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Flight Change Back to Original Flight - after $550 in Change fees - What to do?

Flight Change Back to Original Flight - after $550 in Change fees - What to do?

Old Jun 28, 2013, 10:21 am
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by cordelli
Once you changed to the other flight, any relation to the first flight doesn't matter. Would everybody who paid $1,150 on the earlier flight be asking for money back because the later flight was less expensive? Of course not.

They will not refund the $550, nor should they.
I disagree.

The passenger paid a certain amount of money for the change.
The airline, at the end, did not provide what they accept the payment for, the change.

The passenger ended up in the same flight they originally booked in. Hence, the goods / service that the customer agreed to paid for, have not been provided, as the merchant agreed to.

Last edited by Ragnarok; Jun 28, 2013 at 1:06 pm
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 10:30 am
  #17  
 
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I have to agree that he should press for a refund. And if he doesn't get one I would file a DOT complaint or a dispute. He paid for an earlier flight and their computer system reversed that change (doesn't really matter the reason).

It would be one thing if the flight had been DELAYED past the original flight's departure. He might still be livid but the argument could be made that he paid for a particular flight, not time. In this case, he paid to be moved to an earlier flight and they moved him back against his will!
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 12:05 pm
  #18  
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The flight she was originally on was 6/17/2013 UA #3526
The flight she changed to was 6/17/2013 UA #6262
She was changed back to the original.

Looking at FA, it looks like the 6262 flew as normal. Could this be a case where they oversold, caught it, and IDB'd her without warning? Is there something I am missing? (apologies for any ignorance on the matter)

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/U...456Z/KDEN/KMSP

EDIT - Looks like she was flying from ASE and this was the flight that was cancelled: SkyWest 5538

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/S...335Z/KASE/KDEN

Last edited by RuesterGAGT; Jun 28, 2013 at 12:23 pm
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 12:38 pm
  #19  
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It also looks like they cancelled the same exact flight exactly a week later (same morning, same time).
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 3:15 pm
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by RuesterGAGT
Hello all. I'm writing this for a friend who occasionally uses United for business (I'm a DL person so I don't know UA's policies). Any help/advice/recommendations you guys and gals could leave for her on here would be great.

Here is her message:

"I need to rant and I hope you all listen. I purchased a $600 plane ticket on United. One week before the flight, I paid an additional $550 to change my ticket (don't even get me started on change fees) to leave earlier as I had a meeting I was required to attend. The day of the flight, United cancelled the earlier flight, put me back onto the original flight and refuses to refund the $550 because "they still got me to my destination." How is this okay? How can the airlines dictate such terrible pricing and customer service strategies? And I as the customer am just supposed to accept this? Grrrr....I'm beyond irritated. Any advice from my traveling friends on how I can get a resolution?"
For future reference, another option to paying the additional $550 to change the ticket, is to plan a SDC ($50 for General Member) to the earlier flight. Unlike Delta's SDC policy, even with the recent enhancements, United's SDC policy is much more generous. Your friend may have moved up to an earlier flight beginning 24 hours from the original departure date/time. Thus, if the original flight was leaving at 5 pm on 6/17, she could try to confirm an earlier flight starting at 5 pm on 6/16 (i.e. any flight leaving 5:01 pm on the 16th).

I realize that this is a more risky proposition, and the "security" and peace of mind of having an earlier flight 1 week in advance may well be the worth the additional $550. However, for non critical business trips and/or leisure travel, this option may be more appealing than spending hundreds of dollars. I get the impression, that many (if not most) travelers do not take advantage of this feature.
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 4:09 pm
  #21  
 
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Originally Posted by PBAudit
For future reference, another option to paying the additional $550 to change the ticket, is to plan a SDC ($50 for General Member) to the earlier flight. Unlike Delta's SDC policy, even with the recent enhancements, United's SDC policy is much more generous. Your friend may have moved up to an earlier flight beginning 24 hours from the original departure date/time. Thus, if the original flight was leaving at 5 pm on 6/17, she could try to confirm an earlier flight starting at 5 pm on 6/16 (i.e. any flight leaving 5:01 pm on the 16th).
It's $75 for a GM plus any upfare in fare bucket if the original booking class isn't available (although this will generally open out 3 hrs before departure).
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 5:52 pm
  #22  
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If everything is truly as stated in the OP, I would dispute the $550 charge with the CC company, explaining that you paid $550 to switch to an earlier flight, and that the airline did not provide the service you paid for, as they cancelled the earlier flight after taking your money and put you back on your original flight.

Your original fare required the airline to get you to your destination, which they did, so that is not at issue.

The additional $550 (change fee and fare differential) was paid in exchange for the airline putting you on an earlier flight--which they did not do.

Just my 2c.
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 6:50 pm
  #23  
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Originally Posted by aacharya
And a one-way on any other airline would've been more?
No idea. I simply stated a way in which a $550 charge was assessed. What people do with their money/schedule is beyond me.

Originally Posted by aacharya
Ah, I missed that this was the outbound.
I don't see anywhere where this is mentioned. There is talk of a destination but in a generic way only.
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 7:00 pm
  #24  
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What did she try to get a refund of the change fee? I would first use the online contact form and see what response you get. If that doesn't work then I would try the CC dispute. I think you would win the CC dispute (I mean, you paid for something you didn't get) but my only concern would be if you dispute CC charges with UA they could in theory blacklist you.
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 7:07 pm
  #25  
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Originally Posted by cordelli
Once you changed to the other flight, any relation to the first flight doesn't matter. Would everybody who paid $1,150 on the earlier flight be asking for money back because the later flight was less expensive? Of course not.

They will not refund the $550, nor should they.
+1. I can't believe all the advise about getting a refund. IRROPS happen and airlines don't give refunds because of them. If the OP's friend really needed to be there for a meeting, and booking the first flight out was cutting it close, they should have booked a flight for the day before. If they had put her on a later flight that was not the same as her original, but she still missed her meeting, do you still think she should get a refund? Simply because this IRROP happened to put the friend back on their original flight in this circumstance is not grounds for a refund.

Last edited by xliioper; Jun 28, 2013 at 7:34 pm
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 7:12 pm
  #26  
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I don't think the CC dispute will work. You can claim any number of reasons that you decided to change the flight, and that the airline didn't satisfy your reason. But that's not what controls a contract between you and the airline.

I think the best hope is sympathy at a high corporate level, in order to avoid unfavorable publicity.
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 7:16 pm
  #27  
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Originally Posted by TA
I don't think the CC dispute will work. You can claim any number of reasons that you decided to change the flight, and that the airline didn't satisfy your reason. But that's not what controls a contract between you and the airline.
Chargebacks often work when they "shouldn't", because it's more hassle to contest it than to just give you your money back. But one of the reasons for chargeback is that you never received what you paid for, and that's pretty applicable here. Ultimately, your advantage is that it's in the hands of the credit card company, which prefers to make you happy if possible, rather than in the sole discretion of the party that would have to pay you.
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 7:58 pm
  #28  
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Originally Posted by Ragnarok
I disagree.

The passenger paid a certain amount of money for the change.
The airline, at the end, did not provide what they accept the payment for, the change.

The passenger ended up in the same flight they originally booked in. Hence, the goods / service that the customer agreed to paid for, have not been provided, as the merchant agreed to.
The change they paid for was made. UA can easily win the dispute by sending the CC company a copy of the revised eticket.

Another change was also made, uncompensated, as allowed by the CoC they agreed to.
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 7:59 pm
  #29  
 
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Chargeback wil not work, as Terms of contract were met. The 550 vs 600 is totally irrelevant, the traveller paid 1150 for a last minute flight to meet her schedule change, just like a full fare passenger would.
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Old Jun 28, 2013, 8:05 pm
  #30  
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Fine. Whatever. Listen to those guys, give up, write off your $550. Or spend two minutes of your time and probably get it back. Up to you.
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