How can I take that later flight?

January 23, 2007 6:50 PM

I need to have a flight pushed back, any suggestions? Ok so I am away and I need to go home but I just found out that I have to leave later in the day than when my flight departs. I am flying United and I bought the tickets through their site, they are the cheapest tickets you can get, no refunds, etc. Is there anyway I can take a later flight without spending more money? Does anyone have any experience with this? (I'm going Salt Lake City to Chicago)
posted by tev to Travel & Transportation (11 answers total)

Call the airline and see what they can do for you.
posted by pmbuko at 6:55 PM on January 23, 2007

Seconding that you call them. When I needed to do this on ATA, they only charged me the difference in the flight cost. It was only about a $5 difference.
posted by hooray at 7:06 PM on January 23, 2007

I've done this often by calling and flying stand-by later in the day (or in the many cases I have missed my flight). Or you can usually pay a fee to get a confirmed seat later in the day (if there's room). But yes, call.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 7:06 PM on January 23, 2007

You can change your flight as long as there's a seat available, but generally not without paying the $50 or $100 change fee. Definitely try calling though; you have nothing to lose. Continental once waived my fee when I was sick. I just called and explained why I couldn't make my flight, and they let me reuse them later with no fee.
posted by boomchicka at 7:07 PM on January 23, 2007

Call the airline, be flexible with your alternatives. Call them now, so that they can sell your seat.
posted by holgate at 7:08 PM on January 23, 2007

You'll either be able to fly standby (no cost) or pay $25 to get a confirmed seat. But you'll have to wait till the day of to do these options. I'd look at the flight and see if the later ones in the day are pretty empty.. I've flown standby at least 10 times without any hassle.
posted by sandmanwv at 7:19 PM on January 23, 2007

Change Your Travel Plans (united.com)

Apparently, you can change your flight on the website for only the difference in price between the two flights (plus "any applicable service charges") - if you're a Mileage Plus member, which as far as I can tell is their Frequent Flyer program. So if you're an MP member and have your MP number on your itinerary, it seems like you can change it pretty easily:

Details of Change itinerary
After making changes to your outbound and return flights, we will calculate the new fare price including any applicable service charges. We will issue a refund or bill the credit card for the price difference.

To change your E-Ticket online you must:

* Be a Mileage Plus member**
* Have a united.com password and profile**
* Have an electronic ticket
* Travel on United, United Express or Ted
* Have a ticket purchased through United Airlines, united.com or flyted.com
* Have your Mileage Plus number in your itinerary
* Have an itinerary originating from the 50 U.S. states, Canada, Caribbean or Mexico. International itineraries purchased in US dollars can also be changed online.

If you're not an Mileage Plus member, you have to call 1-800-UNITED-1 to change your flight. The "reservation servicing fee" of $15 it mentions doesn't seem to apply if you bought your ticket on the United website. Seems you're in the clear. Good luck!
posted by granted at 9:00 PM on January 23, 2007

Oh, and just for the edification of anyone who might be reading this, if you buy your tickets directly through the Southwest or JetBlue websites and need to cancel your flight, they'll just keep a credit in their system for the amount you spent on your ticket so that you can use it toward a future flight. Other airlines probably have the same policy, but those two are the only ones I have direct experience with. It's one definite benefit of buying through the airline's website instead of through Travelocity or whatever.
posted by granted at 9:11 PM on January 23, 2007

granted, I don't think that means that there is no change fee if you're a Mileage Plus member, it just means you don't have to call them.

tev, in general, the thing to do is either pay your change fee or go standby, with the risk that you might be significantly delayed should it be a bad travel day. That's one of the significant advantages of consolidating all your travel on one airline to get status with them; higher priority on the standby list when you need/want to do so.

Also, as granted mentioned, should you not be able to use the ticket, don't write it off, as you can reuse the value of the ticket, minus the change fee, toward future travel ticketed within the next year on United, unless they have a "use it or lose it" policy as most airlines do these days and you don't call them before the flight (or within 4 hours after the flight, for some airlines). You can do that no matter how you purchase the ticket, although it's easier to reuse on some airlines if you bought it on the website originally.

Before "use it or lose it," you had a whole year to use the value, even if you never called to cancel.

If you'd like me to look up availability for you, send me an email...
posted by wierdo at 10:04 PM on January 23, 2007

I just did this with United, actually, though my situation is slightly different. I booked through StudentUniverse.com, which claimed a $225 change fee + fare difference if changed after initial departure. I called United, they said "you have to keep your same itinerary, but may change the date. First time's free." So I waited until I found out what was happening with my trip, and several weeks later, with a completely different agent at United's phone bank, I did it... and I'm sitting in my layover in Frankfurt right now. No change fee. No servicing fee. Nothing. So try... maybe it'll work out for free.
posted by The Michael The at 11:45 PM on January 23, 2007

A few years ago, I missed an early morning flight from Tampa to Nashville after a friend's wedding because I was late for the 30 minute-before-flight check in window by 3 minutes. I stood at the check-in counter for at least 5 minutes watching the agent chat with a co-worker before she deigned to check me in, so technically it wasn't my fault at all. Delta wanted to charge me 50$ I absolutely didn't have to take a later flight. I considered my options - rage or tears. I went with tears (I was still a little drunk from the reception the night before so it was easy) and was rewarded with a free seat on the next flight.
So I guess my advice is, if they try to charge you, then cry.
posted by cilantro at 3:01 AM on January 24, 2007