Can't use "change" to rebook lower point booking? Anyone else experiencing?
Mar 7, 2024, 11:35 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: IAH
Programs: UA Silver
Posts: 527
Can't use "change" to rebook lower point booking? Anyone else experiencing?
I make many flight bookings with points. For years (up until yesterday and today) when I noticed a flight I had booked was now charging a lower amount of points, I would go into the reservation and do a "change" and it would let me change into the exact same flight and give me a credit for the difference in points. Starting yesterday when I try to do a change it tells me I would get zero points difference for the change even though I can see the points needed have dropped. The workaround is to make a brand new reservation for the lower point amount and then go back in and cancel the earlier reservation for the higher point amount. Has anyone else experienced this lately?
Mar 8, 2024, 11:28 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 4
Changing to a different flight and then back to the original is another workaround, if you cant/do not want to book/cancel in separate transactions.
Mar 11, 2024, 10:02 am
#8
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: SW RR
Posts: 59
Same issue, Could not change in app or on computer. The price remained the same but the points went down 651 points. I always book 1 ways. So I canceled and rebooked the the flight out. The flight coming back went up. So I guess it's another reason to always book 1 ways.
Mar 11, 2024, 10:41 am
#9
Join Date: Dec 2020
Programs: SWA Alist, Companion Pass
Posts: 122
I'm not sure I understand this comment which I've seen in a variety of posts. When I have a round trip, I am always able to change one leg (and get a refund when the price goes down, assuming that is working) and leave the other leg as it was originally priced. I know there may be other reasons to prefer one way vs RT, but I haven't had any issue canceling or changing just one leg of round trip.
Mar 11, 2024, 10:59 am
#10
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: ATL
Posts: 1,924
I'm not sure I understand this comment which I've seen in a variety of posts. When I have a round trip, I am always able to change one leg (and get a refund when the price goes down, assuming that is working) and leave the other leg as it was originally priced. I know there may be other reasons to prefer one way vs RT, but I haven't had any issue canceling or changing just one leg of round trip.
Mar 11, 2024, 11:09 am
#11
Join Date: Dec 2020
Programs: SWA Alist, Companion Pass
Posts: 122
Yes, that is my point (you assume that it won't work to cancel one leg, but I am confused about that since I've done it several times without issue).
I'm simply stating that you COULD cancel the one leg of the roundtrip as easily as you could cancel the one way. My only comment was with regard to reply that said that's a reason to book one ways vs RTs. Again, I understand there are other reasons some people prefer one ways, but you can always cancel one leg easily (or change one leg if that functionality works as it normally does).
Mar 22, 2024, 5:37 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: IAH
Programs: UA Silver
Posts: 527
Still an issue. Today I had 4 flights drop in points needed to book. I tried to "change" all 4 flights. For 2 flights it let me make the change and gave me a credit for the point difference. For the other 2 flights it (incorrectly) showed no point credit difference.
Mar 26, 2024, 1:04 pm
#13
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 413
This thread is about a recent issue where you can't change/re-fare an existing flight where the fare has dropped, multiple examples of the issue by multiple people. The current work-around is to cancel the flight and rebook at the lower fare, which I assume won't work if a round trip and needing to cancel/re-fare just the one leg.
Mar 27, 2024, 11:25 am
#14
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 18
Looks like this issue has been fixed. was able to re-fare a Cash booking as well as a point booking. The re-fare of the points booking took about an hour to reflect in my account possibly because it included early bird check-in. To note, the early bird check-in was still there after the process.
