catbox9

I'm planning a trip with a friend of mine next week. He just found out he has a job interview hew's been waiting four months for the day we are supposed to leave so we had to change the flights by 1 day in order for him to make the interview. I purchased this on a United Club Card which has some sort of trip protection but I'm' not sure this would apply. I realize we're almost certainly out the $400 change fee which isn't a huge deal since he's all but guaranteed to get this job and the pay difference will very quickly make up for the change fee, but if anyone has a tip that might help let me know. What makes it worse is we just bought the tickets 48 hours ago, so we barely missed the 24 hour cancellation window.

moondog

Why do you want to change your flight too? That $200 saved could presumably fetch a decent hotel, depending on the destination.

catbox9

Since we have to leave a day late, we are going to come back a day late to make up for the lost time so either way I'd have to pay a change fee on my ticket.

wmz

You can wait until the last minute and hope for the slight chance that the flight will be cancelled or delayed several hours, in which case you can request a full refund.

Happened to me once.

usbusinesstraveller

jsloan

If the change is less than 24 hours, and there is availability in the same fare class that you're booked in, you can change within 24 hours of your target flight for $75. So, if you're currently scheduled at 5 PM Tuesday, and you want to fly at 3 PM Wednesday, you could call to make the change at 3 PM Tuesday. This will not work if you need to change the flight an entire day. It also won't allow you to change the return flight, although you could do the same thing on the way back.

The possible savings is real, but the risk is high -- if there aren't any seats in your fare class, you'd need to pay the $75 plus the fare difference, which could be substantial. (Or, the flight you want could sell out).

aacharya

If the flight is next week what are the loads on flights past it up to 23 hours later?

Basically does expert mode show 9s on the fare classes or worse?

silverforumsurf

ryman554

Note the OP has a $200 change fee, and they need to do two SDC (inbound and outbound) = $150, then the extra $50 in savings is probably worth doing it now and locking in the flights without having to worry or check during vacation. Of course, if the fare is (significantly) higher today, then that can change the calculus... but also lowers the chance of a successful SDC.

catbox9

This won't work because there are very limited flights for my route and they're all 24 hours apart. I'm Platinum so this could have been free to do if I was flying something with more options. The unfortunate part is his interview is at 0830 in San Luis Obispo County and the flight from LAX is at 1300. It's technically possible to make it but that's cutting it way closer than is worth risking.

The other problem I forgot to anticipate is we have a car rental that's a non-refundable rate. No luck at all trying to get them to drop the first day and add another day.

silverforumsurf

jsloan

Fair enough (and, yes, I wouldn't even consider trying SLO to LAX on a workday on that schedule). In that case, I'd bite the bullet and make the change now. You can always explain the situation and hope that the agent decides to waive the change fee. The problem with waiting to see if there's a serious delay is that, if there's not, and you end up having to make a last-minute change, you might have to pay a substantial fare difference in addition to the change fee.

The other option would be to give it a try, accept that you'll likely miss your flight, and then hope to be re-accommodated the next day under the "flat tire rule." As long as you get to LAX within an hour or two of your flight, I imagine they'd just put you on the next one without a complaint. I can't guarantee that they'd add an extra day onto the end of the trip, but you could ask.

Of course, if you miss the flight, you're looking at either a long drive back to SLO or a hotel near LAX.

Kacee

Agree. Unless it's an obvious and easy SDC situation, my default these days is to make the change in advance and pay the fee. With loads these days, holding out and hoping too often results in a serious reduction in options. Also, LAX is not a particularly great airport in terms of hoping for a cancel, as it is much less subject to cancels than say EWR or SFO.

SAPriorityTag

As others have said you could try the "Flat Tire Rule." Does anyone know how early you can/should notify United of this? i.e. Would it be helpful to call The Premier Desk sooner rather than later to make them aware of this predicament of a potential missed flight?

8MiHi

If any of your flights are on a 737 Max UA is being quite generous with changes.