tuonopepper

Plenty going out overnight but none I'd be able to make this evening and taking one departing tomorrow night essentially means I'm not home until mid day Thursday which doesn't work. I thought United also had an IAD to LHR day flight but can't seem to find it and, even if I could, probably have zero chance of getting to IAD to get on it tomorrow anyway.

I'm kind of resigned to sucking it up as there's not much else I can do. Obviously I expect the upgrade fee back and will put some token effort in to getting some comp in some form or another and for my next trip at the end of month pick an airline that has PE on all their tubes.

Unitedloyalflyer

IT errors strike again it seems

WineCountryUA

19D is Exonomy Plus (not Preferred not PremPlus)
R fare class is for PremPlus,
the good news is cash upgrades come with a promise if the upgrade is not delivery you will be refunded (something not true for purchased R fare)

Your aircraft was changed from
Everything You Want to Know About Where to Sit on 763 High J (46/22/43/56) Polaris+PP - FlyerTalk Forums
to
Everything You Want to Know About Where to Sit on a 767-300 (30/46/138)- Polaris seat - FlyerTalk Forums

Which is a rare swap for this route. Generally UA has maintain the 763 with PremuimPlus on the LHR route

tuonopepper

Yes, sorry, still trying to pickup the terminology....preferred being 'better placed' and 'plus' being the rows with extra leg room.

Thanks for the links, I'd already kind of got there and also figured out there will likely be some that have lost out on Polaris as I'm sure there was only 1 seat left on the original high J when I looked and the new bird is down on J seats to.

I suppose its good news I won't have to argue too hard for a cash refund however that's the bare minimum I'd expect, they can't just keep people's money for something they haven't delivered, that's basically theft......

Cheers anyway all.....appreciate the input, maybe, just maybe they'll find one overnight and it'll swap back again....I can hope.

tuonopepper

Well, in terms of outcome just for interst more than anything.

Amazed me how many people at the gate who expected demading their business class seat would suddenly produce an aircraft with a larger J cabin - they were offering $1000 for anyone in J who was prepared to go tonight instead.

My approach was more 'I'm stuck with it, it is what it is but am i getting my upgrade fee back and any chance of a little something for the inconveniece'.

Full upgrade fee refund and a $500 voucher of some kind from a lovely customer service manager at the gate, interstingly the women in front of me that did a lot of shouting got nothing and was told to contact CS after the flight......

First time in Economy plus and it isn't that bad I guess, decent leg room and actually as they're not fixed armrest you don't really miss the extra width of Premium that much......anyway, United have redeemed themselves a little with me so I'll be back.

findark

Good to finally see a straightforward acknowledgment that E+ is in fact not the same cabin as PE, and this is a downgrade.

mindrisa

How does it work for a 1K if the ticket was purchased using miles? Booked a roundtrip using miles with Polaris on the way out (EWR-DUB) and Premium Plus on the way back (DUB-EWR). They changed both aircrafts so unfortunately it is now a 767-400ER going out (still has Polaris but old 2-1-2 configuration) and a 757-200 coming back (which does not have Premium Plus). Does anyone know how the downgrade for Premium Plus will be refunded and if a voucher is likely? From reading earlier posts it seems like I should wait to see if aircraft is swapped again. If it is not, should I call United before departing the states, call United after getting back, speak to the gate agent in the US on the way out, or speak to the gate agent in Dublin (guessing not)? Thanks!

WineCountryUA

752 / 757-200

Nothing will be done until post-flight

nomad420

As I don't purchase R fares Prem Plus I am taken back by this. Are you saying If you purchase an R fare and you get basically downgraded from PremPlus to Econ Plus you get no refund??? Why would you ever purchase R then? What am I missing here?

WineCountryUA

The best answer is to read the struggles some have had in getting refunds. the aircraft swaps recently has exasperated this. The good news is most recent reports are more encouraging. Note this are issues on the margin -- but of course on FT we hear things when things go wrong, not when they go right.

uastarflyer

I have purchased R fares on upcoming 789 flights (SFO/NRT::SIN-SFO). This would be nuclear if dumped onto a non-converted 789 and into Y with zero compensation. I paid about $500/ticket extra.

mindrisa

Correct... typo on my part... 757-200

SFO_FT

Every once in awhile, UA has a widebody aircraft substitution (from 3 class to 2 class aircraft) such that pax who purchased PY seats are downgraded to Y. UA usually knows about this several days prior to departure. While downgraded PY pax ( ost of whom don’t realize they’ve been downgraded until they board), are told to contact corporate to arrange for a refund and compensation, I think UA should do a bit more, including blocking off middle seats in Y for those downgraded PY pax (ie, assign the downgraded PY pax into the first few rows of Y, with the center seats being blocked from sale). The downgraded non-PY aircraft actually have more Y seats to sell to Y pax, even after the center seats in Y are blocked off for the downgraded PY pax. This procedure gives the downgraded PY pax a slightly better experience in their downgraded Y cabin. I think it’s wholly unfair for UA to knowingly downgrade the aircraft and then book out every Y seat, thereby generating more $ while at the same time not providing an easy fix to mollify the impact of dis-servicing PY pax, some of whom have paid $$$ for PY (Australia PY fares are crazy now).

gene2632

Yes, it is unfair to those who booked and expected PY seats and service and yes UA should do more than just refund the difference. Your idea is nice but I don't see it as practical because it would mean moving even more people around who already have seat assignments. It is just too complicated to be a viable solution.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

I like the idea of middle blocked seats. The swaps are unfortunate and when happens, I bet a lot of people in E+ get new seat assignments anyway (due to seat numbering of new a/c w/o PP).

A PP passenger w/a new E+ seat is still more “injured” than an E+ passenger w/ a new E+ seat.

The PP passengers had higher expectations of a flight experience than a E+ passenger.