Hello experts,

I had to cancel a ticket and got a FFC. Now I rebooked it yesterday but had to pay a difference for the new ticket. Unfortunately, due to medical reasons need to cancel it again... AS it is in the 24 hours window still can I cancel it and have the difference in fare returned to my credit card and original value of FFC? Do not know how it works. Many many thanks for your advice!

If you rebooked it by starting from the original credit, then probably not -- that's treated as a flight change, which does not have a 24-hour grace period.

If you rebooked it by starting from the search results and then applying FFC at the last step, then probably yes, but I don't know whether or not United would handle that situation properly (that path is new functionality, recently introduced).

While that feels right, not sure UA how will see it.

Last year UA added
Suggesting they see the use of credits as a disqualifier.

However, I and others have been successful recently with tickets purchased with ETC "refunded to original form of purchase", so another 24-hour refund restriction posted but not enforced? (Such as the "one week" / 7 day rule)

If it's a new booking, there's nothing in the DOT regulation that would allow UA to refuse a refund based upon the form of payment. (The seven day advance purchase requirement that UA has written, but not enforced, is specifically allowed by the DOT).

That's not to say that UA wouldn't try to argue the point.

Agree (to both)

Wonder if it is poor wording and UA means the credit will not be "refunded" except as a credit???
It was an odd change and has not changed the practice refunded to the original method of purchase.

I bought a ticket yesterday and decided to price the same itinerary out again today. I noticed that the fare went down by $500 per person. So, I canceled the ticket and the website said that I am within the 24-hour window. After purchasing the new tickets at the cheaper price, I decided to take a look at the timestamp of my emails. It turns out that I canceled the ticket 14 minutes after the 24-hour window. I guess the grace period does exist! Phew!

I understood that it meant it would credited as a credit; however, I just cancelled a ticket online (part ETC and part Credit Card) but do not see the ETC back on my account yet. Does anyone know how long does this process take or do I need to contacted United - or was I entirely wrong and I actually lose the funds?

It can take a week+.

Is the 24-hour cancellation period from the moment the ticket is booked or from when it is ticketed? I have a ticket processing/pending for almost 24-hours. I received the record locator PNR but it has not been ticketed yet or credit card charged, and it seems there is a delay in confirming the partner flights.

From the wiki and United (https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...-policy.html):

Give UA a call.

David

interesting. I always thought it was within 24 hours of ‘purchase’ - but you are correct, it definitely says ‘book and ticket’. I always thought it was from when you clicked the ‘purchase now’ button. Maybe it changed at some point. Interesting though since when you book and when it tickets can be pretty much simultaneous, but it isn’t always, as in the case when ticketing is delayed.

As I was reading the terms, also noted this doozy bullet point, which I never realized before:

Does this mean ETCs, and is this actually legal? Since ETCs are a form of payment, shouldn’t anything purchased using these follow the DOT rules, which require a refund to original form of payment within 24 hours as long as it’s booked at least a week out? Also asking since I still have an $800+ ETC from the early days of COVID, and may think twice about when to use it if tickets with it don’t follow the policy.

Apologies in advance if this has been asked before but I looked at the Wiki and searched the thread and couldn't find an answer.

I'm 1K, have pluspoints but am saving them for a trip to PPT.

I'm thinking of booking a domestic flight that departs in 28 hours. Can I book economy and see if I get upgraded immediately? I'll cancel and BFGF if I don't get the immediate upgrade or even choose a different itinerary.

Also related, what is the United policy for cancellations and subsequent refund when paying money for a flight that departs in less than 24 hours from the time of booking?

I re-read and found this on United site:

"United's 24-hour flexible booking policy gives you the freedom to make changes to select reservations within 24 hours of booking and ticketing, without being charged change fees if you made your purchase one week or more before the flight was scheduled to depart."

So a flight that departs within a week would not be eligible for the 24 hours cancellation policy.

What is the actual policy does a flight that departs within a week (is there a specific flyertalk term?) fall under?

Thanks guys. Was/am a little rushed trying to book this last-minute trip.

That wording has been there for the past 5 years and since then multiple folks have posted they have canceled and refunded tickets booked on same day of travel with no issue. Aware of only 1 poster (in 5 years) to have an issue and there were other complicating factors that were likely the real cause. So scan back in this thread to hear actual experiences.

As for immediate upgrade, looking for PZ space should giving you an idea of that.
If it is CPU you are hoping for, immediate upgrade is unlikely

What is P, PN and PZ for the flight.

What does the upgrade list look like?

I concur, although with the description there, they could always start enforcing it at anytime. I don’t recall seeing any reports for a whole, either way, honestly.

That said, with no change fees now, definitely seems like there’s less risk now, unless it’s someone who travels vary rarely. As one can just cancel the segments, and have the FFC to use for a later flight.

Flight cancelled in 24hr not refunded
 

Hi, I need some advice for how and who to contact for my reservation cancellation problem.
I purchased a flight on 3/8 with ~$100 credit card and ~$300 future flight credit, then quickly realized I purchased wrong ticket (date) and cancelled my ticket within 1 hr of booking, well within the 24hr worry free booking limit. But I have neither received a cancellation confirmation email nor a refund/FFC as of 3/14 today. I called customer service multiple times. First agent accused me of cancelling too quickly so that my reservation was not actually cancelled (but I can't see it in "my trips" either). Second agent told me cancellation is shown to be successful from her side and $100 will go back to CC and $300 will go to a new FFC. That call got hang in the middle so I had to start a fresh call. The third agent said $100 back to CC and $300 to eCert. Well I don't have a preference over FFC or eCert so I didn't complain. I still don't see them today so I called again and now the fourth agent said my cancellation was denied. I also used the refund web form on UA website, but got no reply. I am complaining to DOT now that > 5 days has passed and still no one can solve my problem. Does anyone know other avenues I could get help for this issue?