Kmxu

That is a good point. So, IAH-SYD might still be on thin ice.
The other similarity between IAH-SYD and SFO-HKG is that UA only sells very high-fare economy tickets; either B or H for SFO-HKG even though all of three cabins are empty. Although Lux Flyer noticed Y7 for IAH-SYD on October 30, seatmaps do indicate more than half of the seats are unoccupied every day (I know that it is not a good indicator because of basic economy fare, etc.). Because it is still about two months out, someone may buy tickets to SYD or other AU/NZ cities. Given the cheap tickets with alternative connection points (SFO, LAX, AKL), very few people will be willing to pay 2x prices for the convenience. In my mind, UA intentionally sets higher fares for economy cabin to incentive the sales of Polaris and P+ tickets. If the premium cabin sale is not materialized, IAH-SYD-IAH will be cancelled, due to costs as pointed out by escapefromphl .

Edit: The restart of SFO-HKG has been postponed. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34602059-post408.html But IAH-SYD is still on schedule after Oct. 30.

runner450

accidental reply

slice

I booked CHC-SYD-LAX-EWR. A schedule change has resulted in the LAX-EWR connection dropping from 2+ hours to 95 minutes. Some research makes me think this now may be under the MCT for LAX international to domestic and I see that UA won't sell my current SYD-LAX-EWR itinerary as I'm currently booked (the shortest connection offered is closer to 6 hours).

I would be interested in dropping the CHC-SYD on NZ and just flying SYD-LAX-EWR. Would an agent be willing to do this as part of the reaccommodation?

bostonbali

I also had a schedule change on my WLG-SYD-SFO-US city and tried to drop the WLG-SYD leg. UA wouldn't let me do that as WLG is more than 250 miles away from SYD.
They did, however, allow me to switch to a WLG-AKL-SFO-US city, so I managed to avoid the 3+ trans Tasman flight in coach.

Kmxu

I went to SQ website today. Those UA flights with “confirmed” I space (SIN-SFO-EWR-ORF) on UA App/website are shown as “reserved” on SQ website while the outbound and the first segment of my return trip (HKT-SIN on SQ) are shown as “confirmed.” Will UA stray me in SIN if I do not call UA to do something?

Another data point: I called to rebook my friend’s trip to SFO-SIN-BKK/HKT-SIN-SFO (original routing was SFO-FRA-BKK, BKK-HKT, BKK-NRT-SFO) after dropping BKK-HKT on Thai Smile. UA did not call my friend in the past two weeks. The short segments are in I while the long segments in JN, not “I”class confirmed on my reservation.

dss

Would be grateful for feedback. We are flying on 4 award tickets from BKK to SFO via NRT on Jan 6th. This is our routing:
Thai Airways TG 676 departs BKK 8am, arrives 3:50pm into NRT. - Economy
Connecting to
United 838 Departing NRT at 4:45pm arriving SFO at 9:10am - Polaris Business

With the retimed schedule, they pulled in UA838 ten minutes, making it a very tight (illegal?) 55min connection. This is my first time in NRT but I can't imagine 55m is enough time to make that connection?
The only reasonable alternative I could find was ANA NH806 that departs BKK at 7:10am and allows for a proper layover. It's also the first natural routing that comes up on United's website for a revenue ticket.

So, I called United today to try and shift flights. Long story short, they are insisting that they can only change me to flights with mileage availability, leaving me with little/no options unless I want to meaningfully change my routing by adding cities and/or dates. I think UA putting me on the ANA flight is a very reasonable option but they won't budge as they are insisting there has to be mileage inventory open. I'm considering just leaving the reservation alone and if I misconnect, then it's on United to put me up in Tokyo overnight but I doubt they will have 4 Polaris seats available the following day?

I'm a bit stuck here and would be grateful for any insight or perspective from this group. Thanks in advance.

jsloan

United is telling you the truth. They can't force a partner to open award space, and they would prefer to refund you than to buy paid space on the ANA flight.

TG-UA has a 45-minute minimum connection, which seems quite tight -- you're eligible to be offloaded if you're not at the gate 30 minutes prior to departure -- but which means that your connection, while brief, is legal.

If you misconnect, TG would officially be responsible for rebooking you, but UA could help since it's their ticket.

Kmxu

Did you purchase your award tickets with this sale? https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...-scl-dead.html

If your NRT-SFO is in JN space, you can ask for BKK-SIN-SFO, where SIN-SFO is on UA. UA may put you in economy for BkK-SIN (either TG or SQ) flight. If your NRT-SFO is in I/IN space, it will be more difficult to change to Bkk-SIN-SFO.
Good luck.

dss

Thanks for all the feedback. The first leg (BKK-NRT) is in X inventory on Thai Air, the second segment, NRT-SFO is in JN space on UA. And yes, I was fortunate enough to find space via that award "sale" back in April. Appreciate the suggestion of routing through SIN, I will give that a look.

jsloan

Your research is incorrect. The MCT at LAX for UA-UA I-D connections is 1h30m if the flight is coming into TBIT or 1h10m if the flight is coming into T6/7.

dss

Unfortunately routing through SIN requires either an overnight or a lengthy (10 hour) connection so unsure that will work. From a practical perspective, is 55m enough time to transit from out Thai flight to the UA flight at NRT? I would consider just cancelling the Thai Airways leg and purchasing a ticket on the ANA 7:10am flight but that would be over $3k for 4 econ tickets. Or even flying on Thai the previous evening and overnighting in NRT but United doesn't have any mileage tickets in that situation either. Do you think escalating to customer care/relations might help open up more options? Guess not since it's technically a legal MCT.

Thanks again for all the help.

Kmxu

As mentioned by jsloan , 55 min is extremely tight because you will need to go through security check. Although NRT is very efficient, there is not much margin for error even if the inbound is on time. If it were the other direction, you would walk to the next gate from your inbound flight (SFO-NRT). So, if you misconnect at NRT, it is unlikely that Thai can find four business seats on the next available flight. This is the risk that you will have to evaluate.

I looked at BKK-NRT-SFO on Jan. 6 (plus and minus a few days), there is no X space on any BKK-NRT, which means that UA cannot rebook you on this route. Changing routing is your best bet although the duration of the trip via SIN is very long. But it is a good opportunity to visit Singapore during the daytime before heading back to US.

dss

Thanks for the helpful insight. Yes, I agree that being stuck in NRT after misconnecting and expecting Thai Air to rescue us is a bad outcome. I do like the idea of rerouting through SIN as that gives us a 10 hour daytime window to enjoy a new country and a much longer segment home to enjoy Polaris. Now to get UA to agree to this change since technically I still have a legal connection.

olouie

SIN is a great place to overnight at so I would do that if it comes down to it.

daslax

Anyone know if it’s possible to cancel an excursionist perk segment on these itineraries without a reprice? I booked AKL-CHC as EP and it’s now much more convenient for me to fly AKL-ZQN. There’s no X space on AKL-ZQN, so no use in even trying to change, but the flight is only $100, so I’m happy to just buy a separate ticket if I can cancel the EP.