JayLVT

My wife and I have a round trip reservation on a United flight which included a Cancun to Dulles flight. This morning I received a email from United telling me that they changed our flight from our scheduled afternoon flight to a morning flight and that our seats had also been changed so we were no longer sitting together and not even in the same row.
I checked on line, and my original flight was still open.
I called United about this and the agent did change our reservation back to what it was originally. I did explain to the agent that a similar thing happened to us last year but last year only our seats on a connecting flight had been changed and I did not catch the change until we were on our way to catch a connecting flight. I also told the agent that after I purchased our current tickets, I called United and explained to the agent that I did not want the same thing to happen again. The agent told me that she would make a note of that.
I can't come up with a reason for why United felt it could do this.
Can anyone explain why United can change one's flight reservation without asking for permission from the customer in a situation such as mine?

J62

#$@#& happens.

janisj

Airlines don't ask permission. Now -- If they DO change your flight and the connections no longer work they will usually let you re-schedule or cancel w/o fees.

>> I called United and explained to the agent that I did not want the same thing to happen again. The agent told me that she would make a note of that.<<

And maybe giggled when she did that. You don't get a say-so.

bettyk

After you make your reservation, you can ask the agent to link your record with your wife's. That way, if your flight is changed, you should still be seated together.

Seamus

If you read closely you will see something to the effect of "by clicking here I accept this change" - which is their way of asking your permission.

No way to tell for certain what occurred - could have been any of a number of things from an attempt to rectify an anticipated problem to a pure computer glitch - but you did the right thing by calling to say you did not accept the change and want your original flights reinstated. Had there been some situation which made that impossible (like outright cancellation of a flight) they would have found you an alternative or offered you a full refund.

BTW seats are never guaranteed

Odin

I don't agree that it is normal for an airline to change a booking to another flight when the original flight booked is still operating, unless there was an aircraft type change. Airlines can change schedules, cancel flights, change aircraft types etc which can result in a change to a booking, esp if the new aircraft type is smaller than the original.

I don't agree with the other posters comments, airline systems don't have these type of "computer glitches". I don't agree that an airline cannot or will not make a note in the booking of the OPs comment, adding remarks to a booking is quite usual. I also don't think the bookings need to be linked. It is on one booking, all because the seat assignments were no longer together does not mean the reservations were split. It means that the system allocated the seats and if the flight is already full, the seating cannot be allocated together.

gail

I think this is really weird and not the norm - I had anticipated your saying the original flight was cancelled, but when I saw that was not the case, I was surprised. The United-hater in me wonders if they are planning on canceling the original flight and were trying to shift people from that flight. Not trying to make you paranoid - but I would keep a close on-line eye on your reservation

But I do think that asking United to put a note in your booking saying "don't do something really annoying and stupid" is pointless.

JaneB

I check my United bookings (and I have 4 right now) several times a week to be proactive in case there are any changes. I also check for better seats on the flights.

MissGreen

Fine print on an airline ticket would say they can do absolutely anything they want.

J62

But if you have them put a note in your record asking them not to do something stupid does that override the t's and c's of the ticket?

John

They do it "cause they can"!!

janisj

>>But if you have them put a note in your record asking them not to do something stupid does that override the t's and c's of the ticket?<<

No

Seamus

J62 - notes in the record are a courtesy request at best, may or may not be seen by staff depending on what part of the system they are looking at, and may or may not be obliged even if seen. Sucks but that's how it is.

eliztravels2

I was following this thread out of general interest when it suddenly became relevant. Qantas cancelled the last leg of an upcoming trip to New Zealand and Australia--a code share with AA between LAX and YYZ. Here's what they had to say:


Qantas booking change

-Schedule Changes—The airline may change your flight itinerary at any time. If we are notified of an itinerary change, we will contact you by email and/or phone. If the airline has not provided you with an acceptable alternative itinerary, our agents will try to re-accommodate you according to the airline’s policy and availability.


We had booked through RBC Rewards, a bank loyalty program. The agent I got there was extremely helpful and patient and checked out various possibilities, having to phone back and forth with Qantas each time, and eventually came up with our preferred option: same flights home,just a day later. Have to call Qantas today to make seat selections. There was no
charge, no hassle, just an hour of my time on the phone, so I was glad this time that I had booked through a travel agent and wasn't left to my own devices to negotiate the minefield of a myriad of options.