Henwurst

My partner needs to go to Singapore (SEA-NRT-SIN-NRT-SEA) for a thesis defence this weekend. It was originally scheduled for monday, but now they changed it to tuesday. The return flight is scheduled for 7:15 tuesday morning and rebooking turned out to be quite expensive.

After speaking to a great agent we figured that perhaps the best option would be to show up "too late" for the return flight and be rescheduled for the next day. As far as I can tell there are no more United flights that morning and seat availability for the wednesday flights looks ok. I know that it is a gamble with seat availability, but I would just like to check if there is anything else that might go wrong, e.g. since it is an international flight? He is 1P, flying in Q.

kluau88

One problem is that if you show up too late all the UA personnel will already be gone. Your idea is risky and could be an expensive mistake. I also believe that unless you call and do something with your reservation by midnight on the day it's ticketed for, your ticket will be considered used whether or not you fly.

markontime

While this tactic is definitely "risky", there are UA personnel at Changi all day. There is an airline office upstairs that is open during normal business hours. I unfortunately experienced a missed flight in SIN and was very graciously accommodated the next day.

GoingAway

If the flight is delayed for some reason, he might still be able to catch the days flight which means they won't reaccomodate him and the ticket will be more expensive than ever. Check the stats for the flight and hope for the best, but that is a risk.

lucky9876coins

I don't believe the "flat tire rule" applies internationally. Your partner may be stuck paying the fare difference, which could be a lot.

noah

Yes, but no more than if you called. I'd risk showing up late.

GimmeLegRoom

But if he catches the original flight... why would he need reaccomodating? Or maybe you are saying don't call until you know the plane is in the air? Just wondering...

GoingAway

exactly - he wouldn't need it at that point but he still wants it (his meeting precludes him leaving till the next day)

klakhav

I have actually missed a flight out of SIN becuase I overslept in Singapore. There are only two flights in the morning out of Singapore - one to Hong Kong and one to Tokyo.

Usually agents are quick to close the flights but there is someone always working in the office upstairs. You will have to take an elevator and go to the second floor where Airline offices are set up.

I was re-booked by paying a $150 change fee for next day flights. My original flight left around 6:00 AM and I got there around 8:00 AM. I met a nice friendly agent from United who re-booked me and only thing I had to do is pay $150 change fee since I arrived at the airport on the day of departure.

There is also a city ticket office but I would not try that. It might be helpful if your friend has status like Premier or 1K.

Hope this helps. Please let us know how it turned out.

Thanks

jetsetter

UA has a procedure called the
Missed Trip
policy (search the forum for it) that is similar to the flat tire rule. Basically the policy states that if you miss your flight either domestic or international that you will be allowed to go standby with no additional fare collection or change fee. The policy directly states that this might very well involve taking a trip the next day and that the fees are still to be waived.

In practice if the flight is not full the airport may confirm the pax instead of putting them on standby but standby is what the book says will happen.

Your friend will surely need to see someone at the airport, not reservations or not a CTO.

Your friend could have difficulty if the ATO claims there is no
Missed Trip
policy, you may want to look up what the internal UA profile code is for that procedure.

Personally I have found airline agents outside the USA stricter on balance when it comes to rules than agents in the USA. Other cultures have more of a follow what authority says, where as American culture speaks more to the individual being important...

I've had a heck of atime getting things changed in Europe that would have been easily done informally and unofficially in the good old US of A.
That being said they might just smile and rebook your friend, one just never knows.

Henwurst

Thanks for the replies.

We ended up paying for the change. It came out to 250 dollars instead of 400 as we initially thought. I think it is a reasonable price to pay for some peace of mind, but I don't think I've ever spent anywhere near as much money for going to Singapore.

Besides, he is not very good at lying

Penguinmoon

I haven't flown UA out of T3 yet, is the office still upstairs in the new terminal?

izzik

Congrats for taking the honest route over the dishonest, unethical choice.^

aurigakb

I agree!:-::-::-:

markontime

That's a good question! I'll find out in about 24 hours and let you know. I'm heading to SIN this morning.