WineCountryUA

Yes this was likely the cause and there should be no issue in getting back to your original flight. But as mentioned schedules more then 6-8 weeks out are still a bit iffy -- so check back atleast the last weekend of each month.

whitesock

Well I called and the agent could not get me back on the flight. I also was unable to see it as an option to change to. But it still appears in UA's system to book. It's Flight 1414 on 6/9 ANC-EWR (arrives 6/10). Seems strange, but possible, that I would have been moved off of it because it's cancelled but it remains in the system to book. Maybe that's a 24 hour thing. Really disappointing, I was looking forward to a lie flat seat leaving Alaska.

cfischer

there is a major UA June schedule update running tonight. It has messed up things pretty badly on my end as well. Best to wait till tomorrow to see the carnage.

WineCountryUA

I would try again, it shows with plenty of inventory, even P2.
If denied again, ask the agent to give you a reason as inventory exists.
I would consider escalating to a supervisor if the explanation does not make sense.

jsloan

Assuming that 'long' is more than four hours, the layover makes the transfer in EWR a stopover, which is why you're having a hard time getting it booked. I suspect that it's no longer a valid transfer point on a through fare to your destination, as UA doesn't allow stopovers on most domestic fares.

It's theoretically possible to stay on it, but it's going to take an agent willing to override what the computer is doing and force it through.

WineCountryUA

Agents have overrides this before if UA caused schedule change, but may take an supervisor.

whitesock

Thank you all for your help, I have never flown lie flat before so I certainly don't want to get bumped from it if it is still operating! I'll wait for tomorrow given the schedule update that was referenced.

Some more details that may end up being helpful - the flight I had booked was ANC-EWR-DCA. The EWR-DCA leg had been in the mid-morning; however, I now see it's gone and the only possible EWR-DCA connection for me is at 2:00 PM (ANC-EWR arrives at 7:40 AM). So, it could be stopover issue and the system re-routed me after my connection was cancelled into DCA. But, I also searched for ANC-EWR-IAD (which I would happily do) and that also did not show up, despite an 8:20 EWR-IAD flight. Would UA prevent me from booking a 40 minute connection time? Last but not least, I searched for just ANC-EWR, since I would just hop on Amtrak to DC if it meant I could keep my lie-flat, and that route DID appear - with an upcharge. I'll try to get a supervisor first but worst comes to worst, that would still be worth it to me.

Edit: Now I see this 8:20 EWR-IAD flight has no open seats in First. Would that prevent the route from being shown as available to me? I would again happily take an Economy Plus seat on that leg if I got to fly the ANC-EWR.

ty97

Running a schedule change on a Wednesday instead of a weekend is interesting, but they certainly are doing just that.

WineCountryUA

An obscure exception to the stopover rule is the desired flight is the first valid connection -- would suspect newer agents may not have been trained on this and it is not generally offered online.

It should show but "should" does not mean it always will.

UA did a mid-week schedule tweak last week also, definitively a change of behavior. Unclear why.

whitesock

Turns out my first agent was just kind of clueless. Second agent was far more helpful. Spotted the issue right away and got me on the flight through IAD instead to save me 6 hours. No problems at all. I guess the lesson is if at first you don't succeed (when calling), just try again.

SFO 1K

Around these parts, we call that HUCA (Hang Up & Call Again)

WineCountryUA

Congrats on recovering the flight, let's hope it stays in this era of schedule changes

Agent quality does vary a bit , but the stopover rule is probably not one newer agents deal with. Additionally the schedule change rule allows for change of airports (within 100 miles which IAD/DCA easily qualifies)

MojaveFlyer

Based on the loads I saw last week and Monday, it seemed that demand was suddenly surging; would be nice if the schedule tweaking was to get more aircraft back in service.

WineCountryUA

There was a surge thru Easter, but the recent 7-day period is a slight pull back (4% based on TSA data). However, UA has the advantage as it has forward looking data and has stated "19. In March 2021, the Company observed a forward acceleration in customer demand for travel and new booking".

jsloan

It used to price properly online and stopped a couple of years back. It's questionable whether this exception would even apply due to the fact that they had a flight to IAD -- but as you pointed out, a good agent (or a supervisor, but I'd try a few agents before escalating) should be able to override the pricing and put the passenger on any reasonable set of flights when a schedule change occurs.

Happily it seems to have worked out for the OP.