We're flying United to Disneyland in late June. I got a call today telling me that our flight coming home had been changed. Our departure time out of Lax was moved up 3 hours. We have a connecting flight in Denver and apparently they cancelled the flight we were to have been on, so our Lax flight had to be changed as well.
This really doesn't work for us at all. We had picked the latest departure time we could and have things planned for that morning and early afternoon.
The person I spoke with was very courteous and said that they would work with me as much as possible. She took a quick look at perhaps switching airports or changes in our connecting flight, but didn't find anything that worked. She also mentioned taking the original flight out of Lax, then taking a flight the next day home. She then suggested taking some time to decide what we wanted to do and call back before accepting any changes.
After spending several hours checking flights and times I've only come up with 2 alternatives. We could switch airports and although the departure time is almost the same, the other airport is smaller and much closer to DL so we won't have to leave for the airport as early. Also, the ground transportation is less expensive and we could get private transportation for less than a shared ride would cost out of Lax...saving more time and a little money.
The second one is crazy, but maybe fun. Instead of flying from Lax to Denver, we could take a late flight out of Lax to Las Vegas , then a flight the next day home. I'm very familiar with getting around Vegas so it would make it much easier than Denver...which I've never been to, never mind that I love Las Vegas and wouldn't mind spending 24 hours there.
And now, finally for the questions...
What can I expect United to do for me? I don't want a refund, prices have jumped considerably and I can't get close to what I paid for these tickets. If we go with the next day flight, is there any chance that United will cover the hotel costs?
If we go with changing airports, would they allow us to change our flights from home to DL to that airport as well? I ask this because roundtrip ground transportation is cheaper than one way and also it would be much nicer to be flying in and out of the same airport.
Thanks in advance, I really haven't ever had this happen before so I'd like to know in advance what I should expect United to do in a case like this.
This really doesn't work for us at all. We had picked the latest departure time we could and have things planned for that morning and early afternoon.
The person I spoke with was very courteous and said that they would work with me as much as possible. She took a quick look at perhaps switching airports or changes in our connecting flight, but didn't find anything that worked. She also mentioned taking the original flight out of Lax, then taking a flight the next day home. She then suggested taking some time to decide what we wanted to do and call back before accepting any changes.
After spending several hours checking flights and times I've only come up with 2 alternatives. We could switch airports and although the departure time is almost the same, the other airport is smaller and much closer to DL so we won't have to leave for the airport as early. Also, the ground transportation is less expensive and we could get private transportation for less than a shared ride would cost out of Lax...saving more time and a little money.
The second one is crazy, but maybe fun. Instead of flying from Lax to Denver, we could take a late flight out of Lax to Las Vegas , then a flight the next day home. I'm very familiar with getting around Vegas so it would make it much easier than Denver...which I've never been to, never mind that I love Las Vegas and wouldn't mind spending 24 hours there.
And now, finally for the questions...

What can I expect United to do for me? I don't want a refund, prices have jumped considerably and I can't get close to what I paid for these tickets. If we go with the next day flight, is there any chance that United will cover the hotel costs?
If we go with changing airports, would they allow us to change our flights from home to DL to that airport as well? I ask this because roundtrip ground transportation is cheaper than one way and also it would be much nicer to be flying in and out of the same airport.
Thanks in advance, I really haven't ever had this happen before so I'd like to know in advance what I should expect United to do in a case like this.