Originally Posted by
Often1
And to be clear, it's not a policy, it's the law. Air carriers must either give you a 24-hour cancellation or a 24-hour hold before purchase. UA uses the former.
It's both. UA had this policy well before they were required to by law, but more importantly their policy is more flexible than is required by the passengers bill of rights as they allow refunds for all bookings, not just those made more than 7 days before the flight as the law requires.