neo_781

Here you go ... (does say it might be Phantom)

http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....-phantom-real/

zrs70

Well, after two hours the agent told me she would call me back.

20 minutes later, she called and explained they are still working on it. But she added that it looks like an "availability" problem. So there we have it!

EWRFlyerAL

I booked two I tickets on LX for ZRH-ORD on UA today. The miles were taken and I was charged the taxes. The reservation shows as ticketed and I called to get the LX confirmation number. The agent gave it to me. When I go on the LX site though it gies me an error. Should I be concerned. UA's site shows: This reservation was ticketed and confirmed on Wed., Feb. 8, 2017 at 7:06 p.m. Central Time. It has ticket numbers. Confused but I know there are issues with LX inventory today.

aCavalierInCoach

Try using the ticket number and make sure you include your middle name in the first name field.

I found my LX J reso cancelled today. Agent claims I did it online, which is possible given how often I shuffle resos (by accident), but I find it really hard to believe. Watch these like a hawk.

EWRFlyerAL

I can find it on Swiss' site by ticket number. It shows seats assigned. Am I okay in thinking this booking is legit?

nycflyer222

This is more than just a problem with LX F awards -- it's a problem with J. They are showing availability from US - Asia via ZRH on many routes, which are unbookable when you try to complete process.

It's a big mistake, albeit no one seems to care (except us pax), that these LX reservations either A) aren't real or B) can be cancelled by LX at anytime.

Kind of makes you not want to book LX awards at all, eh? But then again... no one cares if we do!

dnwaldmann

It's a totally different issue.

LX F award tickets are only allowed to HON and SEN level MM members. I believe that the only way to book them is by phone to Swiss. Not sure how it works if you're using UA miles.

So I would think that they should not even show up on the UA award search at all, because UA doesn't know your LX status.

Kacee

Well it's actually the same issue in that united.com is showing inventory that cannot be booked. I would not be surprised if there is a single underlying IT problem relating to how UA's systems read the LX inventory.

They really need to fix this. It's worse than normal phantom inventory (which is just annoying) because some pax are able to go through to booking and think they have valid tickets which LX then cancels.

That restriction is not enforced by UA, it's enforced by LX not releasing F inventory to its partners.

Again, the problem here is UA's reporting of LX inventory that cannot be booked, which likely has a uniform underlying cause.

dnwaldmann

I hadn't thought about it that way. You're probably right.

eeeee

I had booked two business class saver awards in June to Madrid. It was a two stop on Air Canada and TAP so not ideal, but I decided to take it and see if something better came up. Earlier this week, I was able to change on the UA website to a one stop on Swiss. Travel changed to one day later and gladly paid the change fee for the privilege. I got the email that it was ticketed, but then saw it was showing on both UA and Swiss websites as "waitlisted". I waited a couple of days to see if it would clear, and it didn't so I called. The agent told me that there was no longer any availability on Swiss, and my old flights weren't available either. I escalated to a supervisor, who rebooked me on UA in business for no additional miles. Those flights were not showing as available at the saver level, but they did it anyway. So I think it all worked out pretty well. Not Swiss, but still better than TAP.

essexnyc

Planning ski trip for family to Switzerland next winter. Started checking JFK-GVA and JFK-ZRH starting from the date our departure was available (T-338?). UA website showed availability but got error screen whenever I tried to book. Also tried on phone. After checking daily then biweekly for the flight, I was about to give up and book another route, when at T-288 JFK-ZRH suddenly went through for the four of us in J. I checked the Swiss site to confirm the tickets, and everything looks good. Seats were assigned automatically, and I was able to change to seats we wanted by calling Swiss.

lhrsfo

Good luck! Flew LX in J to HKG on miles and it was fantastic. Make sure you visit the whisky lounge in ZRH.

televisor

I had no issues booking a recent J award for US-ZRH-XXX. They're still doing the stupid thing where you can't book US-ZRH, but US-ZRH-XXX is possible (XXX can be GVA, LUG, or most places in europe), so HCT on an award ticket it will be*.

(I'm still considering taking the ZRH-XXX segment just for fun followed by a scenic train ride back, but I'm not 100% commited to it.)

avs92

While I am based in the US, I also travel to India frequently, so often times I log into the India site when booking flights.

When I did this with United, I have been repeatedly seeing Swiss First awards available from the US - EU / India, but when I switch to the US site, these awards disappear. I've seen this happen for the past 2-3 weeks. I don't have enough United miles to make a dummy booking, and also don't want to transfer miles in case this is an error, but is this a well known situation or is it simply a glitch?

jsloan

I'd say it's a glitch. I expect that inventory would disappear if you tried to book it. (I assume you know that you'd need an India-based form of payment to book something via the India site -- if you use a US-based credit card, it will switch back to the US site anyway). LX (Swiss) is known for zeroing out F awards for all partners.