Originally Posted by NikoGoutakolis

Hey guys. Happy New Year.

On December 28th, my flight from Portland, ME to Newark was cancelled to to "severe weather conditions". The one-way price cost $114 dollars each for the three passengers (my parents and I). We went on stand by for the morning flight of December 29th, and, thanks to a helpful Premier Priority Desk agent, was able to get my mother in a confirmed seat, and, the agent made a note that if my father and I weren't able to clear stand by, she would be able to abandon her confirmed seat and receive a full refund. This sounded good, as our plan was to drive home to New York with a rental car, as the cars were cheap at around $60 dollars.

When we got to the airport, we checked in, with my mothers boarding pass showing a confirmed seat, while my father and mine showing "SBY" for "standby". Unfortunately, we didn't clear, mainly due to the fact that United oversold the flight by 4 persons. However, when we got to the gate, a nice old gate agent told us that since it was basically impossible for us to clear (there was a group of 5 1K's on the standby list, and my father and I are only Silver) that my mother should give up her seat for the $500 dollar voucher, so that she could receive more money for the trouble we've been through. We all thought this was a great plan, so the gate agent gave us the $500 dollar voucher and a paper ticket for the next available flight, which wasn't until January 2nd.

She also told us, though, that we couldn't get a refund for the ticket if you get the voucher, but that was still very ok, as we would still come out $386 bucks ahead.

She told us that we didn't have to show up for the January 2nd flight, but that if we called for the ticket refund, there might be a discrepancy on the voucher. So, today is January 1st and my mother is getting emails to check in for her flight (even though we are already at our destination!). However, on the ticket, it says if we cancel our flight, the value of the ticket will be saved for future travel for the next year....

How does this work? Should I call and cancel the ticket now, and not ask for the refund, which, would give me the $114 dollars?

Should I just do nothing, and if i do, how do I claim the $114?

Thanks for any help.