Originally Posted by
xliioper
I checked fares to Asia and these are not the BE/non-changeable fares.
The non-changeable BE fares have an X in second to last letter of fare basis code. The non-refundable/changeable fares with 'O or G' in second to last letter say the following -
Right, but this same language is in every non-refundable fare UA is offering, and they are consistently generating Future Flight Credit (FFC) for residual values, when booked and changed through UA directly, in every other non-Basic Economy case… except the OP’s.
Originally Posted by
RRROOO
Finally someone believes me! Another thread on the 'forum' side was encouraging this one person to buy a United ticket, then when the fare went down to submit for a lower fare with a refund. Rules on UA.COM indicate' residual value will be lost'. Others were posting that Nerdwallet had a post on how to get a refund on United. Absolutely not. UA will NOT refund the residual. Period.
I’m not sure who’s been disbelieving you, but none of this discussion is about refunds. Rather, UA will give FFC — travel credit that can be used by the named traveler for up to one year — when an unused ticket purchased directly from United is exchanged for another ticket of lesser value. The residual value language has been in United fares since the start of the pandemic, and they introduced this new form of FFC a few months later.
I have personally canceled and re-used thousands of dollars’ worth of United tickets in order to take advantage of lower fares, or because a flight no longer met my needs.