MCLC

I'm about to book DEN-XXX-LHR-XXX-DEN, and the B fare is only about $350 more than the M, which seems worth it to me for 150% EQM and no copay to upgrade with miles on the flight to LHR. The company that is bringing me over will pay for the M, but can't pay for the B, so I wonder if United charges a fee to change to a higher fare class on the same flights, which would allow me to pay the difference after the company books the flight for me. Thanks.

My other option is to pay for it myself and try to get reimbursed using the B receipt and screenshots of the M price. I'd rather go with option A.

I've had a hard time searching for this - most of what I find has to do with fees for changing an existing B fare to another flight - so please point me to any threads that already cover this.

sbm12

Officially, yes. But if you make the change within 24 hours of the original booking they should be able to do it without a charge.

GBadger

I would book the M, and after it tickets (but before 24 hours) call in to change to B.
In my experience, changing fare class (even if to a higher one) generally results in a change fee. As mentioned above, this would not happen if you do it within the 24 hour cancellation window.

MCLC

Great advice! Thanks to both of you.

CASAFlyer

If doing changes within 24h, I suggest that the OP is careful to check that the agent will not cancel the booking, refund everything to the original form of payment and then proceed with the new booking collecting the new full amount.

I think that the change can be processed either way (full cancel and refund or just update the ticket and collect fare difference), so better to make sure that the reservation agent is proceeding down the intended path.

MCLC

Thanks for the advice:

JDS747

I would have to agree on the "seems worth it to me"!! You are basically getting C for $350 more and you even get the 150% EQM and RDM! Certainly a good buy if you can find a way to make it work.

MSPeconomist

IMO the OP should check the travel rules and reimbursement rules of the company that's paying. Is this consulting, job interview, or what? They could object to the B fare even if you pay the extra. All ticket changes could be required to be done through their corporate travel agent. Also, you can't request reimbursement for a different ticket number than the ticket you actually use for the flight without informing them what you're doing, which some places would prohibit.

tods27

Sigh... makes me long for the PMUA days (way before the merger) where there was no change fee if upgrading to a higher fare bucket on itn'l itins.

I would definitely check with the company that is paying. Are you paying, then having them reimburse you, or are they buying the ticket for you? As MSPeconomist implies, this can have a ton of rules around it.

MCLC

The "seems worth it to me" was an understatement for sure!

Edit to add - the 20K miles I will redeem aren't much more than I will earn, so almost a wash in that regard.

It's consulting. I've done other consulting for them before where they've bought me tickets on corporate credit cards, where I've paid and been reimbursed, even one where I stayed in the UK for an extra two weeks with my family - so I think they're pretty flexible, but I will definitely check on their rules. I am pretty sure that I can book the M fare, submit that for reimbursement, then immediately call and up it to a B fare - perhaps the easiest option (and better than my initial plan of paying for the B up front, capturing the M info as a screenshot, then submitting both for reimbursement for the M, which might not fly).

Thanks for the help.

edcho

150% RDM? I thought they had Y/B at 125% RDM.

sbm12

The upgrade to C will cost 20,000 miles each way; it isn't included in the $350. And only 125% RDMs, not 150%.