There appears to be some confustion at United about the new use it or lose it policy. I was on the phone with United Premier Exec Desk this morning making changes to a non-refundable ticket I had purchased before the use it or lose it policy. So now my new reservation is subject to the use-it or lose-it rule. I asked the reservation what the precise rule is for making changes to the reservation. Specifically, for my 6:00 am departure, do I have to call by 5:59 am in order preserve its value, or do I have until the end of the day. The original answer from the reservation agent was that you have to call United no later than your schedule departure time.

I replied that my understanding was that you had to call no later than the date of departure, meaning that you could call until 11:59 pm. I'm told, nope, scheduled time of departure is the deadline.

I call United.com to see if the tariff language is on the web. It reads as follows:

FARES NOT USED OR NOT CHANGED ON/BEFORE THE TICKETED DEPARTURE DATE ARE INVALID AND HAVE NO VALUE. OTHER FARES ON THE SAME TICKET THAT ARE HALF ROUND TRIP COMBINED WITH THE UNUSED FARE ARE ALSO INVALID AND HAVE NO VALUE.

To me, this says depature date, not departure date and time. United.com representative again tells me, nope, scheduled departure time is the deadline.

Then, I get a call back from the Premier Exec Desk Agent who tells me that I was in fact correct. You have until 11:59 pm day of departure.

Anyone else gotten mixed info about this?