Originally Posted by
threeoh
First, I am sorry to hear that you are dealing with this.
If you plan on travelling on United within the next year, the easiest thing to do is (1) cancel your flight now, before it departs, (2) in the future (within one year), use the remaining funds and pay a change fee (3) request a refund of the change fee through the link below.
It should also be possible to get a full refund, if you aren't sure you will use United funds within the next year. Still make sure you cancel the flight before to takes off (if that is soon). Normally I'd say request a refund request from your OTA but if they say try United first, you can use the link below to submit a refund request. Don't do it over the phone. If United comes back and says "refund is due from your OTA", then you have something to go back to your OTA with.
I would review the policies and make sure the family member qualifies under United's definition of "immediate family", etc. Also note you will need a death certificate:
Click "Refund Policies" then "Refund request for nonrefundable tickets — unplanned event"
Best of luck!
Thanks a lot for your help! I reached out to United about this issue and they said I have to send my OTA the death certificate and then they will forward it to United in order to get a refund. But the OTA hasn't done so yet and it's been a week since I sent it to them. Or at least when I asked United's refund team they said they never received any documents pertaining to my reservation. Plus United says they have no control over this ticket so they can't directly refund me (even though the charge on my CC is directly to United, is this normal?). Kind of losing hope here... Does anyone know if there are any options I can pursue or can I dispute the charge? My fault for booking through an OTA.
