Ability to refare multi-carrier ticket may not match on-line fare bucket avail'y.
 

So I got this taken care of this morning:

1. WAS-HKG in W
2. HKG-YYZ in V

Knowing HKG-SFO doesn't have R space available, I called up to make a change to HKG-NRT-LAX-DEN-YYZ.

1st agent: Point-to-Point hm...It would be B for the return, and $4kUSD more of the fare.
Me: I just pulled up the fare with that particular routing in V 30min ago.
1st agent: Well you booked it so close to departure, so both directions would have to be booked in B.
Me: I could see the routing I wanted in W and V exactly 30min ago.
1st agent: Let me try again, HKG-NRT without V.

HUCA...

2nd agent: Doesn't seem like HKG-NRT has V for UA codeshare.
Me: I can see it in the UA expert mode, V9, isn't it right?
2nd agent: We are using a different system, but bottom-line is ANA doesn't have V in this fare.

Hanging up.

I got fed up and tried to change it myself.

BAM! I got it HKG-NRT-LAX-DEN-YYZ all in V, but outbound WAS-HKG was moved to S, even though I forced the system not to change the outbound! :confused:

Partial refund to be credited as ETC.

Calling...

3rd agent: Couldn't use the partial refund because the itinerary only takes one form of payment. Have to charge me a new amount with the CC, can't use the partial refund.
Me: I tried to change it online myself but for some weird reason for the WAS-HKG was changed to S.
3rd agent: Maybe next time you can call us to do that for you.
Me: With all due respect I called before but agents couldn't find HKG-NRT in V..

Verdict:

1. Four calls, including the last one with ANA confirmation number.
2. Can't apply GPU online. Error thrown out to when I tried to select the seats.
3. Agents blatantly made up story of how the pricing algorithm works.
4. Mess systems. I can get it online while the 1K agents can't.
5. Partial refund as ETC yet couldn't be immediately put back to the original PNR.

What a mess.

Before hanging up did you actually wait for the agent to "try again"? I've had this happen before, the agent will try again or have to call the rate desk and will eventually be able to find the fare if its really available. It just takes a while. If this required calling the rate desk and you weren't willing to wait and HUCA too soon, then it makes sense getting the same response from the next agent. If you did wait and the agent just gave up, then I guess you just had bad luck.

Yup.

Me: I could see the routing I wanted in W and V exactly 30min ago.

1st agent: Let me try again,

Five minutes later, she came back saying they tried to request ANA for HKG-NRT V, ANA responded with no V available.

That is standard, you can not change a ticket w/o repricing the entire unflown portion -- it is just the way it works online. That is why the agent said "don't try this at home"
There is no way you can override this or force the system not to do this (online). Agents can.

Additionally there are very strange and opaque rules on fare combinablity that may have been blocking the agents.

Absolutely. Very common to bump into these with anything but the most plain vanilla TPAC roundtrip, especially if the itinerary touches TYO.

If I try to change and reprice the entire thing online, even specifying V/W gave me B/H/E and some ridiculous combinations.

May have been blocking the agents but not us? Oh my...


Weird things:

1. NH metal doesn't show V, but the UA codeshare does for HKG-NRT. When I looked at Expert Mode/EF it's clear the NH metal doesn't show V but UA codeshare does. However, I can change tihs online myself forcing the return to be all in V. If I am asking for NH market and operated, I understood where the agents were coming from, but I wasn't.

2. I could actually have booked the entire thing online myself:
Outbound: WAS-HKG W
Inbound: HKG-NRT-LAX-DEN-YYZ in V

One of the reasons I booked HKG-SFO-DEN-YYZ was because I thought R was there in HKG-SFO but it disappeared, so I moved it to the NRT connections. The .bomb reservation actually showed the final itinerary I wanted online, but two 1K agents kept telling me they couldn't get me to HKG-NRT UA Codeshare in V, which was why I tried and managed to do it online.

I have always had to rely on the rate desk. Works out at the end but does require some investment of time on the phone and on hold.

Usually I rely on the rate desk too, but if I hadn't changed it myself, the itinerary would not contain NRT connections.

Moderator note.
 

I edited the thread title to reflect that re-faring a multi-carrier itinerary is more complex than being able to simply rely on the booking class availability served up by united.com for the sector desired to be re-fared. /Moderator.

That's ok, thank you, though the other issues like GPU apply error or refund systems are pretty concerning.

Correct. This is where the character limits of the thread title aren't optimal. But the discussion in the thread can flesh out the other issues of your concern.