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Old Apr 7, 2013, 4:03 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Economy Plus FAQs

Can I get a refund for my Economy Plus purchase if I no longer want it on my trip?

No. Economy Plus purchases are nonrefundable unless the ticket is refunded or canceled prior to travel.

If I buy Economy Plus seating, can I select a different Economy Plus seat prior to travel?

Yes. If the price of the new seat is equal to or less than the original purchase price then there will be no refund or additional charges. If the price of the new seat is greater than the price of the originally purchased seat, then the original price will be refunded and the new seat must be purchased in full.

Will my Economy Plus purchase be refunded if I cancel my trip?

Yes. In the event of a ticket refund or cancellation, Economy Plus purchases will be automatically refunded.

What will happen if I purchased Economy Plus seating but want to change my flights?

In the event of a voluntary change to a trip, Economy Plus purchases will be automatically refunded. If the ticket is partially used at the time of the change, only the value of the unused Economy Plus seating will be refunded.

What happens to my Economy Plus purchase if I get upgraded?

In the event of an upgrade, with some exclusions, purchased Economy Plus seating for the upgraded segment(s) will be automatically refunded. Exclusions include Complimentary Premier Upgrades and cases where a customer is reaccommodated into a seat of similar or greater value due to an aircraft change or other operational issue.

What happens if my itinerary changes due to a cancellation or schedule change?

In the event of any involuntary changes, such as rebooking due to a cancellation or schedule change, United will, if available, transfer the Economy Plus seating to your new flight(s) free of charge. If we are unable to accommodate you in Economy Plus, the Economy Plus purchase will be automatically refunded after flight departure. If you are re-accommodated on another airline per United’s policies, your purchase of Economy Plus seating for that portion of the itinerary will be automatically refunded.

I purchased Economy Plus, but I didn’t get to sit in an Economy Plus seat. Will I receive a refund?

Yes. If we are unable to accommodate you in Economy Plus, the Economy Plus purchase price will be automatically refunded after flight departure.

What is the deadline to request a refund for my Economy Plus purchase?

For Economy Plus refunds that aren’t issued automatically, you must submit your request within 90 days of the later of the following two dates: i) the date when the fee was originally paid; or ii) the flight date.If we were unable to accommodate you in Economy Plus or a seat of similar or greater value, and you received a new boarding pass, then the refund for the Economy Plus purchase price will be issued automatically. If you were not issued a new boarding pass, please submit a request through our Refunds page by the deadline specified above.

How long will it take to receive my Economy Plus refund?

Please allow up to seven business days from the date when the refund is issued for the activity to post to your credit card. If the refund does not post within one billing cycle, please contact your credit card company for information. For all other forms of payment, please allow up to 20 days for a refund to be processed. If you do not see a credit post within these time frames, please submit a refund request at united.com/refunds. All refunds are credited to the original form of payment used.
related thread : UA Economy Plus (E+) - Questions/Worth It?/Experiences [2016 Consolidated]

Preferred seat refunds (changed flights, upgraded, purchased E+, ...)

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Refunds for E+ / Preferred fees (upgrades, seat changes, cancellations, ...) [Merged]

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Old Jul 9, 2023, 11:10 am
  #76  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Originally Posted by egfcaf01
,,, So my question is, can I get a refund on the Economy to Economy Plus fees if my MUA is successful? ...
As answered. Yes
Economy Plus FAQs

What happens to my Economy Plus purchase if I get upgraded?

In the event of an upgrade, with some exclusions, purchased Economy Plus seating for the upgraded segment(s) will be automatically refunded. Exclusions include Complimentary Premier Upgrades and cases where a customer is reaccommodated into a seat of similar or greater value due to an aircraft change or other operational issue.
Originally Posted by egfcaf01
,,, I thought about downgrading my Econ + seat back to a Preferred or Econ seat to get a partial refund before the flight but I am worried that my position on the waitlist will move south because of it.
Once purchased, E+ is non-refunded unless canceling or changing the flight. Having or not having E+ has no impact on your upgrade priority. E+ is an access fee and does not change your ticket.
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Old Sep 5, 2023, 5:51 pm
  #77  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 37
Is preferred seat refundable when upgrading?

Apologies if this has been answered already (I'm sure it has!) but I just can't find it. I selected a chargeable preferred seat when I booked but now I'm thinking about doing a miles upgrade. Is the chargeable seat refundable in this case? United has a preferred seat FAQ page, but it doesn't seem to clearly answer this question. Thank you in advance.
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Old Sep 5, 2023, 7:07 pm
  #78  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
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Originally Posted by bearchaser303
Apologies if this has been answered already (I'm sure it has!) but I just can't find it. I selected a chargeable preferred seat when I booked but now I'm thinking about doing a miles upgrade. Is the chargeable seat refundable in this case? United has a preferred seat FAQ page, but it doesn't seem to clearly answer this question. Thank you in advance.
For any supported upgrade, seat fees (E+ or preferred) are refunded.
Will not be refunded for any complimentary upgrade.
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Old Sep 5, 2023, 7:52 pm
  #79  
Ambassador: World of Hyatt
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
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"Can I get a refund for my Economy Plus purchase if I no longer want it on my trip?

No. Economy Plus purchases are nonrefundable unless the ticket is refunded or canceled prior to travel."

Can I understand this statement from the FAQs here to mean
If I redeem miles for a coach ticket and purchase an economy plus exit row seat for 275 dollars and decide to cancel the award
(put the miles back in the account)
the purchased E plus seat will be refunded to original form of payment?
Thanks in advance for hopefully the correct answer
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Old Sep 5, 2023, 8:17 pm
  #80  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Originally Posted by 777 global mile hound
...If I redeem miles for a coach ticket and purchase an economy plus exit row seat for 275 dollars and decide to cancel the award (put the miles back in the account) the purchased E plus seat will be refunded to original form of payment? ....
correct
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Old Sep 5, 2023, 8:28 pm
  #81  
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Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
correct
That's very good news indeed
No risk involved and if something better opens up in a premium cabin at a fair enough redemption rate which is my hope we have a great plan A or B
The overseas call center shared once purchased all economy plus seats are non nonrefundable
I wonder how much revenue United loses each year to incorrect information?
They scared me off from transacting initially.I'm all in now thanks to you
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Old Sep 5, 2023, 9:53 pm
  #82  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
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Originally Posted by 777 global mile hound
That's very good news indeed
No risk involved and if something better opens up in a premium cabin at a fair enough redemption rate which is my hope we have a great plan A or B
The overseas call center shared once purchased all economy plus seats are non nonrefundable
I wonder how much revenue United loses each year to incorrect information?
They scared me off from transacting initially.I'm all in now thanks to you
The truth is phone agents are trained on ticketing and receive less or no training on other aspects. The intricacies of all aspects are quite vast. Tne answer was mostly correct, in most circumstances but wrong for the corner case you asked about.

Agents rarely deal with the corner cases (hence calling them corner cases), we on FT who make use of the most arcane rules debate their mean far beyond what is reasonable to expect an entry level employee to understand. If you get to a senior customer support, one who been there more than a few months , you might get better answer but those are reserved for the Premiers and even then you should cross check the information. Fortunately, there is FT -- we live in the arcane corner cases

Actually the United website is a fairly detailed and accurate source of information. Answers to your specific question are explicitly covered on the UA website,
Economy Plus FAQs
Preferred seating FAQ
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Old Oct 20, 2023, 9:39 pm
  #83  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 37
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
For any supported upgrade, seat fees (E+ or preferred) are refunded.
Will not be refunded for any complimentary upgrade.
Are the refunds processed automatically, and if so what is the timeframe for this? I was upgraded to Polaris using miles+money on an October 5th flight and still have not received the refund for the economy preferred seat fee I had previously paid.

On a similar note, I had requested a miles+money upgrade on another flight and it wasn't confirmed (Polaris seemed to be fully booked with paying pax). How long should it take for the miles/money refund?
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Old Oct 20, 2023, 10:23 pm
  #84  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
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Originally Posted by bearchaser303
Are the refunds processed automatically, and if so what is the timeframe for this? I was upgraded to Polaris using miles+money on an October 5th flight and still have not received the refund for the economy preferred seat fee I had previously paid.
Should be a week or so,


Originally Posted by bearchaser303
On a similar note, I had requested a miles+money upgrade on another flight and it wasn't confirmed (Polaris seemed to be fully booked with paying pax). How long should it take for the miles/money refund?
Should be a week or so,

Probably time to give MileagePlus Service Center a call
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Old Oct 23, 2023, 5:42 pm
  #85  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 37
Got another question. United really doesn't make this easy.
I found a page where I could request a refund. So I submitted the refund request on the preferred seat ($54). The refund was issued as a travel credit. Is that what was supposed to happen? And is that what will happen if I request it on the miles+money Polaris upgrade that was never confirmed? Is it possible to refund the travel credit to my credit card?
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Old Oct 25, 2023, 11:31 am
  #86  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
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Not sure this is best thread to post this on so mods feel free to move. Good story, bought daughter (little to no current status) using miles a ticket to KOA (from SFO) at Thanksgiving and purchased and upgraded E+ seat both directions. Later I bought an F upgrade and the return (a redeye) for $600. I was pleasantly surprised UA refunded my initial upgrade of $80 for the E+ ticket. I just initially assumed the $600 F offer was taking that into account as well. So the upgrade basically was $520 from the E+ seat. Not great but not bad.
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Old Oct 25, 2023, 11:46 am
  #87  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Originally Posted by nomad420
.... I was pleasantly surprised UA refunded my initial upgrade of $80 for the E+ ticket.....
If this was done prior to the trip (without a specific request), that would be the real surprize.

The refund has been standard but usually not until after the flight was taken.
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Old Oct 25, 2023, 12:02 pm
  #88  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
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Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
If this was done prior to the trip (without a specific request), that would be the real surprize.

The refund has been standard but usually not until after the flight was taken.
Yes within 24 hrs of the upgrade purchase. Surprised me as well.
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Old Oct 25, 2023, 1:32 pm
  #89  
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: NJ
Programs: UA Silver, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 514
Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
If this was done prior to the trip (without a specific request), that would be the real surprize.

The refund has been standard but usually not until after the flight was taken.
Similar experience here, had paid $50 for a preferred seat back in September for a December flight. On Monday I saw a reasonable buy-up to premium plus and took it. Within minutes I received an email saying I was getting my $50 refunded. It hasn't hit my card yet, but at least I have the email.

Edit: refund showed up in my card about 3 days later.
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Last edited by Warriorconcept; Oct 26, 2023 at 10:47 am
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Old Nov 2, 2023, 9:20 pm
  #90  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 37
United Refund Dept.

Does anyone know if it is possible to get in touch with United's refund department without having to go through reservations? If not, is it possible to get a US based reservations agent?
The offshore agent that I spoke to last week tried to process my refund for a preferred seat, but she submitted the e-ticket number instead, and the refund was denied (obviously since the ticket was flown). I'm losing patience and want to speak to someone who knows what they are doing.
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