as219

A few months ago I booked a TK award itinerary with all segments in Biz (I class) except for one, which was not available at the time. Today, I see that this segment is available at the saver/I level. So I call UA to get this last segment. They told me no dice; the only way I can get this segment is if they reprice the entire itinerary, but since there is no longer saver availability for the overwater flight, they can’t do it.

Is this right? I thought that if I have a biz award itinerary but with one segment not in biz, that they can just swap that one out. Am I wrong?

WineCountryUA

Yes because it is a partner flight. If all UA may be doable, but since it requires a new ticket and the partner, may, many times does, refuse the change on the segments without present award inventory. This is not a new issue and trying to force it online will likely invalidate the ticket.

Move the query to a thread with multiple cases of travelers forcing this and them realizing they had an invalid ticket.

zitsky

Edit:

Booked with miles. I have a flight LIS-EWR-RDU. I want to get an earlier flight JFK-RDU that is now available. But my LIS-EWR in Premium Economy is no longer available. So I can’t use the change tool. Do I need an agent?

mariol

Who is operating JFK-RDU?

zitsky

United Airlines.

Kmxu

Please check your reservation carefully. UA only operates EWR-RDU, not JFK-RDU.

zitsky

I corrected my post. EWR. I’ll try chat with an agent.

Edit: Agent says LIS-EWR-RDU is a married segment and no changes can be made. I’ve never heard of this before. I’m not a frequent flyer.

abhilife2001

If there is a schedule change, does UA not restrict rebookings to within 1 week of the prior booking date? I recall being told that when I was rebooking after a schedule change.

jsloan

The agent is correct: you can't do what you're trying to do absent a schedule change or something else that would throw the regular rules out the window. You may be able to switch to the earlier flight upon arrival at EWR -- speak to a United agent at the desk past the luggage carousels before you drop off your checked baggage, if any, to continue to RDU. (You'll need to pick it up at EWR to go through Customs).

Airline tickets, including United MileagePlus awards, are sold on an origin to destination basis, so any voluntary changes that you make require fresh availability from origin to destination. You can't just swap out one leg and expect the price to be the same.

+/- 1 day is probably more common unless you have a very good story. UA agents aren't idiots. The strategy that mahasamatman meant was to go ahead and book long / inconvenient connections, an extra stop, etc. on the day you want to travel if you're booking many months out and the convenient options are more expensive, because a schedule change is likely and then you can swap to the preferred routing at no charge.

zitsky

I very much appreciate your reply. I said nothing about same price. I did not realize that an award flight could never be changed.

Do you think we could ask at LIS or just EWR before we recheck bags?

Changing the flight would mean not using the secret Premium Plus lounge with the Beluga caviar and Dom Perignon champagne. I like staying at the airport. My husband likes to get in and out.

jsloan

Well, it can be changed, but there has to be availability on the entire flight itinerary that you want, and that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment. That can change, so it's worth checking again. But when I say "the same price," I mean that you may find that you have to pay 3x as many miles just to change the 2-hour leg to RDU. I was assuming you wouldn't want to do that.

You can certainly ask; your odds might be better at EWR.

mahasamatman

But always book something you're willing to fly in case it doesn't happen.

zitsky

I booked a 6 hour layover EWR-RDU thinking an earlier flight would show up. Not a schedule change. We can live with it. I don’t want to lose our bulkhead PP seats LIS-EWR.

mariol

I just did SYD-IAH-DFW yesterday in a nearly identical situation. Aboard the TPAC leg, I used the United app's chat feature and successfully asked for a SDC to the flight two hours earlier that I originally wanted (but there was no IN/XN inventory when I booked it). It was quick and easy, and they didn't even need to retag my bags when I rechecked them -- the scan was enough. I would advise requesting the SDC as early as you can (in LIS or even before you leave for the airport within 24 hours of the domestic flight).

zitsky

Thanks. We’ll do that. Did you have to pay for Wi-Fi to use chat onboard?