periperi

Not sure if there's a better place for this, please move if so.

My last leg of a three leg trip was cancelled this morning. The initial leg (which was yesterday) was in United Business (ex-Caribbean) after accepting a cash upgrade (not a refare) weeks prior to travel. I was originally going to earn about 400 PQPs plus about 300 for the buyup. After the cancellation, I was rebooked the next day, so I called and suggested a connecting routing, which would have gotten me in just 4 and a half hours later (instead of 24). The agent booked it and apologized that he couldn't put me in First on one of the legs (it was originally all in Economy, so I certainly didn't complaint about being put in First on one of them!). Anyway, I've completed the journey, and I received almost 1000 PQPs. It was the originally expected ~350 from the first two of three legs that I flew from plus ~650 from the two additional legs. I did NOT receive the normal "Day of departure upgrade" of 300, like I did on the outbound (separate PNR).

All these numbers are approximate, but a briefer summary:
Original Leg 1 - 6/9 - AAA->BBB Z class (Business buyup) - 250 PQP (nothing for TOD, this was the original accrual projection)
Original Leg 2 - 6/9 - BBB->CCC W class 100 PQP
Original Leg 3 - 6/10 - CCC->DFW W class -- CANCELLED (originally 50PQP)
Replacement Leg 3 - 6/10 CCC->DDD U Class - 300 PQP
Replacement Leg 4 - 6/10 DDD->DFW Z class - 350 PQP

So my questions are this: Where did the "extra PQPs" come from? It wasn't based on any additional spend. Can I still call to get my TOD PQPs for 300 more that should have posted for leg 1, or is that being greedy? If I do call to get them, might someone notice this was a mistake and yank bank the extra 750 and replace them with the 300+50 leaving me 400 behind?

I want to add one bit of information, just in case it's relevant to how this happened. I originally booked this as AAA->BBB->DFW. After booking this and purchasing the upgrade, I changed to the "Original" routing listed above (it got me home a couple hours earlier by getting to the closest hub before the overnight layover). I called to do this to make sure I wouldn't lose the upgrade I paid for and I seemed to have accomplished this without much difficulty. I don't know if that somehow messed with something in my favor.

I'm pleased as punch to have gotten an extra PQF (posted normally), $100 ETC and $15 to throw on a Starbucks card as well on top of these PQPs.

drewguy

Sometimes with IRROPS and rebooking you may end up with a different fare for purposes of PQPs even though there's no charge to you. In this case it may be that somehow the agent booked you into a $650+ ticket and you got those PQPs.
Sometimes UA figures this out, sometimes they don't. I think if you call just about the buy up it's unlikely to trigger a review of the entire ticket, but it could.

angetenar

Funky things can happen with irrops and rebooking, especially on partially used tickets and international itineraries. I had a ZRH-SFO flight get canceled and was rebooked on a ZRH-LHR-SFO which netted me 6000 pqps instead of the 1100 it would have based on the fare.

Lori_Q

Yes, this can happen. The fare for the rebooked routing was probably higher than the one you originally booked. You wouldn't be charged for this fare difference because the change was involuntary.

This happened to me recently. I did a buy-up to Polaris US-Europe. An overnight thunderstorm delayed my morning flight and would have caused a missed connection. When I called the 1K desk to find a different route, the agent put me in the only available fare bucket (C or D, I think), which generated an extra 2500 PQPs and 27,500 RDMs.

PsiFighter37

Happened to me earlier this year. Not something I would try to 'optimize' for by any stretch. Luck is luck.

lotemblizej

Happened to me on an Austrian flight as part of a United ticket. Flight canceled, rebooked on LH, and got an extra 1000 PQP, which helped my requalification for 1K that year. And if the PQPs are lower than the original flights(s) with an involuntary rebooking, you can always request original routing credit (ORC). I appreciate there are still some silver linings with IRROPs.

jsloan

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If you’re ahead, let it be.

Incidentally, TOD typically doesn’t post for up to 48 hours after travel anyway.

LaserSailor

PQPs are just liked the American dollar, backed by Premier Gold successful CPUs, stored in Fort Knox

Nihon_Ni

I had the same thing happen in Feb. I made a MUA purchase to Polaris a week before departure. The flight was ultimately cancelled the day of travel, and I was rebooked to a flight the following day, with a different itinerary that preserved my MUA. I received 300 PQP for the miles portion of the MUA, but not the dollar portion ($450). But the PQP/RDM were significantly higher than I expected. I've not called in for a correction for the same reason the OP is leary about calling in. I decided to wait to the end of the year, and if those 450 PQP are important, I'll call then as I will have nothing to lose at that point.

Repooc17

You can also "lose" PQPs after irrops, so considering yourself lucky. I would not poke the bear.

MM_someday

Consider yourself lucky, happens a fair bit. If you call them, they'll fix it with original routing credit, but to my knowledge it's never been reversed (without prompting) so enjoy the bonus.

Lori_Q

Yep. Don't poke the bear unless you really need the bear to move. The only times I've called back and had original miles credited was when I needed the credit for the original routing, usually in my quest for butt-in-seat (BIS) miles for lifetime status or 1K qualification. Needless to say, it's best to check your account, and see what the actual PQP/RDM credits are, before making a decision.

h2oflyboy

I know my situation does not match yours but here is what happens when "bookings" change within 24 hours.

I was to fly SEAIAH in P class, I got to the airport earlier than expected and rebooked with NO additional costs to me. 24 hour change rule was applied because I did NOT use that function - I bypassed it when asked if this change was within 24 hours and answered, NO. When I did the regular change reservation mode, it brought up a connection via DEN (SEA x/DEN IAH). That option was never available to me when selecting the option of YES for changes within 24 hours.

Here is what my accruals look like

• Activity detailsUA 2179 DEN - IAH
  pqf1
  pqp539
  Award Miles5,929
• Denver (DEN) - Houston(IAH)
• UA 2179 DEN-IAH D D 2179 | D Class
• Base miles: 2,695
• Bonus miles earned: 3,234
• Total miles earned: 5,929

• Activity detailsUA 757 SEA - DEN
  pqf1
  pqp415
  Award Miles4,565
• Seattle (SEA) - Denver(DEN)
  UA 757 SEA-DEN Z Z 757 | Z Class
  Base miles: 2,075
  Bonus miles earned: 2,490
  Total miles earned: 4,565

...AND... the O/B

• Activity detailsUA 2384 IAH - SEA
  pqf1
  pqp319
  Award Miles3,509
• Houston (IAH) - Seattle(SEA)
• UA 2384 IAH-SEA P P 2384 | P Class
  Base miles: 1,595
  Bonus miles earned: 1,914
  Total miles earned: 3,509

The airfare was the exact same amount for the outbound flight and I did not have an add-collect for the return flight. Almost 300% more PQP, 300% MILES, and 200% more PQF. You can see the fare bucket class of service on the return segments are Z and D instead of P. That is the only "difference".




I poked the bear on PlusPoints - I wasn't thinking and instead of being charged 20 PP, I was charged 30. In the end.

Repooc17

I didn't even have any fare code changes (basic economy all the way), and I got more than 3 times more (was earning less than 100 PQP, but ended up earning more than 300); PQF still 0.

fumje

I'm confused by why people are interested in posting publicly about their beneficial bank errors. No criticism of doing so, but it seems wiser not to do.