cfischer

Unless you have a ticket ... you got nothing. Doesn't take a week to confirm either; was probably phantom inventory. I'd start looking for alternatives.

wongbr

Ended up processing the cancellation for the return leg. 40k miles redeposited along with the tax! Thanks for your help

rariya

Update on this. I used the CS chat the day after and it was revealed that the first agent did nothing (?!) despite telling me I'd get a refund within 48 hours. I then confirmed I would get the taxes refunded to my cc and also that I would receive the miles back in my account. Despite assuring me I would get the miles back, when I asked how many miles I would get back, the CSR did not know--he literally said "however many you paid for them". This set off more red flags as every single email I had gotten about my refund mentioned the $11.20 but there was zero language about the points.

I waited one more day before calling and finally getting connected to an agent who had some sense and was able to sort it out for me. She didn't seem to know exactly why this had happened, but was able to redeposit my 180k points immediately. Upon further digging, I had booked the flights in Dec 2022, there was then a schedule change in February that I changed one of the legs with the free change and subsequently got an email saying "Action required to confirm you change" which in my experience just means a phone call to get the agent to confirm the booking. I didn't call at the time because I knew I may need to cancel anyway so I figured why waste the time on the phone. Once I knew I needed to cancel (a few days ago) I canceled online and that's where this all began.

Reiterating that the CSR did not know why, but we speculated together that perhaps canceling an unconfirmed flight was where the issue happened in the system. Annoying that it took 3 people (2 of whom assured me the refund went through when it didn't) before we got here but hopefully this helps any future people that experience this issue.

Edit: to add that previously I had gone through the 'reservations' menu when I called and when I finally got resolved I went through "mileageplus" instead. Not sure if it's all bs and just based on the CSR you get but worth noting I think.

Seminole_Kev

Have a weird message that started popping up on a trip within the last day or so on United.com (along with some confused support from United so far). My brother booked an awards trip for me (yes, some horse trading took place there LOL) and the ticket has been fine the last few months. Within the last day or so, when I view my trip on United.com it shows a big red "Please sign in using the sponsoring MileagePlus account number and password." alert message when I view that trip. I've chatted with United support on it (first with Reservations, then the MileagePlus team, then back to Reservations, then back to MileagePlus, and round and round) but they can't seem to see any issue. Everything looks fine otherwise for the trip, both in my view, and my brother's. He has no issues/alerts for my trip that he can see. The trip is in less than 3 weeks and just a little worried that something might be up with it. I still have seats assigned and other than that error message, it looks fine. I did upgrade this trip with cash to Premium Plus awhile back, but was many weeks ago.

I'd post a picture of the error, but I can't find my old FlyerTalk account, so had to create a new one and, alas, too new an account to post the screenshot.

Update to the update to the update. After evidently going around with just about every support person United has on the payroll, they can't find anything wrong and are not sure why that alert message appears. So...uh, hopefully everything's ok?

WineCountryUA

Ignoring messages you do not understand at your own peril. Has the mileage owner logged in and looked at the itin?

Seminole_Kev

Yep. No issues that he can see. No messages/alerts on his side and everything looks fine for him regarding my trip or anything else that might catch his eye.

As far as ignoring the message, I certainly didn't (hence the support ticket). Just that there isn't much more I can do (or at least know how to do) beyond the various support groups all saying "Nope your ticket is fine". Obviously I've asked them if they can at least still explain why I'm seeing that alert message and them going "nope, but we'll let management know about it" (which I don't believe, and I suggested that they probably should open an internal ticket with IT about it if they can't explain it). However beyond that (and this post here just in case someone else has already encountered it before) I don't know what else I could do.

AAJetMan

Greetings...Kindly advise...
I am on award travel SHV-IAH-LHR.
I am considering changing the first leg to the prior day. If I do so, is there any risk to the status of my IAH-LHR ... will UA have to reconsider my seat, mileage requirements, mileage availabiltiy?
Thank you in advance!!

jsloan

UA policy woudl charge you the difference, if any, between the number of miles you paid and the current price for your desired itinerary.

fumje

If you change the flights, it will reprice to whatever the current available award is. That could be the same price you paid, or it could be higher or lower.

If your intended IAH layover is >24h, it will almost surely be a higher price.

However, I wouldn't say there's particularly a "risk" involved. You can look to see what the price is before changing to decide what you want to do.

You may also be able to use SDC the day before travel to move up the SHV-IAH leg, but no guarantees on that.
UA Same-Day Travel Change (SDC) Fees/Questions -Free STBY for all, SDC for all elites

Kmxu

Yes, it will be repriced accordingly if there is no schedule change.
You can use the multiple destination search for the new flights. If the price looks good to you, rebook it and cancel the previous one (assuming you are plenty of miles).

AAJetMan

THank you JSloan...I am fine with that. Just want to make sure...I won't have the 2nd flight subject to current availability, nor lose my seat assignment?

jsloan

UA has last-seat availability on its awards. If the flight you want is totally sold out, you may not be able to make this change (it’s hit or miss). If the flight you want is not sold out, you should be able to make the change, but the price difference may be extreme. I agree with the other posters who have commented — you can preview this yourself to see what will happen.

Your seat assignment may or may not be preserved (I’ve had both happen). If your original seat isn’t available during the rebooking process, wait a moment, go back into your reservation, and you should be able to select it. If you have paid for Economy Plus or preferred economy class seating, you may be charged a second time, although the original charge will be refunded. Making the change via a phone agent, rather than online, may result in a more streamlined process in this case.

fumje

You would need availability on the IAH-LHR flight. If there is availability, you shouldn't lose your seat assignment.

edit: I am a minute behind jsloan always! 😖

Wx4caster

My data point: three days ago I saw IN availability open up on my first segment, but the second segment (int'l partner) was not available to book. I decided to try the 'change flight' function, and was surprised to see multiple options available to change the first segment, that included connections to the same second segment - at the same number of miles (even exchange). I had no issues making a change. The only explanation I can think of is that UA preserved the space on my connecting flight when showing options.

fumje

Interesting, thanks for the data point. I was actually about to say it might work, because I have seen it do that for revenue fares sometimes, but I had not for awards. Good to know.