My brother has just checked in for his flight (RDU-IAH-LAX) tonight. However, at the check-in counter, the agent alerts him to the fact that his RDU-IAH flight is delayed for 2 hours (awaiting inbound flight). This will most likely make him misconnect at IAH, as there was originally only a 75-min buffer. According to my brother, the lady at the ticket counter recommended that he still try to make his original connection and, if he does misconnect, UA will cover his hotel expenses in IAH and will rebook on the first IAH-LAX flight the next morning.
In hindsight, I probably should have checked on his flight for him in advance and rebooked him on another itinerary _before_ he arrived at the airport. But, things were busy today, and I didn't do that. Now that he's already checked in, and his luggage is checked in too, can he still ask for a re-routing from one of the gate agents?
I'm a bit worried about the promise (from the RDU ticket counter) that UA (at the IAH service counter) will cover his hotel expenses. To avoid that potential problem, I was thinking of preemptively changing his route (rather than just waiting to see if he'll make his original IAH flight). There are two more outbound flights to LAX tonight: one via CLT (though that's departing very very soon and it's on US, not UA) and another via IAD (though that only has 55 min buffer, but at least the website says that the flight is on-time).
Will UA let him preemptively change his flights? Especially since he's already checked in (with luggage)? And is switching to another *A allowed (in this case, US)?
As always, TIA for your help!
In hindsight, I probably should have checked on his flight for him in advance and rebooked him on another itinerary _before_ he arrived at the airport. But, things were busy today, and I didn't do that. Now that he's already checked in, and his luggage is checked in too, can he still ask for a re-routing from one of the gate agents?
I'm a bit worried about the promise (from the RDU ticket counter) that UA (at the IAH service counter) will cover his hotel expenses. To avoid that potential problem, I was thinking of preemptively changing his route (rather than just waiting to see if he'll make his original IAH flight). There are two more outbound flights to LAX tonight: one via CLT (though that's departing very very soon and it's on US, not UA) and another via IAD (though that only has 55 min buffer, but at least the website says that the flight is on-time).
Will UA let him preemptively change his flights? Especially since he's already checked in (with luggage)? And is switching to another *A allowed (in this case, US)?
As always, TIA for your help!