cfischer

With AC segments it is near impossible to do this. It would be against SOP anyway, but AC is notorious for not re-confirming segments with such voluntary changes.

jsloan

It's not so much an issue of the original mileage amount, which isn't something that the OAL would see. It's an issue of space in the appropriate inventory bucket.

If the original flights are still available as awards, but the price has changed, that suggests that partner I space is still present, but that no further UA I space is available, and it's reverted to using JN on the UA leg. If this were (originally) an all-UA itinerary, an agent might be willing to store the existing fare, add the new leg, and force it to reticket in I. (Yes, it has to be reissued to add an ExPerk, whether there are any partner legs or not). Due to the AC segments, that's going to be tougher. Since around the time they added the ExPerk, agents appear to have been given instructions not to try to reissue awards that include partner segments, but rather to cancel and rebook the award entirely. Most of the time, the impact of that is that you need current partner award space to make any changes to an itinerary, even if you aren't touching that leg. In this case, I suspect that the impact would be that it'd be much more difficult for the agent to secure I space on the UA segments, given that it no longer exists.

And, yes, all of this depends upon the agent being willing to interpret the rule as allowing the segment to be added without repricing the entire itinerary, which is far from a sure thing.

OP: I'd suggest that your friend keep an eye on the award prices for the trip, and if they happen to drop again -- entirely possible -- to cancel and rebook.

calmasahinducow

We're on an economy award CLE - EWR - CDG this coming Sunday. This is a married segment UA 1891 - UA 57. There was a schedule change and we are eligible for a free change in flights but the agent claims that they cannot change the UA 1891 flight to an earlier flight because it breaks the married segment. He also doesn't want to cancel the itinerary and rebook the segments individually because UA 57 has no seats and we could lose the seats during the rebooking. Anyone know if there's any other way just to change that CLE - EWR leg?

jsloan

UA 57 is completely full, so that dramatically limits the options that an agent will have without involving a supervisor. What is your new connection time?

tubulus

Repost from the sticky thread, not sure if this gets more traction:
I have the current situation on travel for my family of 4.
I've booked CDG-EWR at great business rate (65k).
I have a hold on a full open jaw ticket EWR-LHR and CDG-EWR at 155k on the first leg, 65k on the second.
I'd like to book EWR-LHR for a different day then I've put the hold on (145k, and I'd rather go a day earlier). Currently the CDG-EWR leg is coming up higher (95k).
Options:
1 - I could just book the EWR-LHR as a one way, but then my original CDG-EWR is not-originating in the US, so if I need to change close in I'll have a fee. I really don't want to lose that option. However, is the fee per person or for the whole reservation? If it's the whole reservation $125 isn't bad and maybe having 2 separate tickets is better in case something lower priced does come along?
2 - Cancel the CDG-EWR I already have booked, hope the new price goes back down, then book new ticket as I want.
3 - Book the held itinerary and then change the outbound flight - will I get the extra 10k miles back per ticket?
4 - Is it possible to call and change the held itinerary before booking? (seems the answer is no?)

Thanks

findark

I have accomplished option (3) by calling before (that is, reticket outbound at lower price without repricing return), although I don't generally expect that it should work. YMMV.

Possible, yes, but tricky. You have to HUCA to find an agent (or their supervisor) who is willing to long-sell the EWR-CDG on the basis you holding the space already on the sold out flight.

jsloan

1 - I'm not actually sure this is an option, but if it is -- all fees are per traveler.
2 - I wouldn't bet on the price coming down
3 - Probably. It's tough to be 100% sure because you're changing the outbound and not the return. For a cash ticket, this would cause a repricing. For an award ticket, it probably would not, but I can't be sure. (The issue is going to be holding the return without current space available).
4 - I don't think so.

tubulus

Thanks...
If nothing works I'll just book the 1-way I guess. Seems like it's a chance of a $500 redeposit fee (of which at least amex will give me back $100) vs a chance of throwing away 40k miles. Also you make it sound like I might not even be able to change the outbound on the open jaw since there's no new space on the return? Maybe I'm reading wrong.

jsloan

That's specifically my concern, yes. If the agent is willing / able to hold the I space on the return flight, you'll get the correct fare. But I don't know whether or not that's currently allowed. On a cash ticket, it wouldn't be. On an award ticket prior to dynamic pricing, I'm pretty sure it would have been OK (although I'n not 100% sure I ever tried it). But I'm not sure if they've been instructed to reprice in this situation or not.

calmasahinducow

HUCA worked but took about 90 minutes. Still very much worth it.

tubulus

Agent on the phone said fairly clearly they aren't charging any redeposit fees these days (even not for US origination), just speak to an agent, so I'll go ahead and just book the second one way. Am I 100% sure he's correct? Not really...but such is life. Hopefully everything works out and it will all be a nonissue anyway.

jsnearline

I’m trying to change the return flight on a award booking from a flight on July 19 to the same flight on July 18. I’m getting an error that says, “we are not able to find any available seats that meet your search criteria.” When I do a new flight search, the flight I want is showing as available at the same number of miles I paid. What might I be doing wrong?

evol

You probably aren't doing anything wrong. I would call or use the chat function to ask them to switch it manually if there is the space.

WineCountryUA

Award changes requires new availability for all unflown segments, including the outbound if not yet flown.

If all UA operated segments, an agent can make this happen for the legs are already booked but without new availability

The change may lead to a new price.

jsnearline

The price on my outbound went up, Is that possibly why I’m not able to change the return?