolution?

This is not uncommon for schedule changes and you must get this corrected. UA may eventually offer a revised alternative but it is better to be pro-active. You should have no issues getting a valid connection with a later UA flight. Waiting just reduces the opportunity to get the better seats.

Thanks - having looked at the UA schedule, there aren't any later flights leaving IAH for YUL (either direct or via connection) that day - at least that can be booked as a one way fare on UA website, presumably how I've been assigned to the 2.20pm one. I'll give them a call and figure out what's going on

What about an AC operated flight?

good shout. I've been trying to avoid AC due to non-existent Airpoints earn on NA flights but there is a flight via YYZ

Pick a flight that works for you, then call and ask for it. AKL-SFO-EWR-YUL, AKL-LAX-IAD-YUL, whatever. You don’t have to stay on the same AKL-IAH flight if it no longer suits your plans.

Switching to AC-operated flights is likely to be more difficult than sticking with an all-NZ/UA itinerary, but it’s possible; the agents would just rather not.

Thanks again - got a helpful agent, now routing via YYZ on UA with short hop on AC arriving only 30mins after originally scheduled...

UA schedule change policy - application
 

I book UA MRs 6 + months in advance - and then I make changes once all the schedule changes take effect.
Today, I called the 1K desk and was told not to expect this for my upcoming trip to TPE (34 days from now). Why?
According to the remote agent, I had to respond as soon as the schedule change was first announced (in August). While this is nice in theory, in practise I have 6 + UA itins in my profile! I don't really want to request changes as soon as UA makes its schedule change! To make matters worse, the agent said that UA's policy is no complimentary changes will be allowed unless the change is +/- 30 minutes! Is this really the policy? I looked this up on united.com and what I read is very different:
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...e-changes.html
So, here are my questions (NB none of my itins are basic economy fares)
1. Has UA recently changed the application of its schedule change policy?
2. How can UA assert that because I opened my profile, I "accepted" the schedule changes?
3. What exactly s UA's schedule change policy?
4. What is the best way to proceed? Call back?
5, How do I notify UA that I don't agree with the schedule changes? Call them?
Thanks in advance for any insights/suggestions?

nonsense, HUACA
Yes, that is the policy

See this thread's wiki or the link you referenced for the 30-minute rule. Some agents will do less and of course, if it breaks the MCT, that must be addressed.

an update
 

Thanks for the feedback to date!
I completed my 3rd call (34 min) with a very nice remote agent - but the result is still the same. I get that 30 mn. is the new standard - but - I ran into two more obstacles. Tracy found me an alternate routing XXX-EWR-SFO-TPE but it came with 2 conditions i.e. it had to be available in the same fare class (K) and I had to pay the fare difference? Since this is an MR, that's unlikely to happen. I have made many schedule change requests through the the 1K desk - but - this is the first time I have been told about these two requirements! For the rtn. UA reduced my segments from 4 (TPE-SFO-DEN-IAD-XXX) to 3 (TPE-SFO-EWR-XXX). Again, I asked Tracy to give me an alternate routing with 4 PQS (TPE-SFO-IAD-YYZ-XXX) but - again - paying the fare difference was the deal breaker? I also asked about a full refund and was told that was a no go on a non refundable fare. At this point, I am inclined to just go with the new schedule and complain later. Comments welcome!

Its difficult to piece together exactly what you originally booked, and what the new schedule looks like, but assuming you just have a minor (<30 min) change that does not violate any MCT then that is the reason for the pushback from UA. I have no doubt they “made up” other reasons like the August red herring, but the real reason is the minor nature of the change and that is consistent with UA policy (and that policy has not recently changed)

As I mentioned in another thread, I bought a ticket, for winter travel, with a 55 minute connection in EWR (IAD-EWR-BQN). A schedule change reduced that to 51 minutes. OK, that is not much of a change, but it was tight to begin with.

When I asked experts on this board what they think about a 51 minute connection in EWR, they said it is pretty high risk -- especially since there's only one flight per day from EWR to BQN, so if you miss it you have a 24 hour delay (or an overnight in EWR and a re-route to SJU, followed by a few hour drive).

I called UA to ask them to switch me to an earlier IAD-EWR flight, given the 4 minute schedule change and the tight connection, but they said "you bought your ticket from a travel agent so you have to call the travel agent."

So I did that and the travel agent called UA to ask for a change. But UA told the travel agent the 4 minute schedule change is too short to allow any change without a change fee.

Figuring there's no harm in trying, I called UA again, and pointed out the 4 minute schedule change and the tight connection. This time the agent agreed to move us to an earlier IAD-EWR flight. She would not move us to a DCA-EWR flight -- she said she cannot allow an airport change -- but "as an accommodation" she agreed to switch us to an earlier IAD-EWR flight.

So I guess the moral of the story is: A 30 + schedule change is necessary, except when it is not. And if you call again, maybe you will get what you want.

By the way, I have no UA status.

A tighter connection is frequently an exception to the 30+ minute rule. Generally, UA is very good about accommodating reasonable requests as the result of a schedule change. They know they’re on the hook for transporting you anyway, and it’s better for everyone if they get you scheduled onto flights that you can actually make — it helps keep their planning numbers accurate, and it helps keep you a happy customer.