jsloan

As nearly as I can tell, they cancelled service on Christmas Eve. One day. And they added an extra flight the day before to compensate.

Even if they had cancelled that flight -- they didn't -- there are still plenty of ways to get from LAX to MSP on UA. I never will understand the fascination with non-stop flights. I like to connect; besides, given the option, I'd rather have more places to go than more routes by which to get there. (Disclaimer: I normally have quite a bit of flexibility in my travel plans. Non-stop flights are great when that's not the case).

findark

Oh. That's completely different. Okay, then They also dropped the evening SFO-MSP on 27-Nov and that's bothering me too.

I thought LAX-MSP was double-daily (it was at some point) but maybe that part is seasonal. I know SFO-MSP is still 3x daily but it goes from 737s mostly to 3x E75 between seasons.

Connecting flights are fun, but especially for midcons I really appreciate the "work a full day, fly east from 6pm to midnight" schedule which is only possible with nonstop. Similarly, there are many other schedule cases where the extra 2-4 hours required for the stop isn't worth it.

That and I'm PQD limited so flying out of my way does nothing for me anymore

mduell

All this hand-wringing over millions of people because they moved an instance of a flight by <12 hours? Yow.

jsloan

OK, that's a fair point on the mid-cons, although in my case, that only helps if I happen to need / want to go to LAX or SFO. They're more useful for people who actually live in those cities.

And, hey, there's always lifetime miles. Besides, each connection is an extra opportunity for an upgrade, or a VDB, or a chance to ride on a new plane, or, heck, just one more takeoff and landing cycle.

tom_MN

Thanks for the research, there are also 2 nonstops on the 25th (as well as the 23rd).

Maybe will switch to the am flight on the 25th instead, for some reason priced at $533 one way even though only 4 seats are shown reserved online (?). Usually Christmas Day flights are cheaper.

Noted with interest that the 757 I was put onto automatically LAX to DEN had lie flat first class like a flight to Quito or Lima would, but maybe that is not so strange.

jsloan

You can safely ignore the prices that you see on the flights. UA should be willing to put you on a non-stop on the 23rd or 25th at no additional charge; just call and ask. You might need to call back once or twice, but I doubt it -- just say "we really prefer to fly non-stop, and since there aren't any other non-stop flights on that date, we were wondering if we could just fly on the 25th instead."

The majority* of United's 757 fleet has lie-flat seating up front. Although they're normally used for longish flights (e.g., EWR to Europe, LAX-EWR, California to Hawaii), they'll sometimes throw them on shorter routes if they need excess capacity, or if they just need to reposition a plane.

* (The 757-200 fleet. The 757-300s have recliner seats).

tom_MN

Decided that the 25th would not work out so took a refund which they gave without argument. There were some issues with comprehension between me and the Manila call center. My second exposure to United this year and before that literally 20 years passed with no contact, and I was not impressed with the website or customer service.

Ended up booking on Sun Country a nonstop 4 hours later for $2.50 more each, but we get a free checked bag and the rewards system is great (like Icelandair) where a person can redeem their points for a value per point on their next ticket irrespective of award seating availability or how many points they have. So on a rolling basis a person can redeem money off each ticket based on points from the previous flight. Works out to be like 15% off every ticket, and none of the dreadful award redemption gaming required at Delta, United, and American.

cagcag

Hello, 1K here. Just noticed schedule change on Xmas day of 40 minutes. Ticket paid for with ecert and CC additional collection. Is this change enough to be allowed, without penalty, to cancel itinerary with refund to CC and reissue of original ecert?
Thanks

findark

Policy is 2 hours, but it never hurts to beg.

smxflyer

LAX-MSP ends 12/7/17. What happened to UA wanting to be the "dominant" carrier in LA?

JVPhoto

A route they should totally fight for.

jsloan

The last non-stop currently loaded into the calendar now appears to be 11/30/17, although somebody should tell ExpertFlyer, which hasn't received the adjustment yet. (This is a change from the original post regarding this issue, which involved only Christmas Eve).

Whether or not one need to serve LAX-MSP nonstop in order to be the dominant carrier at LAX, well... AA doesn't appear to serve that route either.

emcampbe

Not sure if this has been posted somewhere upthread, but need to do SFO-LAX on 12/31, and I do understand the need to trim the schedule somewhat for the holidays, especially given new year's eve is a Sunday, but absolutely pathetic that UA is offering only 4 flights - that's right - 4 - on this route that day. This is supposed to still be hub-to-hub, right? There are 5 flights on the previous Sunday (xmas eve), and as many as 13 on Sundays in earlier weeks. Anyone think this is cutting too much?

Because of the lack of capacity (and probably wanting to use much of the space that is there for international connections), fares, in either a roundtrip or one-way search are booking into M - $489/person. Seems absolutely ridiculous.

I know what the proper answer is - I'm deciding what carrier to use (and even if it makes more sense to depart from ONT/LGB and/or go into SJC) - may even give this CVG-based family a chance to use a carrier we can't out of here, like VX/AS. However, this would have been an easy fare for UA to win, even if it was somewhat pricier than alternatives. Fares abound at <$100 on VX, etc. But I'm obviously not paying $400/person (That's $1200 for this family of 3) for this short flight.

Understand the need to cut the schedule, but it seems that UA in this case is cutting to, and into the, bone on this.

transportprof

It does look like UA will be dialing it down across the board on Dec. 31 at SFO. I was booked on a morning A320 to YVR, which is now an E75 on UX.

I guess the upside is that the Centurion Lounge will be less crowded.

solma

why is the departure time at 2:40pm and not 11:35am like every day ?