For complicated reasons, we used a travel agent for our upcoming trip to London. Between the time we decided on flights and the time the tickets were actually run, United said, "Ha, ha. We've increased the fare on the return flight and if you want to fly home for that fare on that particular day, you'll have to take the later flight." So, we're confirmed on the later flight but "wait-listed"on the earlier one.
Fast forward to now, about 2 weeks before we leave, and I asked the travel agent about the wait list. She said, in essence, forget about it but you can pay $75 each on check-in to get the earlier flight.
I'm going to double-check with United, but thought I would ask Fodorites: Does this sound right that we can pay $75 at check in when we leave the US to get the earlier flight when we return? Does "wait-list" mean anything?
United Wait List -- Mean Anything?
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You might try United's website.
Took me about 3 minutes to find this.
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/reservations/samedaychange.aspx?camp=virtual_expert
They have an FAQ "talker" who will point you to these answers.
Thanks. I found that, too, but the travel agent says we can pay the $75 when we check-in to LEAVE the US for London, so we don't have to wait until 24 hours before we leave London for the US to change the return flight (to the US). This doesn't seem to jive with United's Web site, so looking for a little insight from the experts on this site. Thanks!
I have never heard of a "wait list" for an earlier flight, only for upgrades. I don't think the agent is correct - the only standby I've encountered is the same day (24 hr) standby.
In case anyone cares about the resolution of this issue...I called United and the agent was puzzled about the wait list particularly when there were seats available on the earlier flight. She just switched us to the earlier flight and that was that.
Thanks for reporting back. I don't know what you paid the agent to book you, but IMO, they didn't do their job. Thank goodness you got a United agent willing to help you!