transportprof

I have had auto-rebookings with P fares where I got pushed to an inconvenient flight due to cancellation, and succeeded in getting rebooked to a flight with a better timing by calling in. Just as long as there is space in the front cabin, the agent should be able to rebook, although it could take a supervisor.

As to why United does certain things, it's better for one's mental health not to dwell on such matters. There is often no sane reasoning that could lead you to the same conclusion they reached.

zrs70

Can someone remind me....

If a flight is changed from United Express to United, that can trigger a refund, as it is a change of carriers, regardless of flight time. Right?

RNE

Noticed this morning that my CLE-LAX nonstop had changed from early afternoon (UA1584 2:00 p.m.) to an evening nonstop: UA1746 6:03 p.m. This happened because the afternoon flight was removed from the schedule. I called in and had the flight changed to a morning nonstop: UA1956 7:33 a.m. Gruelingly early, but better than losing a whole day in LA.

Anyway, what I wanted to note is this. Rep mentioned that when flights are pulled from the schedule, ENIAC will automatically move pax not to to the nearest flight, but to the next later flight, even if it's much later.

RNE, unsure how accurate the foregoing information is, because, well, it came from United.

transportprof

As if on cue, this week's sked changes changed the timing of my SFO-YVR flight and which moved even later in the evening. I then called the Premier line and got approval in principle for the switch to the new UX flight, which still had R space for our GPU upgrades. ^

The agent was very friendly , but then discovered that the LHR-SFO-YVR connection had been ticketed as a 'married pair' which she could not 'divorce' without a supervisor's approval. After a 10 minute wait, she was still on hold for the supervisor and proposed completing the transaction herself and then emailing me the new ticket.

It sounded like she was under pressure to reduce her time on calls down, and knowing the way this airline is run I felt sympathy for her and agreed to hang up and await the reticketing email. It hasn't arrived yet (5 minutes after signing off).

Will it the reticketing work as promised? Will SHARES come back to bite me for my good deed to the agent today? Stay tuned for updates on this channel.

UPDATE: About 15 minutes after I signed off with the UA agent, I'd not received an e-ticket reissue, so I logged back into my reservation. It was showing the rebooking SFO-YVR, and the upgrade confirmed, and I requested e-ticket resending on my own - a most helpful feature of the web site interface which I only recently discovered thanks to FT.

So all's well that ends well. Come to think of it, I shouldn't jinx my 1'56" connection at SFO by saying that it has ended well. We won't know that for sure until June. But the flight bookings are now where they need to be.

transportprof

Note that in Post #70, we have a report of exactly the opporite logic being applied to an auto-rebooking in a sked change. In other words - the SHARES snafu is working normally.

transportprof

That it is my understanding. I also recall reports of having to escalate such a request to the supervisory level, wait months to not receive repayment and then file a DOT complaint to get the matter resolved. Hopefully, you'll have to pass through fewer stations of the cross to get what you are (over)entitled to.

exerda

I had a TPAC which was out of sync again due to a minor schedule change (something like 8 minutes IIRC)--and was again showing a "partner" confirmation # for US on an all-UA itin.

A quick call to sync it also caused my waitlisted GPU to clear on that segment... I can only assume it was "stuck" due to the flight being out of sync on this most recent schedule change.

50Kthehardway

Long time lurker, first time trouble-maker. I couldn’t find a similar post to this and it seemed odd enough to post so…

I booked a return of SIN-NRT-EWR-CLE for June 7 and requested upgrades using miles just after booking. Today I received confirmation that EWR-CLE cleared. To bask in the anticipatory joy of getting to have one last free drink when returning from vacation, I checked the website to see my seat assignment.

Instead, I had the red “schedule change” and my flights are now SIN-NRT-ORD-CLE on a 744 NRT-ORD (UA882) with no upgrade requested and SIN-NRT (UA804) changed to “R-Class Requested” from Upgrade Requested (read that thread). The outbound CLE-LAX-MEL has not changed.


I haven’t called yet - trying to do my homework.

1. Any ideas why they upgraded me on the last leg from EWR then switched to an itin through ORD (UA 78 NRT-EWR is still available)
2. Should I ask for my UA78 777 flight back (J9 R0) to have a better E+ experience or get my upgrade request on the UA882 744 NRT-ORD (J9 R0). UD would be cool….
3. Should I just skip this round, knowing several more schedule changes will be coming this far out?

Thanks for all of the helpful, empathizing and entertaining posts on FlyerTalk.

zrs70

Here's my story of a rather annoying schedule change incident…

I purchased a coach fare from Los Angeles to Boston via Cleveland. I bought up to a first-class fare at the time of purchase, only on the Los Angeles Cleveland portion.

Last week, there was a schedule change and United rerouted me through ewr. The upgrade was honored. I asked about getting on the nonstop to Boston, and they said I would lose the upgrade.

This week, a separate schedule change Shortens my connection in ewr from an hour and a half to 45 minutes.

At this point, I just want to cancel and refund.

And when I spoke to United Today, I was referred to a supervisor. The supervisor got on and the first thing she said was "looks like you called three different times to try to change this."

I asked if that was how greeted all customers. I explained that there had been a series of changes.

My refund was denied at first. Someone had documented along the way that the schedule change was only 17 minutes (when in reality it was a total change of an hour and 48 minutes.).

The supervisors and told me that it must be two hours. I asked, "is united going to split hairs over 12 minutes when there have been 2 changes, including a change of connecting city?"

The agent saw that what I was trying to say was accurate. But her hands were tied, is a rogue agent it documented my record saying don't make any changes.

We went to a different supervisor was able to create magic.

Even though I know United has a two hour rule, I found them to be very accommodating when schedules change,especially as they know from my flight history, that I'm around the corner from purchasing your tickets.

And yes, they were willing to waive fees and allow me to use the funds toward future travel. But I didn't want all that stuff in my record. I wanted to start fresh.

cfischer

wait till Monday. R-class requested is the same as upgrade requested. Weekends are messed up and at times you will find that on Monday things are back to normal. Call and tell them what you want ... UA is usually pretty good with schedule changes.

mduell

Per the CoC it triggers one of four things, at UA's election:

RULE 24 FLIGHT DELAYS/CANCELLATIONS/AIRCRAFT CHANGES

B) Definitions - For the purpose of this Rule, the following terms have the meanings below:

1) Change in Schedule – an advance change in UA’s schedule (including a change in operating carrier or itinerary) that is not a unique event such as a Schedule Irregularity or Force Majeure Event as defined below.

C) Change in Schedule - When a Passenger’s Ticketed flight is affected because of a Change in Schedule, UA will, at its election, arrange one of the following:

1) Transport the Passenger on its own flights, subject to availability, to the Destination, next Stopover point, or transfer point shown on its portion of the Ticket, without Stopover in the same class of service, at no additional cost to the Passenger;
2) At UA’s discretion, reroute Passengers over the lines of one or more carriers in an equivalent class of service when a Change in Schedule results in the cancellation of all UA service between two cities;
3) Advise the Passenger that the value of his or her Ticket may be applied toward future travel on United within one year from the date of issue without a change or reissue fee; or
4) If the Passenger is not transported as provided in C) 1) or 2) above and does not choose to apply the value of his or her Ticket toward future travel as provided in C) 3) above, the Passenger will be eligible for a refund upon request. See Rule 27 A).

As a practical matter, they generally let the passenger chose.

mnCO

Hello,

Question for you all as I've seen conflicting information from searching google. I have a ticket from MSP to LGA (via ORD) in August. I went on the UA website and saw that I was changed from real UA flights to United Express flights for the MSP->ORD and ORD->MSP legs. I do not want to fly on a United Express flight. Quite frankly, I would like to cancel the flight and get a refund (non-refundable ticket). Will this change in carrier allow me to get a refund?

Thanks

WineCountryUA

A change of carrier (to UX) does qualify for a full refund (but that may be credit toward a future flight and not a cash refund).

sfo3388

Just happened to me today. All afternoon/evening SNA-SFO flights on 04JUL2015 have been changed to UX. I had a ticket flying A319 in the evening of 04JUL. I called UA once I saw the changes. The agent spoke to the first supervisor regarding my refund request on the non-refundable ticket. The answer was that I had to accept the schedule and aircraft change. Then I told the agent that I really did not want to fly UX. The agent spoke to another supervisor. The ticket was refunded eventually.

frankmu

We are trying to get a stopover in ORD, so we can get a little sleep on our way to BOS. However, CS says that will break the fare, and we can't do it that way. She recommends paying a fare difference, but looks like SHARES is not letting her price it out.

The fare difference is now $800. I guess we suck it up and go on the red eye