What happens if you miss int'l flight due to previous flight irrops? If upgraded?
Mar 3, 2018, 8:24 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 84
What happens if you miss int'l flight due to previous flight irrops? If upgraded?
im fortunate enough to not have to experience this yet, but I'm still curious what happens, if due to delay of the first lag and you miss the second (international) leg? unlike domestic flights they can put you on the next flight, or put on another route.
many international flights, especially Tran-pacific ones, UA only schedule once a day or even once every two/three days, and that may be the only UA flight serving that destination. would they put you on an alliance partner's flight? or do you have to stay for the night for the next day's flight?
and if they are putting you on a partner's flight, is it possible to ask they to fly you to a nearby city? (like original destination is PVG, and ask them to put me on a Air China to HGH via PEK?)
please share your experience
many international flights, especially Tran-pacific ones, UA only schedule once a day or even once every two/three days, and that may be the only UA flight serving that destination. would they put you on an alliance partner's flight? or do you have to stay for the night for the next day's flight?
and if they are putting you on a partner's flight, is it possible to ask they to fly you to a nearby city? (like original destination is PVG, and ask them to put me on a Air China to HGH via PEK?)
please share your experience
Mar 3, 2018, 8:51 pm
#2
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: UA1K | *A Gold
Posts: 767
Has happened to me a couple of times. They’ll reroute you to your final destination sometime on a later flight or through a different hub. Friend of mine was rebooked on delta for a tpac flight once due to weather.
Mar 3, 2018, 8:53 pm
#3
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 102
I fly to Manila monthly and connect in Narita to fly ANA NH819 to Manila. I have missed my connection many times. Here is what they have done.
1. Given me a hotel and put me on the next ANA flight in the morning
2. Put me on a bus to Haneda to take a flight on ANA later that night
3. Put me on a bus to Haneda to take a flight on PAL later that night
4. Rebooked me on a flight on Jetstar in a middle seat in the last row of a plane a couple hours after when my original departure would have been
5. Sent me backwards to Honolulu to go to Guam then Manila
I have also been so delayed at my origin I was rebooked to Shanghai then Manila on China Eastern.
It all depends on what is available, status, fare class, etc.
1. Given me a hotel and put me on the next ANA flight in the morning
2. Put me on a bus to Haneda to take a flight on ANA later that night
3. Put me on a bus to Haneda to take a flight on PAL later that night
4. Rebooked me on a flight on Jetstar in a middle seat in the last row of a plane a couple hours after when my original departure would have been
5. Sent me backwards to Honolulu to go to Guam then Manila
I have also been so delayed at my origin I was rebooked to Shanghai then Manila on China Eastern.
It all depends on what is available, status, fare class, etc.
Mar 3, 2018, 9:03 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 84
I fly to Manila monthly and connect in Narita to fly ANA NH819 to Manila. I have missed my connection many times. Here is what they have done.
1. Given me a hotel and put me on the next ANA flight in the morning
2. Put me on a bus to Haneda to take a flight on ANA later that night
3. Put me on a bus to Haneda to take a flight on PAL later that night
4. Rebooked me on a flight on Jetstar in a middle seat in the last row of a plane a couple hours after when my original departure would have been
5. Sent me backwards to Honolulu to go to Guam then Manila
I have also been so delayed at my origin I was rebooked to Shanghai then Manila on China Eastern.
It all depends on what is available, status, fare class, etc.
1. Given me a hotel and put me on the next ANA flight in the morning
2. Put me on a bus to Haneda to take a flight on ANA later that night
3. Put me on a bus to Haneda to take a flight on PAL later that night
4. Rebooked me on a flight on Jetstar in a middle seat in the last row of a plane a couple hours after when my original departure would have been
5. Sent me backwards to Honolulu to go to Guam then Manila
I have also been so delayed at my origin I was rebooked to Shanghai then Manila on China Eastern.
It all depends on what is available, status, fare class, etc.
Mar 3, 2018, 9:05 pm
#5
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,401
1982, Jakarta to Calcutta? Colombo? Some other city in India? (Definitely one of these--it's just been so long I can't be sure which.)
Our tickets had the wrong flight time (perhaps it changed after they were printed--this was before you could look things up or get notifications.) Couple that with everything going wrong trying to get to the airport and we got to the airport just after boarding actually closed.
They accepted that we had gotten there within the limit for the flight time we had and thus they couldn't just say we missed our flight. This was a once a week flight. They looked at the flight schedules and offered us Jakarta - Singapore and then the next day Singapore to whatever our destination was. I don't recall if they covered a hotel or not.
Since then I've had one very close call due to weather but we made it. Once a day flight--and I know there would have been no chance of getting on any other flights had we missed it. By the time they could have put us on another airline their bird would have already flown. I don't know about connections, but I doubt it would have been possible to get on some other plane, connect somewhere and get to our destination that day. (And that's not even considering the lines that would have been at the counters.)
Our tickets had the wrong flight time (perhaps it changed after they were printed--this was before you could look things up or get notifications.) Couple that with everything going wrong trying to get to the airport and we got to the airport just after boarding actually closed.
They accepted that we had gotten there within the limit for the flight time we had and thus they couldn't just say we missed our flight. This was a once a week flight. They looked at the flight schedules and offered us Jakarta - Singapore and then the next day Singapore to whatever our destination was. I don't recall if they covered a hotel or not.
Since then I've had one very close call due to weather but we made it. Once a day flight--and I know there would have been no chance of getting on any other flights had we missed it. By the time they could have put us on another airline their bird would have already flown. I don't know about connections, but I doubt it would have been possible to get on some other plane, connect somewhere and get to our destination that day. (And that's not even considering the lines that would have been at the counters.)
Mar 3, 2018, 9:05 pm
#6
Join Date: Nov 1999
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Unfortunately if you're talking about the major overwater US-xyz leg (rather than the onward connection such as above), the complication is that many flights tend to leave around the same time, so often it's hard to be rebooked in time or the delay to be known in time to get on an alternate flight.
But yes, if you can suggest a codeshare possibility to the agents (and you know its availability), the chances of success rise considerably.
Different city, much less possible unless it's shown in your itinerary.
But yes, if you can suggest a codeshare possibility to the agents (and you know its availability), the chances of success rise considerably.
Different city, much less possible unless it's shown in your itinerary.
Mar 3, 2018, 9:07 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 84
And another question I’m curious about is, how to they determine if missing the second lag is due to their fault? Say I have a connection time of 45 minutes, and the earlier flight is say, late for 10 minutes. So I still have 35 minutes to catch the flight. I could run to the next flight, or I could take my time to collect my belongings and walk there and miss the flight.. how does UA determine whether it’s my fault or theirs...
from my understanding if you miss the flight at your origin city, they won’t cover the hotel since you can simply go home, but if you are in connecting city, they probably will.
I assume it would be too much of a ask to have them fly me back home and then restart the trip next day right?
1982, Jakarta to Calcutta? Colombo? Some other city in India? (Definitely one of these--it's just been so long I can't be sure which.)
Our tickets had the wrong flight time (perhaps it changed after they were printed--this was before you could look things up or get notifications.) Couple that with everything going wrong trying to get to the airport and we got to the airport just after boarding actually closed.
They accepted that we had gotten there within the limit for the flight time we had and thus they couldn't just say we missed our flight. This was a once a week flight. They looked at the flight schedules and offered us Jakarta - Singapore and then the next day Singapore to whatever our destination was. I don't recall if they covered a hotel or not.
Since then I've had one very close call due to weather but we made it. Once a day flight--and I know there would have been no chance of getting on any other flights had we missed it. By the time they could have put us on another airline their bird would have already flown. I don't know about connections, but I doubt it would have been possible to get on some other plane, connect somewhere and get to our destination that day. (And that's not even considering the lines that would have been at the counters.)
Our tickets had the wrong flight time (perhaps it changed after they were printed--this was before you could look things up or get notifications.) Couple that with everything going wrong trying to get to the airport and we got to the airport just after boarding actually closed.
They accepted that we had gotten there within the limit for the flight time we had and thus they couldn't just say we missed our flight. This was a once a week flight. They looked at the flight schedules and offered us Jakarta - Singapore and then the next day Singapore to whatever our destination was. I don't recall if they covered a hotel or not.
Since then I've had one very close call due to weather but we made it. Once a day flight--and I know there would have been no chance of getting on any other flights had we missed it. By the time they could have put us on another airline their bird would have already flown. I don't know about connections, but I doubt it would have been possible to get on some other plane, connect somewhere and get to our destination that day. (And that's not even considering the lines that would have been at the counters.)
Unfortunately if you're talking about the major overwater US-xyz leg (rather than the onward connection such as above), the complication is that many flights tend to leave around the same time, so often it's hard to be rebooked in time or the delay to be known in time to get on an alternate flight.
But yes, if you can suggest a codeshare possibility to the agents (and you know its availability), the chances of success rise considerably.
Different city, much less possible unless it's shown in your itinerary.
But yes, if you can suggest a codeshare possibility to the agents (and you know its availability), the chances of success rise considerably.
Different city, much less possible unless it's shown in your itinerary.
I assume it would be too much of a ask to have them fly me back home and then restart the trip next day right?
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Mar 3, 2018 at 10:28 pm Reason: merging consecutive posts by same member
Mar 3, 2018, 9:23 pm
#8
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: UA1K | *A Gold
Posts: 767
And another question I’m curious about is, how to they determine if missing the second lag is due to their fault? Say I have a connection time of 45 minutes, and the earlier flight is say, late for 10 minutes. So I still have 35 minutes to catch the flight. I could run to the next flight, or I could take my time to collect my belongings and walk there and miss the flight.. how does UA determine whether it’s my fault or theirs...
I believe they have more flexibility when rebooking you IF you missed your connection due to an irregular operation (IRROP).
I would suggest doing a same day change (SDC) if you want to take a different flight instead of purposefully missing your connection.
Last edited by mr8; Mar 3, 2018 at 9:28 pm
Mar 3, 2018, 9:32 pm
#9
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,350
And another question I’m curious about is, how to they determine if missing the second lag is due to their fault? Say I have a connection time of 45 minutes, and the earlier flight is say, late for 10 minutes. So I still have 35 minutes to catch the flight. I could run to the next flight, or I could take my time to collect my belongings and walk there and miss the flight.. how does UA determine whether it’s my fault or theirs...
but to answer your question, a lot of it is going to depend upon how the agent interprets the situation. If you come running up and you're a minute late, they'll probably accept that you tried your best. If you walk up 25 minutes late with a beer in your hand, you're going to have a hard time convincing them that your misconnection was their fault.Now, a couple of more general answers:
By IATA rules, the late-delivering carrier is responsible to get you to your destination. So, if you're transferring airlines, whatever carrier got you to the transfer point late is responsible. UA actually has a pretty good reputation when it comes to this kind of thing, so if you were transferring from CA to UA at SFO, and you missed your connection, UA would probably just put you on the next flight. However, technically it would be CA's responsibility to take care of you.
Rerouting on UA is always an option if there are other flights available -- if it looks like you're going to miss your SEA-SFO-PVG flight, but you can get onto SEA-LAX-PVG, that's normally not a big deal. Or, in the same scenario, if you got to SFO and missed the connection, but there was still time to get to LAX for that connection, UA would prefer to do that.
They *can* rebook you on many other carriers as well. There has to be an interline ticketing agreement in place; CA has one, but BK (Okay Airways), for example, does not. So, UA could not put you onto an Okay flight. However, UA really doesn't like to do this, and may push back, especially if the delay is caused by weather. The best thing you can do is to know, in advance, what other airlines might offer useful flights and if they still have seats available (i.e., can you still buy a ticket on their website?) Then, you can ask something like, "Can you put me onto the CA flight to PVG," or "Can you put me onto the UA flight to ICN, and then connect to the CA flight to PVG," or whatever.
You can ask for nearby alternative airports; there are rules about what they consider reasonable and what they don't. Co-terminals (e.g., NRT and HND) will always be OK. Nearby airports (e.g., HGH instead of PVG) should be OK on UA-operated flights and may be OK on partner flights as well, but you're going to have suggest them yourself and you may need to push a little bit. Also, you'd be responsible for any additional ground transportation to get where you're going, and you're going to need to give them plenty of time to move your luggage if you have any.
When it comes to partner flights, Star Alliance airlines will be preferred, and they'll only put you onto a non-Star Alliance carrier if there are no other reasonable options.
* For members with 1K or Global Services status, there is an unpublished benefit where UA will provide hotel and meals for delays even if they're weather related. However, that could be rescinded at any time, and, since it's unpublished, you'd never really know.
Mar 3, 2018, 9:53 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 84
Actually, in that scenario you have 5 minutes to catch your flight, as UA reserves the right to offload you from an international flight if you're not in the boarding area 30 minutes before departure (60 at some airports). but to answer your question, a lot of it is going to depend upon how the agent interprets the situation. If you come running up and you're a minute late, they'll probably accept that you tried your best. If you walk up 25 minutes late with a beer in your hand, you're going to have a hard time convincing them that your misconnection was their fault.
UA will never pay for a hotel in your home city. They will pay for a hotel if you miss your connection due to factors within their control, the most common of which is maintenance. Except where required by law, they will not* pay for your hotel if the delay or cancellation was beyond their control (e.g., weather).
Well, sort of. You can ask to declare a trip in vain -- basically, saying that there's no longer any point in taking the trip. UA will then return you to your origin and give you a refund. I've never heard of them returning you to the origin and then rebooking for the next day. You could ask, but I'd be prepared to be told 'no'.
Now, a couple of more general answers:
By IATA rules, the late-delivering carrier is responsible to get you to your destination. So, if you're transferring airlines, whatever carrier got you to the transfer point late is responsible. UA actually has a pretty good reputation when it comes to this kind of thing, so if you were transferring from CA to UA at SFO, and you missed your connection, UA would probably just put you on the next flight. However, technically it would be CA's responsibility to take care of you.
Rerouting on UA is always an option if there are other flights available -- if it looks like you're going to miss your SEA-SFO-PVG flight, but you can get onto SEA-LAX-PVG, that's normally not a big deal. Or, in the same scenario, if you got to SFO and missed the connection, but there was still time to get to LAX for that connection, UA would prefer to do that.
They *can* rebook you on many other carriers as well. There has to be an interline ticketing agreement in place; CA has one, but BK (Okay Airways), for example, does not. So, UA could not put you onto an Okay flight. However, UA really doesn't like to do this, and may push back, especially if the delay is caused by weather. The best thing you can do is to know, in advance, what other airlines might offer useful flights and if they still have seats available (i.e., can you still buy a ticket on their website?) Then, you can ask something like, "Can you put me onto the CA flight to PVG," or "Can you put me onto the UA flight to ICN, and then connect to the CA flight to PVG," or whatever.
You can ask for nearby alternative airports; there are rules about what they consider reasonable and what they don't. Co-terminals (e.g., NRT and HND) will always be OK. Nearby airports (e.g., HGH instead of PVG) should be OK on UA-operated flights and may be OK on partner flights as well, but you're going to have suggest them yourself and you may need to push a little bit. Also, you'd be responsible for any additional ground transportation to get where you're going, and you're going to need to give them plenty of time to move your luggage if you have any.
When it comes to partner flights, Star Alliance airlines will be preferred, and they'll only put you onto a non-Star Alliance carrier if there are no other reasonable options.
* For members with 1K or Global Services status, there is an unpublished benefit where UA will provide hotel and meals for delays even if they're weather related. However, that could be rescinded at any time, and, since it's unpublished, you'd never really know.
but to answer your question, a lot of it is going to depend upon how the agent interprets the situation. If you come running up and you're a minute late, they'll probably accept that you tried your best. If you walk up 25 minutes late with a beer in your hand, you're going to have a hard time convincing them that your misconnection was their fault.UA will never pay for a hotel in your home city. They will pay for a hotel if you miss your connection due to factors within their control, the most common of which is maintenance. Except where required by law, they will not* pay for your hotel if the delay or cancellation was beyond their control (e.g., weather).
Well, sort of. You can ask to declare a trip in vain -- basically, saying that there's no longer any point in taking the trip. UA will then return you to your origin and give you a refund. I've never heard of them returning you to the origin and then rebooking for the next day. You could ask, but I'd be prepared to be told 'no'.
Now, a couple of more general answers:
By IATA rules, the late-delivering carrier is responsible to get you to your destination. So, if you're transferring airlines, whatever carrier got you to the transfer point late is responsible. UA actually has a pretty good reputation when it comes to this kind of thing, so if you were transferring from CA to UA at SFO, and you missed your connection, UA would probably just put you on the next flight. However, technically it would be CA's responsibility to take care of you.
Rerouting on UA is always an option if there are other flights available -- if it looks like you're going to miss your SEA-SFO-PVG flight, but you can get onto SEA-LAX-PVG, that's normally not a big deal. Or, in the same scenario, if you got to SFO and missed the connection, but there was still time to get to LAX for that connection, UA would prefer to do that.
They *can* rebook you on many other carriers as well. There has to be an interline ticketing agreement in place; CA has one, but BK (Okay Airways), for example, does not. So, UA could not put you onto an Okay flight. However, UA really doesn't like to do this, and may push back, especially if the delay is caused by weather. The best thing you can do is to know, in advance, what other airlines might offer useful flights and if they still have seats available (i.e., can you still buy a ticket on their website?) Then, you can ask something like, "Can you put me onto the CA flight to PVG," or "Can you put me onto the UA flight to ICN, and then connect to the CA flight to PVG," or whatever.
You can ask for nearby alternative airports; there are rules about what they consider reasonable and what they don't. Co-terminals (e.g., NRT and HND) will always be OK. Nearby airports (e.g., HGH instead of PVG) should be OK on UA-operated flights and may be OK on partner flights as well, but you're going to have suggest them yourself and you may need to push a little bit. Also, you'd be responsible for any additional ground transportation to get where you're going, and you're going to need to give them plenty of time to move your luggage if you have any.
When it comes to partner flights, Star Alliance airlines will be preferred, and they'll only put you onto a non-Star Alliance carrier if there are no other reasonable options.
* For members with 1K or Global Services status, there is an unpublished benefit where UA will provide hotel and meals for delays even if they're weather related. However, that could be rescinded at any time, and, since it's unpublished, you'd never really know.
first of all thank you for all those information, looks like you really know a lot about it
I was asking if they could put me on flights to a alternate airport is because that I'm going to HGH anyway, since UA canceled the service to HGH I have to go PVG and take ground transportation. so if there is a delay and they could fly me directly to HGH it would actually be perfect.
unfortunately the 891 to PVG seems to be the latest one out of SFO bound to china... I guess all I can expect is to ask for a hotel and spend the night enjoy San Francisco
Mar 3, 2018, 9:59 pm
#11
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Mar 3, 2018, 10:09 pm
#12
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The hotel they give you will almost certainly not be in San Francisco. Likely San Bruno or Burlingame.
Mar 3, 2018, 10:10 pm
#13
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Join Date: Oct 2001
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first of all thank you for all those information, looks like you really know a lot about it
I was asking if they could put me on flights to a alternate airport is because that I'm going to HGH anyway, since UA canceled the service to HGH I have to go PVG and take ground transportation. so if there is a delay and they could fly me directly to HGH it would actually be perfect.
unfortunately the 891 to PVG seems to be the latest one out of SFO bound to china... I guess all I can expect is to ask for a hotel and spend the night enjoy San Francisco
I was asking if they could put me on flights to a alternate airport is because that I'm going to HGH anyway, since UA canceled the service to HGH I have to go PVG and take ground transportation. so if there is a delay and they could fly me directly to HGH it would actually be perfect.
unfortunately the 891 to PVG seems to be the latest one out of SFO bound to china... I guess all I can expect is to ask for a hotel and spend the night enjoy San Francisco
Keep in mind, you can add another connection if necessary. If I missed a connection on UA891, I'd try to find a flight to Asia that evening and connect there. For example, you could try to talk UA into putting you onto China Eastern's LAX-PVG flight; that would get you in at 6 AM.* You could also try flying Asiana through Seoul, which would get you in at about 10 AM. (And, if you really want to try to drive an agent nuts, you can request to be routed on SAS through Copenhagen, which will get you into PVG at about 11 AM). Finally, you could ask to be re-routed on the redeye to ORD or EWR; either of which would get you to PVG a few hours earlier than waiting until the first flight the next day.
* I grabbed the schedule for a random day in April; obviously it may vary from day to day.
This. Certainly I wouldn't expect to be able to turn down their suggestion and also get them to pay for the hotel. I'm guessing you'd get one or the other.
Mar 3, 2018, 10:26 pm
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 84
Happy to help.
Keep in mind, you can add another connection if necessary. If I missed a connection on UA891, I'd try to find a flight to Asia that evening and connect there. For example, you could try to talk UA into putting you onto China Eastern's LAX-PVG flight; that would get you in at 6 AM.* You could also try flying Asiana through Seoul, which would get you in at about 10 AM. (And, if you really want to try to drive an agent nuts, you can request to be routed on SAS through Copenhagen, which will get you into PVG at about 11 AM). Finally, you could ask to be re-routed on the redeye to ORD or EWR; either of which would get you to PVG a few hours earlier than waiting until the first flight the next day.
* I grabbed the schedule for a random day in April; obviously it may vary from day to day.
This. Certainly I wouldn't expect to be able to turn down their suggestion and also get them to pay for the hotel. I'm guessing you'd get one or the other.
Keep in mind, you can add another connection if necessary. If I missed a connection on UA891, I'd try to find a flight to Asia that evening and connect there. For example, you could try to talk UA into putting you onto China Eastern's LAX-PVG flight; that would get you in at 6 AM.* You could also try flying Asiana through Seoul, which would get you in at about 10 AM. (And, if you really want to try to drive an agent nuts, you can request to be routed on SAS through Copenhagen, which will get you into PVG at about 11 AM). Finally, you could ask to be re-routed on the redeye to ORD or EWR; either of which would get you to PVG a few hours earlier than waiting until the first flight the next day.
* I grabbed the schedule for a random day in April; obviously it may vary from day to day.
This. Certainly I wouldn't expect to be able to turn down their suggestion and also get them to pay for the hotel. I'm guessing you'd get one or the other.
Mar 3, 2018, 10:55 pm
#15
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However, if you were more concerned about lifetime miles than PQMs, you could request ORC for your original UA flights even if that's fewer PQMs.On the other hand, if you're routed to a non-MileagePlus partner, you've hit the proverbial jackpot. You can claim the actual miles flown and then you can also request ORC from UA. So, if you did manage to convince them to put you on UA to LAX and then MU (China Eastern) to PVG, you could credit the MU flight to Eastern Miles or one of their partners (e.g., Delta). Then, you could also write in and get credit for SFO-PVG on UA. (You would lose the credit for SFO-LAX). This is yet another reason that UA will try to keep you on Star Alliance partners if possible.
