Originally Posted by
dfreeman02
A variation on the refundable "trick" is to buy the outbound in the cheapo class you want and put the return in a refundable bucket. You can subsequently change the return with no fee *and* without regard to advance purchase requirements. If you are trying to change the first leg you must meet any advance purchase requirements on the new fare.
In addition, on most fares the rule is that if the first segment is unchanged, then the price you get at change time is the price at *booking time*, not the current price. However, I've found the fare desk agents to be as variable as the reservation agents, so it may take a few calls to get things to work out.
So I was under the impression for many, many years on UA that on a ticket that mixes fare buckets, such as the case you describe, the most restrictive penalty-change-rebooking rules apply to all segments, thereby, for example, dragging a Y/B fare down to the rules of an S/T fare. Perhaps Fastair could comment?