jsloan

Interesting. I did see what I hope is an unintentional side-effect of this policy: I had an award ticket, AAA-BBB, CCC-DDD, BBB-EEE. (using the Excursionist Perk). I flew AAA-BBB, then I needed to change the last segment to also be AAA-BBB (so, it was [AAA-BBB], CCC-DDD, AAA-BBB). I tried to do it online, and it priced properly, computed the difference in taxes, got to the seat selection page, and then errored out because the first AAA-BBB flight -- the one I'd already flown -- departed at a time less than 30 minutes in the future.

Happily, the phone agent I got didn't make up any rules to explain why I couldn't fly from AAA-BBB twice on the same award -- I don't think she really noticed the first segment, honestly. But it was a strange problem to have.

leonidas

Is there a cutoff time for SDC? A couple of days ago I wanted to take an earlier flight. Reached the gate 20 mins before departure and was ready to pay the $75 fee. The GA told me that they couldn't put me on the flight because the system won't let them do it. It seems ridiculous that UA wouldn't want my money. I was at the gate.

laxmillenial

Why not just get on the standby list and clear if there are empty seats then?

I'm not sure, but doesn't SDC require you to 'check-in' and therefore since you were at the gate 20 minutes before departure, you were under the 'minimum check in time required'?

FlyingNone

True, totally true.

leonidas

I obviously requested to be put on standby list when the SDC didn't work. GA's curt reply was that the system wouldn't allow that either. There was no point in arguing. She pretended to be very burdened by the whole interaction. The gate was empty though - everyone had boarded.

laxmillenial

LOL!
What's the point of standby if you can't 'standby' then. This appears to be up to the GA discretion. Post the Oct 19 'change', I walked to the gate 2 minutes before boarding closed for a mainline SFO-LAX and asked if there were empty seats to go on standby and clear. It happened without any pushback whatsoever.

findark

I'm assuming the GA had closed the flight, and would have to void that in order to add you to it. Not impossible by any means, but with the focus on D0 I can see how an agent in a bad mood would refuse to help.

dparkinson

I’m now seeing on United.Com, that the cutoff is 60 minutes. When did THAT start happening? 30 minutes is defensible, it’s within the checkin cutoff but 60 makes no sense. Unless it’s int’l wide body, it’s not even boarding yet. The website says it’s for ops reasons.

lincolnjkc

I can't say I've ever had a reason to book a flight within an hour when I'm not already on airport property (or more precisely, within the secure area) so I'm not sure what the major issue is -- but I noted a long time ago looking at IROPS options AA.com will list flights within the near future with fares but a "Book at the airport" legend (e.g. its 1230 here I'm looking at a 1339 departure so a bit more than 60 minutes):


So UA definitely isn't alone here. I think its a combination of not many people booking in that window + the desire to avoid irritated people "missing their flight" that fezzington mentioned up thread + the ability to firm/close start closing things earlier.

I guess my big question is ... if you're in that window why not just buy a ticket at the airport anyway? If you aren't already at the airport you better be there soon enough so it's not like it would be a special trip.

dkmatter

I was once on a AA flight that blew a tire on takeoff, circled for 30 min and got back to the gate. I needed to get to LA and was able to book onto UA during taxi, walk ten steps over to the UA gate which was boarding and fly out. Definite use cases.

WineCountryUA

Where is this posted?

ctownflyer

Fake news?
Just did a random search now and got this:

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Maybe the 60 minutes you're thinking of refers to flight changes when a bag has already been checked.

ctownflyer

Flight is on time, T-11 and still available for sale.

ETA: Flight departed at 6:24pm, but was still available for sale.
Removed from UA.com at T-0.

dparkinson

it will show on the main page but when you go to book you get…