UA- is this possible?

DH & I have booked our return flights via United Mileage Plus from Sydney through to Toronto arriving 4:50pm. Separate reservations since we each used our own miles. Air Canada flights.

There is a UA flight on an AC jazz to CLE departing YYZ at 8:20 PM that I believe is makeable provided all goes smoothly from SYD. There is a stopover in YVR, and this is an early February flight.

What I would like to do is purchase tickets for the above flight and have UA link it to our existing confirmation #. My thinking is that if we arrive late to YYZ and miss this flight, we can be rebooked without charge on a flight the next day.

If this is feasible is it better to call to book the YYZ-CLE flight and ask that it be attached to our SYD confirmation # or could I book online and then have the flights coordinated?

I'm hoping the experts here can help me avoid that annoying UA hold music!

Thanks!

There is a UA flight on an AC jazz to CLE departing YYZ at 8:20 PM that I believe is makeable provided all goes smoothly from SYD. There is a stopover in YVR, and this is an early February flight.

Well, strictly speaking it's an AC flight with a UA codeshare, which is important since that means you check in at the AC counter, not the UA one.

I'm wondering why you didn't book the YYZ-CLE flight as part of your reward ticket? It should be the same or similar cost in FF miles as SYD-YYZ.

I'm almost positive that you won't be able to add a paid flight to a awards booking. Personally, I would want a bit more of a buffer, because I don't trust YYZ :rolleyes:.

Not possible. You can't combine two separate reservations, paid or not. All you can do is ask that they be "linked", which just consists of a note being placed on them, that someone has to actually read. This does not protect you from missed flights on two separate tickets. You wouldn't be "rebooked without charge" if you missed the second flight. That's only if you are on one ticket, and you'd be on two.

You can search and see if you can find award ticketing that covers your entire trip and change to that. This will probably mean you'll incur a mileage redeposit fee though.

What, you don't like Gershwin?

Well, strictly speaking it's an AC flight with a UA codeshare, which is important since that means you check in at the AC counter, not the UA one.

 

I'm wondering why you didn't book the YYZ-CLE flight as part of your reward ticket? It should be the same or similar cost in FF miles as SYD-YYZ.

 

I'm almost positive that you won't be able to add a paid flight to a awards booking. Personally, I would want a bit more of a buffer, because I don't trust YYZ :rolleyes:.

Had UA offer this entire routing at the 80k level for business/first I would have booked it or even just SYD-LAX or SYD-SFO, but nada was available.

We could spend that night in Toronto, which was my original thought until I found that 8:50 PM flight which'd get us home that night.

Figured that linking the tickets was probably not doable, but again, appreciate the expert flier advice given thus far.

Had UA offer this entire routing at the 80k level for business/first I would have booked it or even just SYD-LAX or SYD-SFO, but nada was available.

Did you book online, or call? I ask because, at least when booking tickets with Aeroplan, the website doesn't give all possible combinations, so often if you call in you can get a connecting flight that doesn't show up online. For instance, the website will rarely give you the option of an overnight connection, but if available you can take any flight within 24 hours and it will be allowed. Don't know all the ins and outs of MileagePlus however so UA experts can chime in on this.

Back to the connection - the problem with

We could spend that night in Toronto, which was my original thought until I found that 8:50 PM flight which'd get us home that night.

The problem with the connection is that, since they are separate tickets, you have to pass immigration, retrieve your luggage, pass customs, then go to the AC counter and check in, then pass security, then pass US immigration pre-clearance - it's just a lot to do in a relatively short time.

Personally, I'm a fan of the overnight connection. I've had a couple of fairly good nights at the YYZ Marriott.

Not a UA expert, but learning as much as I can about UA for a trip to Australia. Some stuff I've learned may help. The fee to change date/route is $75 per ticket for non-elite. $100 for a change to arrival or destination. If an award for YYZ-CLE shows up and you don't mind spending the $100 per ticket, you should be able to get it changed to add the segment.

Use the Advanced Search and change the "Number of Flights to Display" to 50 the get more possibilities. It has a habit of reverting back to "Default" so keep an eye on it.

The United web site will not show Singapore Airlines partner awards - you need to call to book award itineraries involving SQ.

Use the multiple destinations function to build an itinerary segment by segment. Find availability on the TPAC first, then work on adding the domestic segments. Don't just try to go straight from Australia to the US. For example look at SYD-ICN-LAX-CLE. You're allowed four segments, and 24-hour connections on an international award.

The United web page may error-out when trying to 'price' (in miles) the award you've constructed. You will need to call it in. Tell them the web page would not book the itinerary, they may waive the phone fee. The web may try charge you more than what it is supposed to - you need to call in. Go here to see the United award charts.

If your don't like the answer you get from the CSR, hang up, call again.

HTH, and good luck.

Didn't want to miss the chance to fly back in comfort so jumped on the SYD-YYZ routing when I saw it. Didn't see an option for holding tix for 24 hours. I will continue to check the availability on line as well as call UA.

Paying the non-elite change fee would amount to less than the cost of YYZ-CLE flights + hotel.

Feeling somewhat stupid:o....

Feeling somewhat stupid:o....

DON'T

All of us have learned in stages, often via the school of hard knocks (where the most ingrained knowledge ALWAYS comes from). I can say that I now look back at myself as I was years ago and say "was I THAT dumb/naive/clueless?".

As long as you can view it as a learning experience that will serve you well down the road, you should feel good about becoming a better flyer. And yes, you will tend to get it here in the non-sugar-coated version. Call it the "nuns with metal rulers" throwback.

It's those who can't/won't learn from errors that should feel worse than stupid, IMHO.

Didn't want to miss the chance to fly back in comfort so jumped on the SYD-YYZ routing when I saw it. Didn't see an option for holding tix for 24 hours. I will continue to check the availability on line as well as call UA.

 

Paying the non-elite change fee would amount to less than the cost of YYZ-CLE flights + hotel.

 

Feeling somewhat stupid:o....

You've been given some not so accurate information in regard to fees to change award reservations. They vary due to the dates of your changes, airlines you are flying, your status, and class of service.

There is no option online to hold award tickets for 24 hours. You probably couldn't even get a phone agent to do this. You will never, ever find business class tickets on Singapore using UA miles; in fact rarely will you be able to even get economy seats.

You did fine. I have an award ticket booked for a TATL this summer flying out and returning to IAD. Had to get a separate ticket to/from Dulles because of the routing I wanted; but that's the way it works sometimes.

Be very careful if you find award availability eventually for your domestic routing. It can't just be added to your existing reservation. Your entire trip would have to be cancelled, and while you were in the process of doing this, your business class seats could be grabbed by someone else. A good agent sometimes can prevent this from happening, but if you have little to no status, odds of getting an agent who can do this are low.

You've been given some not so accurate information in regard to fees to change award reservations. They vary due to the dates of your changes, airlines you are flying, your status, and class of service.

 

There is no option online to hold award tickets for 24 hours. You probably couldn't even get a phone agent to do this. You will never, ever find business class tickets on Singapore using UA miles; in fact rarely will you be able to even get economy seats.

 

You did fine. I have an award ticket booked for a TATL this summer flying out and returning to IAD. Had to get a separate ticket to/from Dulles because of the routing I wanted; but that's the way it works sometimes.

 

Be very careful if you find award availability eventually for your domestic routing. It can't just be added to your existing reservation. Your entire trip would have to be cancelled, and while you were in the process of doing this, your business class seats could be grabbed by someone else. A good agent sometimes can prevent this from happening, but if you have little to no status, odds of getting an agent who can do this are low.

I perhaps over-simplified this

With re SQ, dang. I was hoping to maybe get J/F - good reviews for that product.

I was thinking of getting tickets DEN-LAX or DEN-SFO for the day before and overnighting if needed. Same on the way back. I'd want to minimize the risk missing a flight with two PNRs. Gonna try for award all the way, but trying to develop plans "b", "c", and "d". Boy this is a lot of work for something "free". I keep looking at the price of an F ticket and telling myself its worth it.

Good to know a change is a cancel+rebook. Ugh. Being a kettle, I'm not going to try that. I've been reading way too much about what 1Ks and GS do with their awards - I figured I don't mind paying to do the same thing. I've used a regular CSR (as opposed to the 1K line) to make a simple change to a paid domestic ticket. No way would I risk them doing a cancel+rebook on an international itinerary with partners and get all the pieces back together.

I didn't mean to make OP feel stupid. We're all know some things and are ignorant of others. I tried to convey what I'd learned, and 6rugrats added more. Now I'm less ignorant thanks to 6rugrats.

I perhaps over-simplified this

 

With re SQ, dang. I was hoping to maybe get J/F - good reviews for that product.

 

I was thinking of getting tickets DEN-LAX or DEN-SFO for the day before and overnighting if needed. Same on the way back. I'd want to minimize the risk missing a flight with two PNRs. Gonna try for award all the way, but trying to develop plans "b", "c", and "d". Boy this is a lot of work for something "free". I keep looking at the price of an F ticket and telling myself its worth it.

 

Good to know a change is a cancel+rebook. Ugh. Being a kettle, I'm not going to try that. I've been reading way too much about what 1Ks and GS do with their awards - I figured I don't mind paying to do the same thing. I've used a regular CSR (as opposed to the 1K line) to make a simple change to a paid domestic ticket. No way would I risk them doing a cancel+rebook on an international itinerary with partners and get all the pieces back together.

 

I didn't mean to make OP feel stupid. We're all know some things and are ignorant of others. I tried to convey what I'd learned, and 6rugrats added more. Now I'm less ignorant thanks to 6rugrats.

You weren't wrong, people just need to read the chart and keep their status in mind and what exactly they want to do to figure out the correct fees they may be paying to cancel or make changes.

I have spent many hours researching award tickets. There are some services that will do this for you, and it may be worth the money to you, to use one of them, especially if you are looking for business class. You can find a list of them on Flyertalk.com. Just go there and do a search to pull up the names.

Not all changes require you to cancel and rebook, but some will and you need to be aware of that because you don't want to lose the seats you have. You can always check availability for changes online once you've booked something.

Pull up the itinerary and then check "Change Flights" - it's in blue under your itinerary. Then, it will ask you to check the flights you want to change and then what passengers you want to change the flights for.

You are not cancelling your booking if you check these options. Make your choices and click "continue". This will bring you to a new page that allows you to change your cities, dates, etc. You can enter any new information and move forward, and it still will not change anything yet.

Next screen will show you what options you have, if any. It will show what award tickets are available and what additional mileage or fees you would have to pay to change the flights you've already booked.

You may find a better option at this point. I recommend you don't click on the little square to change your flights if you find something you want to change to. I rarely change online myself if I find something better I want. I print out the page and then call UA to see if they can change it. Somehow, you just get a lot of error messages trying to do it yourself.

If you don't find anything better, just exit out and don't change anything.

Thanks for the reassurances! I think we'll heed the advice to spend the night in Toronto and catch a flight back to CLE the following day. I do feel lucky we did get Business seats on a through-flight.

I've posted elsewhere about our outbound flights using AAdvantage miles- 1st and Business all the way- Yay!