Sep 8, 2018, 2:13 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
What is" being protected?"
Protection means have an alternative flight reservation added to your itinerary in case your present flight is cancelled or maybe missed due to irrops. This was a common practice years ago but has become less common recently, appears UA is discouraging it -- but some agents still will do this, status may be a factor.
Note the new alternative flight is just a reservation, so if needed, you will need to work with an agent to get it properly ticketed but space is being held -- that is your protection.
If the protection is not needed (once you have successful completed the original flight), it is a good idea to cancel the protection. First. to release the space for other. Also it cleans up the record. Finally, there is a small chance (if the protect was not done correctly) it could cause cancellation of your later flights. Agents should use "ARUNK" to prevent this, but since it is not common to do protection, that may be forgotten.
Proactive flight protection questions/experiences & importance of "ARUNK"
from the UA FT Glossary
Protection means have an alternative flight reservation added to your itinerary in case your present flight is cancelled or maybe missed due to irrops. This was a common practice years ago but has become less common recently, appears UA is discouraging it -- but some agents still will do this, status may be a factor.
Note the new alternative flight is just a reservation, so if needed, you will need to work with an agent to get it properly ticketed but space is being held -- that is your protection.
If the protection is not needed (once you have successful completed the original flight), it is a good idea to cancel the protection. First. to release the space for other. Also it cleans up the record. Finally, there is a small chance (if the protect was not done correctly) it could cause cancellation of your later flights. Agents should use "ARUNK" to prevent this, but since it is not common to do protection, that may be forgotten.
Proactive flight protection questions/experiences & importance of "ARUNK"
from the UA FT Glossary
ARUNK/ARNK: Arrive Unknown -- a statement/segment in the itinerary to designate uncertainty of how traveler will arrive at the next departure point. Could be open-jaw, could be irrops or protected alternative. Needed to prevent auto-cancellation of remaining flights in some irrops situations.
Is IRROPS alternative flight protection still offered? (seems to be a YMMV situation)
Mar 9, 2015, 8:08 am
#31
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: UA 1K 1MM
Posts: 455
My experience leads me to believe they cracked down on "protection", but haven't eliminated it altogether. I had a situation where I could see a problem, but it wasn't official yet, and protection was a no-go. But the agent also said they were being told to not protect as much. Protection was not being eliminated completely.
Mar 9, 2015, 8:56 am
#32
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: DC|NYC
Programs: UA GS, DL Plat, Marriott Bonvoy LIfetime Titanium/SPG refugee, Hertz Prez, Amtrak Select
Posts: 3,201
It's all well and good to note what UA's IT should be able to do and to then complain that it doesn't but sometimes we have to take control ourselves. When my butt is in a seat, I give them a call. It takes just a moment, gives me confidence my record is cleaned up and they're always quite appreciative.
Mar 9, 2015, 9:50 am
#34
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: MCO
Programs: No status up in here
Posts: 111
Was protected last night
Had SFO-LAX-MCO last night.
SFO-LAX left 2 hours late because of runway closure at LAX and I would have missed my connection to MCO. When I checked united.com in flight, I saw that they had protected me on LAX-EWR-MCO.
Fortunately, they held the LAX-MCO flight for 30 minutes and I completed my itinerary as scheduled.
Good to see that they had a back up plan for me.
Flew on A fare so I'm sure that had something to do with it.
SFO-LAX left 2 hours late because of runway closure at LAX and I would have missed my connection to MCO. When I checked united.com in flight, I saw that they had protected me on LAX-EWR-MCO.
Fortunately, they held the LAX-MCO flight for 30 minutes and I completed my itinerary as scheduled.
Good to see that they had a back up plan for me.
Flew on A fare so I'm sure that had something to do with it.
Mar 9, 2015, 10:58 am
#35
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Montrose, CO
Programs: United 1K MM, Marriott LTPP
Posts: 548
Proection
My experience has always been that some agents would do it and some wouldn't.
Those that have created protection have always asked me to call back and cancel the flight if I didn't use it. When I do call they always say "wow, nobody ever calls us back". If WE had kept our end of the bargain this wouldn't have become such an issue.
Those that have created protection have always asked me to call back and cancel the flight if I didn't use it. When I do call they always say "wow, nobody ever calls us back". If WE had kept our end of the bargain this wouldn't have become such an issue.
Mar 9, 2015, 11:21 am
#36
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: UA Plat 2MM; AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 35,068
No reason they can't set it up where they would be able to attach protection to a segment in the record, and then tie it to the boarding record.
e.g., agent sells in protection, attached to Segment 2. If customer boards Segment 2, protection falls off. If customer fails to board Segment 2, Segment 2 drops off, and protection is checked in, BP emailed to customer/refreshed on app.
Of course that means their technology is all talking together, which is not the case at present, with their 900 apps throughout the company.
Mar 9, 2015, 1:31 pm
#37
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: PDX
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Plat
Posts: 11,500
Flew PDX-SFO-LAX on March 1. SFO-LAX took a delay of about an hour.
Today I look at the return portion of my reservation and notice an AS confirmation #. I call UA and ask what is going on and they said that I had been protected on March 1 on AS but that it ended up not being needed.
Today I look at the return portion of my reservation and notice an AS confirmation #. I call UA and ask what is going on and they said that I had been protected on March 1 on AS but that it ended up not being needed.
Mar 9, 2015, 3:19 pm
#38
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Atlanta / New Delhi
Programs: MP Gold, Hertz President's Circle, PC Platinum Elite, Marriott Gold
Posts: 54
1. if the first flight was boarded by pax, drop protected flight from ticket.
2. if the first flight has departed (i.e. boarding closed), drop first flight, auto check-in to protected segment.
Or maybe we are expecting too much.
In any case, expecting people to call in for this is not practical I think. Most people won't even be thinking about calling it in if they are dealing with IRROPS-created problems in their travel. Other things may assume higher priority for them like calling family or work etc.
Mar 10, 2015, 12:58 am
#39
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,597
And in cases of massive IRROPS it makes no sense at all to have people call it in- it ties up resources (telephone agents) doing something that can very easily be done automatically by a computer.
Mar 10, 2015, 1:42 am
#40
formerly wunderpit
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: ONT-SNA-LAX
Programs: UA1K-HHDiamond
Posts: 1,340
Was protected last week DEN>SNA. I was coming in from TUL when DEN had ground stop for "freezing fog, zero visibility". I mentioned backup to the agent, and she did say something like "I can't do that but I cam protect you". Ok, whatever terminology. Either way, missed original connect and went next flight no prob!
Mar 10, 2015, 2:45 am
#41
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Small town near RNO
Programs: Delta 1MM/PM, BAEC GGL, Asiana Diamond Plus(Lifetime), AC *Tangerine
Posts: 899
Was protected automatically last week on RNO-SFO-LAX-LHR when the RNO-SFO took a 40 minute hit for crew with a 1:15 connection in SFO to the SFO-LHR. Made the original connection and even the bags made it to London with me! Still got auto checked in so the UA system finally worked right!
Mar 10, 2015, 6:35 am
#42
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Antonio, TX
Programs: 1K
Posts: 784
I was informed of the same as OP from a 1k customer service rep. I recently had a connecting flight that I would definitely miss, and he told me that the new policy was that they do back-ups anymore. After a bit of convincing, I got my request.
IRROPS handling is one of the biggest benefits that I'm not fond of losing. I'm glad I'm AA EXP now, and will continue to be until there are changes I like at UA! I will obviously fly UA to DEN, but anything else I don't mind transferring via DFW instead of IAH.
IRROPS handling is one of the biggest benefits that I'm not fond of losing. I'm glad I'm AA EXP now, and will continue to be until there are changes I like at UA! I will obviously fly UA to DEN, but anything else I don't mind transferring via DFW instead of IAH.
Mar 10, 2015, 7:32 am
#43
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: UA Plat 2MM; AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 35,068
Most of the time, I don't take the auto-rebook from the computer. I find a better way -- whether it's to a different airport, on a different carrier, or whatnot.
Unless I have the same access as the agent, I can't envision the need to never call in.
Mar 10, 2015, 7:41 am
#44
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Slightly to the left of center
Posts: 3,475
If the rumor becomes truth, seems like one less tool for GA's to negotiate with volunteers, "One remaining seat on the next flight, I'll protect you," sounds a lot better than, "next available seat."
If current rumor becomes truth, next seat availability is determined only after the door has closed and plane prepares to leave. That could mean next flight that day, tomorrow or two days out. The extreme cases would come during irrops, winter storms and such.
If current rumor becomes truth, next seat availability is determined only after the door has closed and plane prepares to leave. That could mean next flight that day, tomorrow or two days out. The extreme cases would come during irrops, winter storms and such.
Mar 10, 2015, 1:03 pm
#45
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 553
Anecdotally, I got a backup segment for my significant other a couple weeks ago during IRROPs. The agent I spoke with intimated that they weren't supposed to do that anymore but kindly made an exception (especially since the original flight was almost certainly going to be missed, barring the slight chance that it got delayed). However, my SO was flying in first, so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it.