EWRFlyerAL

I had an interesting conversation with a phone agent last night. He told me that the maximum amount of time allowed as a connection and not considered a stopover was four hours on all domestic flights. Is this correct?

transportprof

Correct.

aacharya

Two caveats:

1. Might not apply for award ticketing.
2. Does not apply in cases where the first possible connection is more than 4 hours.

jsloan

3. Does not apply to domestic flights on an international fare -- those would be the standard 24 hours.

As I understand it, if you're ticketed on a through fare -- where the price and routing are computed from the origin and destination -- you'd be allowed 24 hours at each transfer point without creating a stopover. However, if you're ticketed on a broken fare that allows end-on-end ticketing, you'd be limited to 4 hours while on the domestic fare.

Example: NRT-ORD-SYR, on a through fare: you have up to 24 hours at ORD to catch your next flight, even if there are other SYR flights in the interim.

AUS-IAH-DEN-SFO-LAX-SYD, ticketed as AUS-SFO + SFO-SYD: you have up to 4 hours at IAH and DEN, an unlimited time at SFO (because it's the fare break point), and 24 hours at LAX.

Kacee

This is in most instances more a theoretical rule than an actual one, as UA will sell you all kinds of tickets with a longer than 4 hour domestic connection. And of course there's no such restriction once you start SDC'ing a ticket.

The area where it can become important (and may be enforced against you at booking) is on domestic award tickets.

jsloan

Actually, they won't -- they sell lots of tickets with longer than 4 hours between flights, but in cases where this isn't the next flight out, it's a stopover. And since very few domestic UA fares allow stopovers, this almost invariably introduces a fare break -- which can then cause problems if you do try to SDC, as you may be forced to transit through the same city as ticketed (since it's a stopover).

Kacee

You are applying too broad definition of the term "stopover." End-on-end fare pricing does not include a "stopover" as the term is used in the context of fare construction b/c it is neither part of the fare nor is it defined by a period of time.

You can just as easily buy a 1 hour connection using end-on-end construction as a 6 hour connection. If we are using time and fare rules to define the length of a stopover, neither qualifies.

cur

this is interesting, because you can book flights with 22h cnx on one tix thru ua. is this no longer a cnx but a stopover?

this is exactly why the 22hr cnx is a thing: the same fare isn't available on an earlier flight.

i think this thread will just distill into a thread re semantics

findark

This is not categorically true. I have had instances where the next onward flight is more than 4h00 away (same day) and a transfer won't auto-price. I don't know if this was a somewhat weird case of if the longer break must also be "overnight".

UA.com will of course show you "longer connections" but in almost all cases for a domestic itinerary this is because there is a fare break. jsloan is also correct that the relevant factor is that the fare component, not the connection city, is domestic.


To try to clear up semantics:

A transfer is a connection made on the same fare component. Generally speaking, transfers do not constitute a break in travel and the airline as no obligation to fly you to that point (e.g. if transferring in SFO on EWR-SFO-SYD, you could be involuntarily re-routed EWR-LAX-SYD with no compensation). Generally, transfers must be 4h00 or shorter on domestic fare components and 24h00 or shorter on international fare components.

A stopover is a break in travel in the middle of a fare component. It may be of unlimited length, subject to the validity of the ticket and any maximum stay restrictions in the fare rules. Domestic fares generally prohibit stopovers, and many international fares require a fee to add one. Because there is a break in travel, if your ticket is constructed with a stopover, the airline has a contractual obligation to deliver you to your stopover point.

A fare break is a break in travel where you are changing fare components. Again, you can remain at a fare break point for any amount of time subject to ticket validity and stay restrictions. Technically speaking, your "destination" is usually just a fare break point on a round-trip itinerary.

EWRFlyerAL

Thanks everyone. I always like to check what UA employees tell me with the FT folks. Some of the things I hear make me shake my head (like the FA today ORD-LGA that told me that they were rolling out Polaris dining on all domestic routes ).

ermintrude

Reading this thread I'm not sure if a connection on a domestic award ticket that's > 4 hrs is considered a stopover?

WineCountryUA

If there is an flight option within 4 hours, then selecting an option >4 hours is (for a totally domestic itin) considered a stopover.

LAX UA 1K

I've seen a number of >4 hour domestic connections on award bookings without increasing the fare. It may come up more commonly when the connecting flight within 4 hours doesn't have saver award space but I also see them even when there's an earlier connection.

WineCountryUA

Yep, UA can ignore the 4 hour limit but they can also enforce it -- you can never know in advance.

findark

At the end of the day it's what the computer enforces. The stopover versus transfer distinction is usually pretty clear from the fare construction (after you price an itinerary), and I believe it is no longer possible to have a stopover on an award fare so the offered itineraries are probably long transfers.