Originally Posted by
daslax
I have a very similar question with slightly different details. I booked a ow J ticket LAX-EWR through Amex Travel that has now gone down in price by ~$50 per pax. If I try to change it online, I am given other flight options, some of them with additional fare collect, some with $0 change, but none with a lower fare offer (even though many should be available). At the top, it states that I should reach out to my travel agent as .com will not provide residual credits. Amex Travel says UA policy is that residual fare is forfeited, so they cannot rebook at the lower fare.
Another option available to me on .com is to just cancel the flights, and it is offering a FFC for the full amount of the fare. Is this instantly available so that I can rebook at the new fare immediately? And will I be able to use that residual $100, or is there some kind of restriction with tickets booked through an agent?
Lastly, would an agent be able to re-price over the phone or same issue as .com... no residual if booked outside of UA channels?
So just for anyone who may want to try this in the future, there does not appear to be a way to get residual value on an agency ticket. I went through the process of canceling the flight on .com and when I went to rebook, I got the same options as above for changing flights: cheaper flights showed up as $0 residual value. United was able to restore my original booking so I’m back to where I started. I could have just saved the FFC for a more expensive trip and paid for a new booking at the lower fare, but it wasn’t enough of a fare difference to keep that money locked up.