Originally Posted by
RobOnLI
BTW, it also happens for SQ and TG. I've purchased UA tickets online with SQ and TG and get the warning that UA will request the inventory from the partner and that the credit card will not be charged until a ticket is issued. Sometimes the ticket is issued within 3 hours, other times it takes 24 hours. I don't bother calling unless I book a ticket for the next day (in the case of SQ earlier this year).
-RM
i believe for any ticket, the charge is only done once it tickets. However, they do always run a pending charge (which is different). Also, since UA flights typically ticket witthin a few minutes, no one knows the difference if the card is charged at booking or ticketing.