Originally Posted by
Kacee
They make it really hard though. You have to:
1. Find the link, "view fare rules and restrictions";
2. Click through the captcha;
3. Scroll through hundreds of lines of fare rules;
4. Decipher fare rule-ese to determine (i) if the fare is refundable, and (ii) what the change fee is; and
5. Check the rules for both outbound and return, since most restrictive rules govern.
Contrast this to booking a hotel room with, say Hyatt or Hilton, where the cancellation policy is either listed directly on the booking page or reachable with one simple click.
It's almost as if UA doesn't want you to know the fare restrictions
To be fair, most airlines are the same way - some are easier to find what you need with the way they display the text, others are more difficult - except for the captcha. I don't like the captcha either, but UAs version is way easier to decipher the text than the ones practically every other site (I.e. Ticketmaster, etc.) uses where there are graphics, squiggly lines, etc. in the background which make it really hard to determine what you are supposed to type in.
If it's really too difficult, you can always call in and ask. Sorry - a passenger only has themselves to blame if they don't read the fare rules (which they agree to) before buying a ticket.