escapefromphl

Still a negative on second attempt. Will try again in a day or two. The last flight DEN-SFO is a max-9, I might try that angle.

dkc192

What angle do you have with the MAX 9? The fleet isn't grounded or anything. I'd suggest stressing that you had a connection involuntarily added to your itinerary. That should be enough to at least get you back onto a XXX-SFO nonstop, and if that doesn't exist or isn't at a conducive time (which sounds like the case), then the nonstop FRA-SFO. The service quality provided by frontline agents, even in very obvious scenarios such as yours, has gone downhill in recent years.

mahasamatman

There are people who won't fly some aircraft for whatever reason. It sounds like the OP is willing to use this even if it doesn't apply to them (otherwise, it would have come up earlier).

SJCFlyerLG

I just had a miserable experience changing a flight. We are booked PPT-SFO-MCO, departing Sep. 1. I was recently notified about a change - the flight from SFO to MCO was canceled, and they re-booked us on a SFO-MCO flight with a 50 minute connection in SFO - way too close for comfort. I decided to change it to an 11:05 departure connecting in IAH. I could not make the change on the website - I got a message that would not allow me to make the change, and I was told to use the flight search. When I tried to do that, I could see the flights I wanted, but only in Y; we are booked in paid J.

I used the chat function to speak with an agent. We are in Antigua, where I can use wifi calling to make free international calls - but when I attempted to do so, the UA message was that it would be a paid international call. Anyway, I was quickly connected on chat. The responses from the agent were painfully slow - they must chat with multiple customers. Each time I entered info, it was a good 3 to five minutes for a response. I provided the new flight numbers, and then the agent said they would make the changes. Every five minutes, I was advised they were working on it. After twenty more minutes, I asked about the problem. I was told that because I kept the original PPT-SFO flight, the agent couldn't change the SFO-MCO segments (wut?). The agent was contacting another desk. About ten minutes later, I got timed out of the chat! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! This took an hour.

I connected again and got a different agent. I politely explained the problem, provided the new flights again, and the agent went away. The responses were still incredibly slow. I had been checking my email to see if the changes had been made - nothing. Then I thought to look at My Trips, and voila - the new flights were there. However, the agent told me they needed to be confirmed. Ten minutes later, and the changes were official. Total time wasted was an hour and forty minutes. I can hardly wait for the next change.

On a side note, when I logged in, I was told that my phone number needed to be verified. I was sent a link, and then went to the app to verify the number. However, I had to log in, and every time I tried to log in, I returned to the sign-in page. It also claimed the link had expired - in less than a minute.

Takeaways - why is the chat response so slow? Do agents handle multiple conversations? What in the world was the problem with changing just part of the return flight? Why would UA consider 50 minutes to be a legal international connection arriving in SFO?

WineCountryUA

Yes and this is standard practice in the chat customer service industry, I have encountered it elsewhere

Becuase it does not, ID at SFO UA-UA is 80 minutes but the rebooking tool messes up at times. 50 minutes is D-D.

BTW I would never, ever attempt to change an international self service, always, always use an agent.

As for wifi calling, depends on how you have set that up. UA does not determine the cost, your communications provider does. UA may be warning that your provide may charge.

escapefromphl

I just keep getting "It's outside the schedule change policy to open space on the direct flight". I've tried 4 times now, I did not try any Max 9 angle. So I don't know if this is a recent change? I have switched to a slightly earlier 2 stop getting in to SFO around the same time, but it's highly unlikely I could convince my wife to actually take these flights, but will leave them in place until I find something better probably much closer to the travel dates.

dkc192

Based on the info provided so far, it is definitely not outside the schedule change policy. Frontline agents are almost universally clueless these days, which is sad.

You said you switched to an earlier two-stop itinerary--was that done through an agent? If so, I think that will/might make it significantly harder to get the nonstop that you're entitled to because you've already used up your one involuntary rebook, which essentially gives you free reign to pick any UA-operated flight regardless of award availability (and/or any partner flights with award availability) without paying additional miles or dollars.

escapefromphl

6th attempt was successful, now on direct flight from FRA in Polaris.

adams828

Flying BIO-MUC-IAD in a few weeks, and noticed we were moved to a 7:30am BIO-MUC (instead of the original 11:35am flight booked). Chat was able to get us back on the original flight, but I noticed now it's showing as a LH flight (operated by Air Baltic) instead of originally being a UA codeshare. Should I try and sort it out ahead of time for the PQP/PQS? Or can I just wait to see what actually posts?

WineCountryUA

Was this on UA ticket? (codeshare suggest yes). Likely the earnings will not change if the fare did not change. The LH/wet leased Baltic should credit fine.

cfischer

On a UA 016 ticket? Won't make any difference for PQP/PQS.

adams828

Yes all booked on UA. Right now it's only showing 3 PQS earnings for the entire 4 flight trip (IAD-BRU-BIO-MUC-IAD)

WineCountryUA

This is a common issue, Incorrect / Ineligible projected earning information showing on my itinerary for codeshares
Nearly always posts correctly

adams828

Gotcha, thanks!

dkc192

Congrats, but absolutely ridiculous (and feel sorry for you) that it took six attempts for a relatively simple request. UA customer service is still somewhat better than foreign airlines, especially the ME3 and TK, primarily because of their self-service options, but in cases where agent interaction is required it's getting quite bad.