Originally Posted by
garykung
The DOT does say that
Please, can we not do this again?
It's on the very page that you linked:
DOT has not specifically defined what constitutes a “significant delay.”
They also haven't defined what counts as a 'canceled flight,' but based on other DOT precedents, a flight has to be on the schedule to be canceled; a flight that's been removed from the schedule cannot be canceled because it no longer exists.
Originally Posted by
garykung
The only problem is the DOT has not exactly said how the refund should be handled. That's up to the airline's interpretation.
No, actually, the refund procedures are well-documented. When paid by credit card, UA has 7 days to provide a refund to the original form of payment after a request has been validated.
Originally Posted by
garykung
However, the exact amount of refund varies based on how OP proceeds.
Sorry, that makes no sense. Either the unused coupons will be refunded or they won't be. If they're refunded, OP will get back the fare allocated to those coupons, plus taxes, fees, and any optional purchases (e.g., pre-paid luggage or Economy Plus). For an involuntary refund, this will be calculated on a half-round-trip basis, but that doesn't necessarily mean that OP would receive half of the original fare. It could be more or less than half, depending upon the fares that were used for each journey.
If the OP accepts a re-routing, no refund is due, even though the re-routed itinerary would have been less expensive at the time of purchase.
There is no way to proceed which would result in a different calculation for the refund.