WineCountryUA

70 minutes change is borderline but explaining the later arrival as problem might get.

Agree that is stretch.

PVDtoDEL

Ask for a waiver of the change fee to the new routing.

cfischer

Finally the desired schedule change for the x-mas return on 1/2/17. Did not book the straight connection in ORD because I could confirm the upgrade on the later flight right away. That flight is gone now and we were auto-rebooked on the earlier flight which went from F2 to F0 mind you that is for JANUARY 2017. Well, I am pleased

Flying Machine

I too noticed the new look. I had a change to DFW that had me arriving 1 hour later (6:00 pm rather than 5:00 pm) Called in and was routed to an earlier flight of my choosing (787 via IAH). I did my research ahead of calling and knew the flights I wanted.. Agent asked for me to hold a second as she gets someone to "overbook" the ticketing class. On the phone for less than 3 minutes total. Great agent and a change I like.. Thanks UA..

physioprof

I haven't had any trouble getting switched between any of the SoCal airports--SAN/SNA/LAX--for schedule changes of just over an hour, nor between PHX/TUS.

WineCountryUA

I sensed the OP was looking for a significant destination change, not a switch to an airport serving adjacent markets. But that may or may not have been a proper assumption on my case.

physioprof

True that OP never said whether EWR/PHL or BOS/FLL were the scale of destination change being sought.

aCavalierInCoach

Doubt it... I once had a schedule change that was the difference between an arrival in time to get the last BART out of SFO and getting in after it had shut. Got a firm "no" in response to my request to shift it.

PsiFighter37

If you HUACA you probably can get the response you are looking for. I've had schedule changes done for far less - once got a DEN-EWR flight moved back a couple hours when they moved it forward by ~45 minutes. Switched an EWR-PDX flight to EWR-IAD-PDX when the EWR-PDX flight got scheduled for even later.

YMMV, but I have never outright failed to have a flight changed to what I would prefer when something different gets put in. The only time I don't really try is when it's a de minimus amount of time (which to me is sub-30 minutes), and I really will only do it IF there is something that would materially be better for me.

PDXpress

I have an award ticket MFR-SFO-MUC for my family. My mother is booked just on the SFO-MUC leg, also an award ticket.

A schedule change has moved the MFR-SFO departure 4 hours earlier, which does not work for us. I know I can get those 4 tickets refunded, but what about the 5th passenger who is only booked SFO-MUC, which has not changed? Different confirmation numbers, of course.

Has anyone had success getting a free cancel and mileage refund for all passengers in this sort of situation?

transportprof

I just changed a HNL-LAX-SFO-SMF on 737s and a CR2 itinerary to HNL-SFO-SMF on a 777 and CR2. The sked change timing was only 10 minutes, but the HNL-LAX aircraft switched from a 757 with flat beds in front to a 737. When I explained this to the agent, she was willing to switch me to the 777 to SFO, which has the barco-loungers in front, as this was the closest seating type to what I had originally booked.

She did have to notate the file to explain why I was requesting the change, but claimed that such a seating change was an acceptable reason to rebook the itinerary. This was actually flyer friendly. ^

PV_Premier

you can probably get this to work but you might have to push the issue or escalate to a supervisor. i would simply explain that you are traveling as a party from different destinations and the sched change for part of the group makes the travel not feasible for all.

it may help your cause/argument if all the 5 tickets are clearly booked out of the same account(s)

transportprof

My SMF-SFO-YVR booking moved >2 hours later in this weekend's sked changes, which would have put Mrs. Transportprof and I in baggage claim @YVR for midnight on New Year's Eve.

When I pointed this out to the agent, it was no trouble to move the booking one day forward, and return home at a civilized hour on New Year's Day. ^

Adaptive rebooking on sked changes is one area where United really outshines its competitors. I had a sked change on Delta of 15 minutes and was basically told that it was too little to justify any change to the itinerary. I know where I'll be aiming for top tier FF status in 2018 (2017 is already in the bag).

cfischer

To be fair, UA has a problem with 15 minute schedule changes as well.

Recently on Delta with a schedule change on an award ticket not holding any status anymore on Delta I was offered a different near-by airport where they opened up space on their metal. I was very impressed.

My schedule changes this weekend are of the type that you cannot accept yourself and have to call in hope UA will fix this well-known problem w/ you have upgrades waitlisted soon.

transportprof

I'm glad your sked change with Delta worked out, but mine didn't. 15 minutes change is different when the departure moves from 6 a.m. to 5:45 a.m. than when it's 11 a.m. to 10:45 am, for example. Trans-border departures @YVR are less predictable because of all the steps one has to go through - and moving before 6 a.m. just adds to the stress because this means I have to begin the process before US border guards are on duty, otherwise there could be a big mob of pax ahead of me.

My point for this thread is that United seems quite open to taking contextual factors into account. I had a 10 minute sked change last week that they rebooked once I explained that I had booked the itinerary because it featured a 757 with flat beds in front, and I would prefer a 777 with the Hawaiian barco-loungers as an alternative to the 737 that I'd been auto-rebooked on. They got it, and I got a good alternative to my original purchase.

United does many things that annoy me, but sked changes are not one of them!