strange refund email from UA
Jul 21, 2013, 8:01 am
#1
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strange refund email from UA
this morning i awoke to a very strange refund confirmation email from UA, which was referencing an intact international award booking. i have never made a request for a refund on this booking, last weekend i did make a flight change on two of the return segments after a stopover, switching from US to UA metal.
Refund request number: 1574xxxx
United Airlines ticket number: 0162XXXXXXXXX
Passenger name: XXXXX,XXXXXX
Ticket issue date: 7/14/2013
Original ticket value: 81.70
Refund value: 1
Fee or penalty: 0
Form of payment for refund: No Residual Due
Do I need to be concerned? I verified the booking is still intact on partner airline webpages (NH and NZ).
Refund request number: 1574xxxx
United Airlines ticket number: 0162XXXXXXXXX
Passenger name: XXXXX,XXXXXX
Ticket issue date: 7/14/2013
Original ticket value: 81.70
Refund value: 1
Fee or penalty: 0
Form of payment for refund: No Residual Due
Do I need to be concerned? I verified the booking is still intact on partner airline webpages (NH and NZ).
Last edited by PV_Premier; Jul 21, 2013 at 8:43 am
Jul 21, 2013, 8:10 am
#3
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: SOF
Programs: A3 Gold, IHG Platinum, Marriott Silver
Posts: 849
Based on the date, 7/14, this was last Sunday, so it coincides with the changes you made last weekend. I've done changes to an itinerary resulting in lower taxes and thus, requiring a refund but I don't recall receiving that type of e-mail. I did notice the refund on my credit card though. Maybe United has changed the way they do this - and now send a confirmation by e-mail as well? If you're not sure what this means and your booking appears to be OK, I would call United and ask. They should have mentioned if a refund was due to you last week when you made the change. If the amount is what you were told, that would explain the e-mail. If not, call them to find out. With the info in that e-mail, they should be able to figure out what happened.
Jul 21, 2013, 8:47 am
#4
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No refund or add-collect was mentioned as due when I adjusted the booking, even for taxes and fees. I switched from US metal connecting in PHX onto UA metal connecting in SFO, originating in Hawaii, so IIRC the taxes should be the same. I also find it interesting that the "refund value" is "1" with no decimals, etc., and the form of refund indicates "no residual due". I'll call later today if I have time, right now everything *seems* to be in order based on outside appearances, so I am not too concerned, just wondering if anyone else has seen this type of email after an award flight change in routing/carrier.
Jul 21, 2013, 1:13 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Houston, TX, USA
Programs: UA 1K, AA Lifetime Platinum, DL Platinum, Honors Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium, Hertz Platinum
Posts: 7,970
You don't say what your full itinerary is, but since it involves travel on NH and NZ, I assume that it may involve travel to/from Japan and/or New Zealand. The various taxes and fees charged for travel involving those destinations are priced in Yen and New Zealand Dollars. When you changed the connecting city from SFO to PHX, you almost certainly triggered a ticket re-issue and re-price of the entire itinerary. Even if the prices of all the taxes and fees remain unchanged in their base currencies, the prices in USD of all of those will have changed, unless the currency exchange rates are identical to what they were when you originally ticketed (unlikely).
Jul 21, 2013, 3:07 pm
#6
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: WAS
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Nexus, GE
Posts: 2,123
That would be consistent with your original post. Looks like you got $1 back.
Jul 21, 2013, 5:57 pm
#7
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Calif./Eastern Ida.
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You don't say what your full itinerary is, but since it involves travel on NH and NZ, I assume that it may involve travel to/from Japan and/or New Zealand. The various taxes and fees charged for travel involving those destinations are priced in Yen and New Zealand Dollars. When you changed the connecting city from SFO to PHX, you almost certainly triggered a ticket re-issue and re-price of the entire itinerary. Even if the prices of all the taxes and fees remain unchanged in their base currencies, the prices in USD of all of those will have changed, unless the currency exchange rates are identical to what they were when you originally ticketed (unlikely).
