flabbergasted by schedule change request response (resolved)
 

After 20 years on FT, I know the general rule is HUCA, but I am just blown away by the customer dis-service this evening and I suspect no positive outcome will result from a HUCA. I have no idea what else to do.

I booked my parents on two separate one-ways, from home (in midwest) to HNL, and then HNL-home. The return is in April. One ticket was booked as an award flight (I), the other as paid economy with ug to PZ using my passpoints. The routing was HNL-SFO, SFO-ORD, ORD-destination which was less than ideal but at least it was 777 service on both long legs, had reasonable layovers, and it was available as an 50K mile award saver ticket. I was methodical in finding the lie flat service for my mother who is disabled, which was noted in the special accomodation section of the PNR.

Today there was a major schedule re-work, and the final flight was removed from the schedule. As a result, the next later flight would require over 5 hours in Chicago, adding 3 hours to the total travel time - going from 14 hours to 17 hours. And, the first leg is now a 737.

I first tried to make a change online, since a one-time free change was offered - but all the options given to me included an add/collect to make the change.

So, I called in to request them to be put on the one stop service in Chicago - currently showing as J9. Obviously an overall benefit in my parents favor, but not unreasonable since travel time is 13h10m and keeps the lie flat all the way to Chicago. And I would never have asked had they not changed the schedule.

The estimated 10 minute wait time turned into 58 minutes of hold, and as soon as the agent picked up I could tell I should have hung up immediately, but I did not because I did not want to wait another hour. After she finally grasped the situation, she called support. After returning, she said she could not switch to the one-stop option and instead suggested an even longer routing via SFO and IAD, which is what her supervisor offered. So I asked to speak to the supervisor. After reviewing the situation again, he gave me the same story - would not/could not make the change. "You booked a two stop connection, and that is what you have to have". After I then noted the change in aircraft configuration (e.g. lie flat to domestic), he did make one additional call to HIS supervisor. But he came back saying "the supervisor said no, and that is as far as this is going to go - I can refund your ticket if you like. There's nothing else I can do".

I have never experienced so much push back to a reasonable accomodation after a schedule change -- Is this an unreasonable request?? In the past, a simple aircraft seating type change alone would have been enough to justify a change, let alone a 3+ hour change in travel time.

At this point, I am sure the PNR has had copious notes attached, so a call back would probably be not only unproductive, but possibly even deleterious. I do not use Twitter. Is there any other option I should consider??

Mahalo.

Unfortunately I too have encountered many unreasonable, uninterested, and/or incompetent agents trying to clean up schedule changes, especially for bookings in upgrade or award classes as you have experienced. I usually try to read the proverbial room when gauging how much to push on my request--if they at least seem nice, I usually ask them nicely to check with a supervisor about my specific request, and if that first request comes back negative, I just move on and HUCA, but I rarely push beyond that.

In your situation, I would still try calling back and asking for your preferred routing. It is well within UA's schedule change rebooking policy and its parameters--there is no such thing saying that a two-stop itinerary must remain a two-stop itinerary--so even if the PNR is noted, a reasonable agent should be able to make your request happen. The tricky thing IME has been preserving I or PZ class on the desired routing--again, UA is obligated to do so, but many agents seem unaware of the policy and/or how to make it happen. Keep trying until you find a reasonable agent--they may be getting fewer and further between, but they are still out there.

This kind of lousy customer service, even for 1Ks, is among the multiple factors pushing me toward free agency.

You are likely correct that if the supervisor said the same thing as the front-line agent that the PNR has been annotated. But, you have to proceed as though your next call is the first call. Let the agent tell you that you've already been told "no" if that is what she wants to do.

I would simply call back with the reroute request, including flight numbers and leave it at that. If indeed you are to be denied, it is going to take a journey up the chain as a front line agent or first-tier supervisor is unlikely to overrule a colleague. If it works, great. I would leave out your mother's disability as that is not a basis for a fare rules waiver and simply complicates the issues.

If it does not, you are down to two immediate options (besides cancelling for a refund): 1. Take the lousy reroute and keep trying or 2. Pay out the difference for the one-stop and then seek a refund of the miles as a customer service gesture after your parents return from their trip. Make certain that you have good notes of when your calls were and with whom you spoke so that you can later provide a clear, concise and very short summary of the error.

On the free agency point, it will likely make sense going forward. If air travel does not return to its prior "glory" until 2024, you likely want to be able to look at all options when traveling as there won't be hourly service on UA between every point on the globe. You may find better & cheaper AA or DL seats and should take those if you wish. Ont he other hand, remember how you paid for the UG for your mother. You won't likely have that option if you freelance.

It is not. I too would have expected the change to be cheerfully made.

It's becoming ever more evident that airline programs are losing their draw. They certainly are for me. I currently rotate among DL, AS, AA, and UA, with WN if there's no other choice. One of the perks of top tier status - great phone support - has been greatly devalued at DL and, it appears, at UA. I still get good support from AA.

I would suggest honing your story to be as concise as possible — e.g., "I had a schedule change on reservation XX. I booked my parents on this routing to have lie-flats as far as possible on the routing to Y, but the new schedule has smaller aircraft. Could you please move them to flight Z, which preserves the lie-flat seats most of the way?" — and then calling back again.

At the first sign of an agent giving pushback, look for any reason to politely end the call ("So sorry I need to call back later, my child/dog is eating the rug") and try again a few minutes later.

I think we're past HUCA. If the PNR has been as carefully annotated as OP suspects, calling back is a waste of time. At this point, the test is whether the agent mentions that OP has already been told to forget it. At that point, it's time to speak with a first and then second tier supervisor.

Food for thought. Remember you paid for domestic first class. That does not include lie flat seats. These seats are just a bonus on some aircraft that are changed frequently in the current aircraft 777 situation and COVID situation. You are paying for fare class that does not ever guarantee lie flat.

You can certainly try calling again, but your best bet may be to rebook now and/or closely watch to see if space opens up on the flights you want.

As noted above, tickets only guarantee a class of service, not a specific type of seat, so while you may get a sympathetic agent, United is not under any obligation.

There's also a lot of time between now and April for schedule and equipment changes.

For what it's worth I don't think agents annotate PNRs as often or extensively as flyertalkers often suspect. Unless you get really nasty with the agent, they just want to sort out your issue (with whatever buttons they know how to use) and move on to the next call. So it may well be worth another call.

You don't just have to take whatever they give you. Change of gauge is a valid reason to request reasonable reroutes.

I agree that such comments are seldom extensive.

However, as a former UA Reservations Sales Representative (RSR), albeit 35 years ago, it was quite common indeed to very briefly summarize time-consuming or complex interactions with passengers in the Passenger Name Record (PNR) "Remarks" field, to save time on future calls.

RSRs are partially evaluated based on Calls per Hour (CPR), so the PNR Remarks summaries are necessarily concise. They would often begin, "PSGR ADVZD . . . ."

Not correct. Change in seating configuration qualifies as IRROPS under Rule 24E of the CoC. It entitles the passenger to either a reroute or a refund.

FWIW, my initial request once agent picked up was, "Hello, i was just notififed of a major schedule change to my parents' tickets and I would like to get them moved over to a better routing". Very simple. After her first round offer to move them to an even longer routing I added the info about the 3+ hrs additional flight time and suggested 1-stop option, and after first volley with supervisor mentioned the change in configuration, etc. So, it was a gradual build. If I was not already already over an hour into the time investment, I would have hung up much earlier. Lesson learned though, another hour on hold is less frustrating than dealing with recalcitrance.

I am very reluctant to call back and be told "we already told you no". Is there still a dedicated line for online support?? I was considering trying the route of calling support to say I was offered a free change online and found the flights I want, but the website is requesting additional funds. This way, they can hopefully come up with the ORD option on our own, and even if/when they see the likely notes, I wasn't the one pushing for that routing.

The other thought I had is to call and ask if there is ANY routing on any day +/- 2 days they can offer that preserve the lie-flat seating over water with similar total flight timerather than specifically saying I want HNL-ORD-XXX. I already know there is not (drastic reduction in service at destination city with this latest schedule re-org has really screwed up flight options for Hawaii travel - before I coulld have found 1-stop options via DEN, IAH, and EWR -with IAD too pre-covid. Now all options require 2 stops or 5+ hr layovers. Well.... all options except the ONE I want.) Again, I avoid asking directly for want I want and provide them extra search bounds for them to (not) find a solution.

On my part, I don't think I necessarily burnt any bridges - I was calm and polite throughtout (IMO), and just tried to stress that I was making a reasonable request. Although when supervisor ended with "there's nothing more we can do but offer a refund", I did correct him by noting "that's not the case, there's nothing that you want to do. You can fix it if you wanted to. I don't think that alone was rude or argumentative, but I can imagine in CYA mode that the supervisor might document something like "PSGR BELGRNT" :(

Schedule changes and IROPs aren't the same thing. 24E is talking about IROPs, which happen the day of departure (though I admit that isn't defined, I'm pretty sure that's the understanding industry-wide).
Furthermore, I don't see anything under 24E that says you are guaranteed any type of seating arrangement or seat type within the same fare class.

FWIW, I don't think the OP purchased the guarantee of the lie-flat seat, only an FC seat in whatever fare class it was. Just my 2 cents.

Also, not a UA guy, what does HUCA mean? :)

Hang Up Call Again. ;)

UA CoC Section 24.B.7