Unless you have a reason to believe the flight you want is going to fill up, you can probably wait a few days to call if you'd like. :)

I have an AA flight into EWR next week. Waiting to see what the 10% reduction in slots is going to do. AA hasn't cancelled my flight yet, but they have posted a waiver to change fees. Assume UA is going to have lots of schedule changes as well.

It may fill up - high demand day/route. Red-eye after ending of major conference … definitely need to get that lie-flat over a recliner.

Got some unusual equipment change this morning. Travel is for New Year period:
ORD-FRA, went from 787-10 to 787-8. I don't recall this route ever going down to 787-8 (it's usually -9 or -10 and MUC gets -8)
MXP-EWR, went from 772 to 787-9. I also don't recall this route ever going to 787, it has been on 772, sometimes 764, for the longest time.

Very strange, was getting ready to call - and checked again and united.com showed ‘free change’ after it initially didn’t show (or allow) it. Went through online without any issues.

Never seen that before. Curious to see if that will stay

Hi All,

Having upcoming trip in two weeks. ORD BRU ATH in J. Used Plus Points for first leg, second leg paid cash directly to SN for upgrade from Y - J. They stated SN canceled BRU ATH leg.

Called 1K with my plan B (reaccommodation on similar A3 flight). They ultimately said, “it appears Brussels is trying to protect you and do some things right now, so we can’t make the change you want yet. I’d say give it some more time and call back.”

1) This seems reasonable to me, yes?

2) What can I expect related to the cash upgrade I paid directly to SN for Y - J BRU ATH? Would I be reaccomodated on a non SN airline in J for the second leg to ATH? Or can UA trigger a refund request to SN (fI figure not likely)?

1) Yes, you can wait for the dust to settle. Unless you're traveling on very high-demand days or within the next month, I wouldn't worry about flights selling out (which would be the main reason to rebook sooner rather than later).
2) SN would be the one to refund you, and they should do so without UA intervention if you get rebooked in Y. If you look in the confirmation email for your paid upgrade, there might be an EMD number (13 digits long, just like a ticket). That's the number you'd want to cite when asking for a refund. If you can't find it, call SN and they should be able to find it and issue a refund.

Thanks.

1) Travel is 13 days from now, and it's been greater than 24 hours since SN canceled with no reaccommodation so sounds like I need to call 1K back. Any idea why the literally said "we can't do anything with your ticket right now?"

2) It appears on Expert Flyer SN had (seasonal?) schedule change and no longer has daily flight BRU ATH. A3 has flight BRU ATH on day we need and almost same times as original SN flight. I see this pairing while searching for revenue UA booking right now. Any reason why they can't switch the ticket to this?

3) The workflow for rebooking I should expect - UA rebooks connecting flight in Y. Then after that I can call SN and ask for refund. I have original PDF receipt from SN for paid upgrade. I do not see EMD number.

4) On our UA flight we have bassinet seat 1A for lap child. If we are rebooked on different UA flight (FRA?), can I expect to still get seat 1A even if that new flight 1A is occupied?

1) So probably >14 days then from first notification of cancellation? No EC reg 261 then. Yes, if 016 ticket then UA needs to work on re-accomodation
2) UA can book you on the A3 flight, yes, no issue with that - ask for it
3) Contact SN and ask for refund - they can find that EMD. They may refund automatically, but LHG is famous for not doing that
4) Ugh, maybe. UA bumping a pax out of 1A isn't going to be easy - option #2 is certainly much easier from that perspective as well. Also, make sure you have that infant ticket changed as well for the A3 flight

Thank you!

I got email notification about "Please call united airlines" on Nov 11 at 0113 central time USA. Date/time of trip start is Nov 25 at 1755 central time USA. I believe that would (just barely) be greater than 14 days...right?

it's the BRU-ATH that would count, so that's > 14 days then

Status update.

UA reaccommodated us on A3 BRU ATH in Y (as expected).

I called SN directly to refund PCU Y-J. No issues here.

Remaining Issue: Exchange of infant lap child ticket. Out of sync. What verbiage should I use or how should I escalate on my third call to 1K about this?

1st call: Exchanged whole ticket per above. Agent sounded (and was) pretty adept. I see lap child on UA end of trip but when I punch in A3 PNR on Aegean site, no lap kiddo listed. I called A3 direct, and they confirmed no lap kiddo listed.

2nd call: Called 1K back, they escalated to supervisor, and came back and told me “it looks good. We see it. Try having them search by ticket number.” (Doh, good suggestion, and I should have done that originally). Called A3 again, and had them search via PNR second time, and ticket number. They said (again), they can see there was a lap child in the history of the reservation but that in its current state, there is no lap child listed. She actually used the words “tell united the ticket is not in sync and call me back.”

I do not have personal experience dealing with a ticket out of sync. What’s the best way for me to proceed?

Thanks!

I would call United and tell them exactly what A3 said.

Agreed.

More to the point, for an international fare, the infant should have its own ticket, with its own ticket number. If they're only reading you one ticket number, they may have tried to denote the infant in the record but not reissued the ticket. That would be fine for a domestic flight, where infants are free, but won't work internationally.