hookthem

I frequently pay change fees to a Y/B/M fare. Perhaps I am a sucker here

denuaflier

Hi,

I am looking to purchase a roundtrip where outbound does not have P/Z fare available. I am confident it will open up based on availability of the seats. So I have two questions:
1. Can I purchase W outbound and return P on one ticket?
2. When P/Z opens up, will UA let me purchase form W without any change fees (there will be fare difference of course) for outbound?

Thanks.

mduell

1) Generally yes, check both fare rules for combinability.

2) No, you'd pay the change fee plus fare difference.

denuaflier

Thanks. I will wait it out in that case.

nookanaya

1. You can do this, I did something similar in August. You might have to call in to request specific fare classes. From the website you can do a multi-destination search and select economy for the outbound and business for the return. But if economy is available in something less than W that's what it will give you for the outbound. There's no way to force the website to show you economy/W on one leg and business/P on another.

2. Most agents are going to want to charge you the change fee, but you might get lucky and find one who won't.

cfischer

2) There is no change fee when you up-fare. UA waives this when you go from Y to C or C to F but usually not within a cabin (e.g. W --> B won't work).

This can generally be done online, but you can also call (done both in the past was never charged a change fee).

mahasamatman

This used to be the case, but as far as I know, United removed free up-fares three or four years ago, around the same time they eliminated the guaranteed airfare clause.

cfischer

I have done this ~ 6 months ago. No issue.

mahasamatman

United. Consistently inconsistent.

Kacee

UA will absolutely charge a change fee to upfare to P/Z. I have been charged every time. While I suppose you might find an agent who will waive it, I would definitely not count on that.

sbm12

In general if you are moving to a higher cabin of service they will waive the change fee. This used to be a published benefit and I think it still is, but I'm not certain as I haven't done it in years. The internal reference is GG BUYUP for this one. I'd suggest asking an agent to look it up if you're charged.

Obviously the fare difference still applies.

cfischer

have you tried online? Go into your reservation and hit the 'upgrade' button and select the $$$ value over miles/certs? This has always given me the P/Z/A whatever fare with a note 'change fee waived'. There may not be an official rule for this anymore (note: GG BUYUP as per post 10 may in fact still be valid), but it has worked for me before also over the phone.
I'd like to hear where people were charged a change fee online when up-faring to a higher COS; maybe this is a 1K perk

denuaflier

That's useful. I will ask before buying to see if it is still valid. Thanks.

keisari

Sbm12;
Can you share a list of all the GGs?
They are very useful.

Sykes

It's still valid. fwiw, travel agents are also allowed to waive the change fee in the event of a buy-up ... documented in the "same flight cabin buy ups" section here in case anyone wants an official-ish reference to the policy:

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...cketguide.aspx

One thing that is less clear is what ticketing date applies in the event of a buy-up. For example, if you up-fare the first segment of an international trip one day before departure, the standard fare rules state that it would be as if you were purchasing the ticket outright on the day of the change for the purposes of advance purchase requirements. I believe that United uses the original ticketing date for buy-ups, but if it doesn't the fare difference could be far more substantial than one might expect.