bambinomartino

I am on the return leg of a bereavement trip. Wasn't bought as a bereavement fare or anything; in fact both directions were booked separately as one-way trips with Aeroplan miles due to the uncertainty of the timelines etc. Mentioning that just in case it has any effect.

I am flying LHR - IAH and then IAH - YEG, both on United.

Just got a notice the LHR-IAH (UA 879) is delayed 2 hours. The inbound UA 880 left 2:15 hrs late, expected to arrive late by that much as well. I'm sure they will rush the turnaround as much as they can but...

My connection in Houston is 2:35, with the flight supposed to depart at 16:25. Assuming only a 2-hour delay, that would leave me 35 minutes to clear immigration (customs? - I'm transiting only). I am Canadian, no NEXUS, etc.

I just got off the phone with United and the fellow claimed that in their systems they have UA879 arriving "only" 1.5 hours late, leaving me about an hour to connect. Not sure if I believe that.

He thinks he can reroute me with a connection to get to Edmonton earlier than next day's direct flight if I really want to, but advised me to think about is as he believes I will make my connection. My question is what can I reasonably expect them to do, including:

1. Can I request an entirely different itinerary on a partner airline (Air Canada, LHR - YYZ - YEG, leaving and arriving at around the same time)?
2. Non-partner airlines? At least for the IAH - YEG portion perhaps?
3. I assume hotel/taxi/food vouchers would be in order if I have to spend the night in Houston. What if they put me on a non-direct route, leaving IAH later in the evening and connecting at another airport overnight - would they cover the hotel at that connecting city?

Many thanks in advance

bluedemon211

Most importantly, sorry for your loss. Others on this board are very good about these situations and I'm sure will weigh in.

My suggestion is to hang in with your original routing. As of now you are not showing an obvious misconnect so UA wil likely balk at making any change. I'd research your options now and know what they are before you reach Houston. Try to make your connection and if you do, great. If not, be prepared to offer up options that work for you. Don't just call (or go to customer service) and ask what they have for you. Better to be prepared.

If you do misconnect and get stuck somewhere overnight, UA is on the hook to take care of you re: hotel, food, etc. as long as the misconnect was because of mechanical or operational issues as opposed to weather.

Again, be prepared and hopefully none of it will conne into play.

jsloan

First of all, condolences for your loss. This type of trip is difficult to make even when things go perfectly.

You can request anything you like, but your chance of getting a reroute like this in advance is slim, though, especially if UA's computer systems don't show the same delay. It's way to soon to know if IAH-YEG might be delayed as well. Note that UA may try to talk about "award space" and "award ticket" and the like, but, by Star Alliance rules, they can put you onto any flight with availability in your class of service.

It's much easier to make changes like this once a misconnect occurs, or at least becomes inevitable -- in other words, your best shot is at the airport.

Technically, yes, but this is even more difficult to get them to do.

Yes to both. If the customer service agents give you a hard time, explain that you missed your connection on a flight from Europe that was covered under EC.261 regulations and that they have a duty of care by law and by policy.

PS: don't be afraid to mention the circumstances of the trip; as long as they can see that you're being sincere, airline agents are human and will often go the extra mile for someone in distress.

Best of luck!

Because the trip originated in the EU, EC.261 applies. UA is on the hook for duty of care (hotel, meals, and ground transportation) regardless of the reason of the trip. If this were just US to Canada, you'd be correct that the reason for the delay would matter.

bambinomartino

Thank you both. I just realized that I hadn't expressed myself well when I wrote "that would leave me 35 minutes to clear immigration" - it should read "that would leave me 35 minutes to make the connection, which will involve clearing immigration". It was probably clear from the context, but I can't expect everyone to do the math in their heads.

Mwenenzi

Condolences on you loss

As above I would wait until it happens. Consider again at IAH. Flights can pick up time on long flights

As this is a flight that leaves Eu/UK EC261 / 2004 may apply, depending on the reason for the delay.
EC261 has compensation, based on arrival time and duty of care. You claim with the last airline in the trip

UA thread
---> https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...st-united.html

BA thread, which tends to be more measured, without the USA type over reaction legalise arguments
----> The 2019 BA compensation thread: Your guide to Regulation EC261/2004

jmcintosh

jsloan

Compensation depends upon the reason for the delay; duty of care does not.

FWIW, the European courts have never accepted "late inbound" as an uncontrollable reason, so if the OP is late enough getting home, the cash compensation should also apply... but the hotel and meals would apply regardless.

aacharya

OP has 50 minutes now as flight's in the air. Let's see what happens.

JimInOhio

Hope the OP makes it, especially in times like this where you've had a personal loss. It seems UA should have offered to reroute him/her onto the LHR-DEN flight. Easy connection to YEG from there.

zebranz

Just checking and UA2268 shows on time (at moment) meaning if OP is in economy (later off plane) does not look good.

United has IAH-YVR-YEG published flight at 637PM. UA1780/AC8168 arriving 1145pm in YEG. Hopefully UA will do automatic processing.

jsloan

I looked into that last night. LHR-DEN-YEG was full.

bambinomartino

Sorry everyone, I had written an update almost 12 hours ago but I must have not clicked "post" or perhaps I did but the hotel network kicked me out and then back in mucking things up. Text below:

"I made a second call to United, and that agent was willing to help but unable since it was an AC ticket number. More than an hour on hold with AC, got to a live human being, and she rebooked me LHR - YYC - YEG, leaving 3 hours later, and arriving 2 hours earlier.

Another pro: I get to fly on the Dreamliner (and was assigned a window exit row). Con - I won't get to visit the Centurion lounge at IAH, but then with the inbound delay I wouldn't have time anyway.

The kind folks at the T5 Hilton let me undo the very early morning checkout. I did not mention my circumstances to them but did to the UA/AC agents. Pretty tired right now, having spent about half of the past 5 or 6 days in transit, as it generally takes 3 connections to get from Edmonton to my relatively small Eastern European city of origin. Didn't help that I had to work late into the night a couple of days due to the time difference, as the abrupt nature of events did not allow for proper contingency plans.

Many thanks again!"

bambinomartino

I am now at the Chinook lounge in Calgary, and the first thing I did upon landing was check the arrival and departure times of the UA flights in question. Looks like I made the right call.

Re: AC's 787-9. Seat 31A is abysmal. It's an exit row "window" seat but I've hardly ever felt as cramped. It was the the seat I was assigned automatically, and if expertlyer is to be believed it was a full flight.

My flight to Edmonton is delayed by 40 minutes (the DH4 that goes to and fro YYC and YEG got a bit behind mid-day), but I'll be home soon.

Edit: here is a photo of the offending seat on the 787-9. To be clear, I am immensely thankful to have got the chance to sit in it today. But holy moly, do they expect people to pay extra for it?

oon.

bluedemon211

Very happy to hear things worked out well considering what could have been.

One of the best things about FT is how people come together to help out fellow travelers. Well done!

Legend717

For future reference, it is EXTREMELY COMMON (unfortunately) on 777s and 787s on many carriers for the exit row aft of the wing (and in some examples, other exit row locations) to NOT have a window. And the slide takes up some of your foot space.
Glad you made it home in a fairly smooth manner!