UA Schedule Changes
 

I was just notified that my flight has been changed. Since this was not of my own doing and I would rather have my old routing because of time difficulties, could I receive compensation of some kind? e500s? voucher? I would much rather get in at my old scheduled time than the new one, plus they re-routed me through a different city. Any help is appreciated!

Brent

Instead of compensation, look online to see what scheduled flight is acceptable for you, and call United to ask them to switch your itin to that instead. That's what you are owed and should be given.

While you are not entitled to any compensation you can often use these situations to request alternate itins that would have cost significantly more.

This recently happened to me. I did a dummy booking and saw my original routing was still available. I called and the agent was able to put me back on the original flights. She had no idea why it had been changed.

Reward ticket schedule change
 

I was just notified that my flight has been changed. Now I have a 3hr20min overlay and will arrive 1 hour later than I booked.

This is a reward ticket and I have no status with UA. I just checked online and find that there is no award ticket available for the day, at least for non-elite member. If I call, can UA change my chedule to my prefered flights even if no award ticket is available?

Maybe. The rule is a 90-minute change. Did your originating flight change as well? If so, you may be able to do it.

If not, and there's something close, they might be able to help regardless.

If you are only arriving one hour later, IME, I doubt that they will do anything, especially open up an award seat on a flight that doesn't have any. In any case, it's worth a call.

never hurt to call!

Pretty much the same here, this morning. There was an equipment change on the connecting flight of a December itinerary. (A320 to 757). However, instead of just keeping me on that flight, the computer pushed me to a later-scheduled flight which would have meant a 3+ hour layover at ORD. When I did a dummy booking, I of course saw that my original flight was still there and had plenty of room.

So, I called the 1K desk and asked why I hadn't been kept on the same flight and here response was that "the computer isn't that smart!". She immediately changed me back to my original flight, confirmed upgrade and all. Unfortunately, some of the other flights in that internary also changed, but I can live with them.

Brent, schedule changes are actually GREAT news.

You are now basically free to do almost anything you wish since the schedule change resulted in a re-routing!

Remember when booking there might have been a better routing or departure time or flight that you liked better, but was more expensive? So you opted for something else for a cheaper flight?

Well congratulations, now you can call up and "suggest" that you be given a better routing (or your original routing).

But, you need to do your homework beforehand. Find your flights and build your connections yourself. Make sure you like the connection cities, departure times, and connection times. Then call up reservations and tell them that you received notice of a schedule change that has a much different routing (or timing) than your original itinerary... then tell them that you found a better routing (or timing) and would like that instead.

Think of this as a blank canvas where almost anything goes!

I know of some that have successfully changed a PHX-ORD-BOS itinerary to PHX-LAX-SFO-DEN-ORD-IAD-MHT! (Yes that was me.. I did the domestic "hub" tour:p)

Just remember that you need to do your homework beforehand. If you ask the agent, they'll just pick the first thing that comes up on the screen.

Oh, and if you had previously confirmed upgrades, just mention to the agent that you did, and they will confirm them on your new flights.

Good luck and have fun!

Did you check which schedule would suit you?

Not sure about the route you are traveling but upon a forced rebooking the system doesn't necessarily rely on award availability.

But it also doesn't necessarily check for optimal travel time or *A availability. You might have to explain the agent what you are looking for and what you expect. So be prepared and don't pick flights which are completely sold out ;) !

Also, a long layover isn't necessarily a bad thing. OP doesn't mention whether this trip is domestic or international. If international, I almost always prefer a longer layover at a international gateway hub, to leave a cushion, just in case of delays and cancellations on getting to the international gateway.

I'd rather have a 3:20 layover and thus be able to still make my international flight even with a 2:40 delay on my domestic connecting flight, than to have a 1 hour connection and risk missing it. Been there, done that, got the unplanned overnight stay.

Now if it's a mid-con or short-haul domestic itinerary that now is taking a total of 6 hours when it would have been a 2 1/2 hour trip, that's maybe another story.

It also depends on which hub. 3:20 in DEN or SFO isn't that bad. 3:20 in IAD or ORD without lounge access is an outer circle of hell.

Well it did turn out to work for the best! Not only did I get a better, flight I am now scheduled on a 767 with the new Business Seating. Def. gonna use my miles to upgrade and get a taste for it!

Glad United changed my flight for me! :)

Is there upgrade availability on the 767 flight?

Yup, currently shows NC9