av8tr22

I'm not Premier or anything...recently switched from Delta to United. Had a mileage run booked out of Orlando that I got for next to nothing, and upgraded all segments with the "miles+copay" option. Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of my control, I have to cancel. Fortunately, all upgrades had cleared...which was now an unfortunate, or so I thought. I was expecting to have to pay a re-deposit fee. Now, I had done some research on getting refunds on co-pay upgrades that had already cleared. The experiences were mixed, but most said you have to pay the re-deposit fee for the miles and you lose the co-pay amount.

First call, was routed to call center in India. Agent went over rules of cancelling a ticket, blah blah blah. Then I asked about getting my upgrades refunded or applied to another flight. She said she would check with a supervisor. Came back on and said I would have to pay re-deposit. I then asked about "transferring to another trip", and she said that was a no. I said thank you for your time and hung up.

Second call, was routed to a call center in the US and spoke with perhaps the most professional and pleasant agent ever! After greeting her and asking how her day has been, I explained I wanted to cancel, and also that I had upgraded all segments with miles/co-pay. She explained that she could just refund the miles and copay with NO PENALTIES or RE-DEPOSIT FEES! I'm so happy right now! I have another trip in a few weeks with R space available, so I plan to utilize my returned upgrades for that.

Moral of the story and like everyone says, call back if you're not happy with the answer you've been given. Go out of your way to be nice to the person you're dealing with and always be polite and courteous. Sometimes that is all someone needs to make their day.

P.S I don't post often on here, but enjoy all the insight and information everyone provides! Thanks!

villox

I must admit I can't find a definitive answer on this. Online it says:

"If you cancel your MileagePlus Upgrade Award miles and co-pay may be refunded for the applicable redeposit fee."

It's that if you cancel a Mileage Plus Upgrade award that there is a redeposit fee associated with it (you DEFINITELY don't forfeit the co-pay), but there is no clear answer to what happens if you cancel the actual flight and not just the award.

For Star Alliance upgrade awards, you get them back if the flight is canceled.

Seems like it would be pretty damn expensive if you had to pay BOTH a cancellation/change fee for a ticket AND pay to redeposit the miles, both of which are now $200!

av8tr22

You're telling me! That is why I have been dreading cancelling this trip. It seems to me, depending on the agent, everyone makes up their own rule. The woman I spoke with definitely seemed to know the rules, which is why I was so surprised. As of now, the miles have already been re-deposited into my account.

keisari

Can you clarify for me:

Are you doing a MR for miles or for status?
If it is for miles then you are spending all of them in upgrades
If it is for status, then adding copays for upgrades is hardly a MR "paying next to nothing"

By the way, your analysis is right on the money.
Be nice, call and call again and have patience with no attitude/sense of entitlement.
I agree with you; there are some excellent phone CSR with United and sometime you get that terrible person that makes you want to forget United for ever.

av8tr22

MR for status. Well, I wasn't originally going to upgrade, but because it was going to be an 18 hour travel day, I figured it would be worth it. Technically, when you book a "daytrip", all segments are upgraded for what would normally be considered a one-way upgrade on a multi-day trip. In this case, the upgrade was 20,000 miles and $75. Not a bad deal (IMO) for spending 18 hours in airports and on airplanes. 5.3CPM for this trip with the upgrade.

In The 216

I was wondering the same thing. Why mileage run if you're just spending the miles on the run? Just curious. No judgment. Well, maybe a little, but all in good fun.

iflyuaaa

Wouldn't an Rpu be a better use? 20k miles spent to earn useless status seems awfully steep!

villox

If he had RPUs, that would mean he was Platinum or above, which means he wouldn't have had to worry about redeposit fees in the first place. I'm guessing based on profile he's a general member trying to get to some status.

av8tr22

^ You are correct. I am close to Silver. Hopefully I can find another run towards the end of the year, but maybe not 18 hours! Silver may be useless to most, but if I'm close why not go for it?

MSPeconomist

The payment is redeemable miles while the purpose is status miles.

The $75 is a bargain, given that the OP will consume FC F&B for a long day.

CLEHillbilly

I saw this post today and just now I also had a great experience. I was booking a 8 segment Intl Award and she put me on hold after getting my flight numbers/dates. An hour and 10 minutes later I was abruptly disconnected from their side. I waited 5 minutes and no call back to me, so I called back. The person on the other side didn't even try to locate the agent working on my flights, she started from scratch and 3/4 through my itin she says "no more Biz Class on a flight", I tell her it was there 60 minutes ago and decide to call back, saying thank you. I check ANA www and the flight is now not available....sitting there in disbelief but thinking the other agent snagged the seat I get an unknown incoming call from Wisconsin, its the UA AGENT and she has successfully booked my First class sampling of Asian airlines trip! Sweet! Kudos to her!!!!!

BTW, they need to get rid of that old pmUA Theme song tape that plays while your on hold, it sounds like an 8Track recorded in 1990, or 1970 even.