FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Changing ticket and referring question ....
Old Apr 29, 2018, 2:00 pm
  #3  
Sykes
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist, Virtuoso Travel Agent, Commercial Pilot
Posts: 2,117
Your understanding is correct if and only if your outbound fare is combinable with the new SFO->EWR fare that you want to use. This should be the case with pretty much any fare I can think of for that route. While there are exceptions, for domestic tickets United generally allows you to change the fare components without affecting unchanged components provided that the new combination is allowed. There isn't any good way to see fare rules post-purchase now that the Saudia site doesn't work, but you can always call and ask what the fare basis is so that you can look them up on a site like ExpertFlyer.

Most likely this is just a glitch in the auto-pricing algorithm. I'd give United a call. There's a good chance that a rep will see the same price, though, so you may run into further difficulties and it's pretty hard to convince a rep to get the rate desk involved in a domestic ticket. Do make sure that you're only changing SFO->IAD to SFO->EWR and not trying to add a third segment to get back to IAD on the same ticket. The combinability rules get more restrictive for end-on-end multi-city/circle trips.

Having said that, if you're looking at paying a $200 change fee and it's less than $200 to buy the new ticket outright, I'd probably just buy the new ticket outright and kick the can down the road. United.com is much more likely to price the outbound properly once it is already flown, so you'll probably have an easier time reusing those funds later.

For those that are curious, this the part of the boilerplate fare rules for most domestic penalty fares that is applicable here:

Code:
   BEFORE DEPARTURE OF JOURNEY AND WITHIN TICKET VALIDITY       
   CERTAIN DOMESTIC REISSUE PROVISIONS MAY BE OVERRIDDEN        
   BY THOSE OF UA INTERNATIONAL FARES                           
   CHARGE USD 200.00 FOR REISSUE OR HIGHEST FEE OF ALL          
   CHANGED FARE COMPONENTS - DISCOUNTS APPLY - NO FEE FOR       
   INFANTS W/O SEAT AND                                         
     REPRICE                                                    
     A. CHANGED FARE COMPONENTS USE FARES IN EFFECT             
     TODAY                                                      
     B. ALL OTHERS USE CURRENTLY TKTD FARE                      
     PROVIDED ALL OF THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS ARE MET-          
     1. WHEN NO INTL COUPONS REMAIN - ALL NEW TRAVEL            
     MUST BE DOMESTIC                                           
     2. AC/UA FARES ARE USED                                    
     3. UA ANY FARE TYPE EXCEPT EOU/ERU ARE USED                
     4. ALL RULE AND BOOKING CODE PROVISIONS ARE MET           
     5. ADV RES IS MEASURED FROM NEW TKT ISSUE DATE IF         
     CURRENT FARES/FROM PREVIOUS TKT ISSUE DATE IF              
     HISTORICAL FARES TO DEPARTURE OF PRICING UNIT

Last edited by Sykes; Apr 29, 2018 at 2:07 pm
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