Originally Posted by friedablass

I just read something on a miles/points closed forum so can't post a link, but I am wondering how false and misinformed this statement really is because it is contrary to everything that I've read here and I definitely 1000000% trust my fellow FTers over this guy.

Someone asked if they can combine FFC with TB so the answer was obviously no, but I told them the workaround of booking economy with their TB, wait 24 hours, refund to FFC, and then book what you want using both FFCs. This is something I've done and I know works.

Another guy responded as follows (edited for clarity): "You can convert UA TB to ETC by book and refund. If you book a refundable fare you can choose ETC for refund and existing FFC can easily be converted to ETC to combine both ETCs [to book your new flight]".

So is it true that you can elect to receive an ETC when canceling a refundable fare? I have personally never seen such an option, so I'm wondering if anyone else here has come across is. My second question is regarding the ease of converting FFC to ETC. My understanding in reading this and other threads over the years is that it is NOT quite that easy to get someone to convert FFC to ETC and that there needs to be a compelling reason and/or the right rep to do that, so why is this guy making it sound like it's as easy as buying a bottle of water ???

I know I shouldn't get all strung up about some random comment, but this really ticked me off because this guy just sounded and is so clueless. And the only reason I would want to verify the veracity is because if you can get ETC for the UA TB refundable fare and then "easily" convert FFC to ETC then you can book a new ticket for anyone not just the named passenger on the original FFC you were trying to use up. So that would be a very valuable piece of information for all of us to know here.