Note that UA is not obligated to provide refunds on reservations made within 7 days of travel-

http://www.dot.gov/sites/dot.gov/fil...al20130530.pdf

Whatever UA does in this regard is going above and beyond the DOT requirement. In a nutshell, any reservations you make within a week of travel do not carry a 24 hour DOT-required free cancellation requirement. But as WineCountryUA points out in the post below this, it remains UA policy to do so.