Last edit by: WineCountryUA
FFC == "Future Flight Credit"
When re-booking 3-March 2020 purchased tickets, if the new ticket is cheaper you will receive an ETC (good for 24 months); starting April 2021, this is now a new form of FFC
However for tickets purchased 3 March or later, the fare rules now state there is no "residual value" meaning no ETC for the fare drop and if you have to rebook again the credit is just the value of the new ticket.
For pre-1 April 2020 purchased, FFCs will be good for 24 months from the original purchase date
And there are no change fees
Change Fees Are Gone For Good
For purchases starting 1-April, the lifetime of FFCs are returning to the traditional 12 months from purchase
In some cases of voluntary cancellations, FFCs may be convertible to ETCs (seems pre 1 August 2020 purchase is a factor) but this can only be requested on the phone and may take days/weeks. This may be a way to avoid the problem of "no residual credit" YMMV
Update 4 April 2020
The below needs to be updated based on the changes above
This wiki discusses the for steps in using the "future flight credit" from a canceled non-refundable ticket. Note this is for the cancellation of an entire ticket -- the process is different for a partial flown ticket
- Note some tickets are non-changeable and have no residual value if not flown:
United's Basic Economy - Discussion, Q&A, ...
New UA/*A TATL -LGT Economy fare - first bag charged, no changes allowed
- Notify UA of the cancellation before the scheduled departure. An absolute must, if not done the entire value will be lost. But see note below about Travel Waivers
- Wait until you are ready to reschedule. When ready you will need to pay a change fee in new money - the fee varies and will depend on the fare rules of the original fare. Note in many cases there is no longer a change fee (BE and flights origining outside the USA may still have a fee)
- If an ETC is issued, all of the funds in it must be used withinone twos year of issuance.
To get maximum ETC (or new type FFC), an option is to pay the change fee (if any) and book the cheapest possible OW fare and throw that ticket away -- how to find that cheap fare, see Cheapest possible flight (How do I redeem this flight credit?)
If the reason for the change / cancellation is due to medical issues or death of a close relative, see Consolidated "Refunds/Cancellations Due to Illness/Death" Thread [Merged] for the process to get a refund of the change / redeposit fee.
Other cases for "free" changes are:
1) if the flight is covered on the day of departure by a waiver (WX related or other reasons). Note there may be a limited time frame for the change fee waiver.
2) or by an airline's change in schedule
What if it is 1 year from the original ticket purchase date and I am not ready to buy another United ticket using my canceled ticket's funds? Buy a throwaway ticket on the cheapest fare you can find. United will issue an Electronic Travel Certificate for any unused funds. That ETC is valid for one year from issuance (see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/1369495-ua-electronic-travel-certificates-etc-general-q-new-combinability-policy-34.html). If you do this on the expiry date of your original ticket, you effectively extend the availability of the funds for an additional year at the cost of a throwaway ticket.
What if I purchase a refundable ticket with the credit from the non-refundable ticket, can I then cancel and get a refund? No, the funds from a non-refundable purchase remain non-refundable even if used to purchase a refundable fare.
Cannot find the canceled reservation online?
Go to Manage Reservations and look in both "Current" and "Cancelled" tabs
Find the appropriate reservation and look for "Use Future Flight Credit"
After rebooking a canceled ticket, is there a new 24-hour window for fee changes?
No, the 24-hour flexible change only applies to the original /new booking and does not extend to rebooking of canceled / changed tickets.
United’s 24-hour cancellation / flexible booking policy
What if one leg is a refundable fare and another leg is non-refundable?
For a single ticket, the most restrictive fare rule applies to the entire ticket. So a refundable segment paired with a non-refundable segment makes the entire ticket non-refundable. Same with the change fee, the segment with the highest change fee applies to the entire ticket.
Archive thread: How to get residual/"future flight credit" from non-refundable flight {Archive}
Other related threads
Changing/Canceling/Replacing a ticket costing less than the change fee?
When re-booking 3-March 2020 purchased tickets, if the new ticket is cheaper you will receive an ETC (good for 24 months); starting April 2021, this is now a new form of FFC
If the new flight is priced higher, the customer may change for no change fee but must pay the fare difference. If the new flight is priced lower, the customer may change without paying a change fee but no residual value will be given.
- New tickets must be reissued within 24 months from original ticket date
- Rebooked travel must commence within 24 months from the original ticket issue date
Change Fees Are Gone For Good
For purchases starting 1-April, the lifetime of FFCs are returning to the traditional 12 months from purchase
In some cases of voluntary cancellations, FFCs may be convertible to ETCs (seems pre 1 August 2020 purchase is a factor) but this can only be requested on the phone and may take days/weeks. This may be a way to avoid the problem of "no residual credit" YMMV
Update 4 April 2020
We’re extending electronic certificates
To give you more flexibility when you travel, electronic certificates are now valid for 24 months from the date they were issued. This includes all currently valid electronic certificates and all new ones issued on or after April 1, 2020.
This policy change will automatically appear, but it may not be reflected everywhere right away. We’d appreciate your patience as we work to make that happen.
To give you more flexibility when you travel, electronic certificates are now valid for 24 months from the date they were issued. This includes all currently valid electronic certificates and all new ones issued on or after April 1, 2020.
This policy change will automatically appear, but it may not be reflected everywhere right away. We’d appreciate your patience as we work to make that happen.
This wiki discusses the for steps in using the "future flight credit" from a canceled non-refundable ticket. Note this is for the cancellation of an entire ticket -- the process is different for a partial flown ticket
- Note some tickets are non-changeable and have no residual value if not flown:
United's Basic Economy - Discussion, Q&A, ...
New UA/*A TATL -LGT Economy fare - first bag charged, no changes allowed
- Notify UA of the cancellation before the scheduled departure. An absolute must, if not done the entire value will be lost. But see note below about Travel Waivers
- Wait until you are ready to reschedule. When ready you will need to pay a change fee in new money - the fee varies and will depend on the fare rules of the original fare. Note in many cases there is no longer a change fee (BE and flights origining outside the USA may still have a fee)
- The new ticket must be purchased within 1 years of the original ticket's purchase date (pre-April 2020 purchases receive 2 year FFC)
- The new ticket will be good for 1 year from the exchange/re-scheduled date and travel must commence prior to the expiration of the original ticket
(an exception is if the new travel is just a date change, in this case, a new ticket may not be issued and initial purchase date will still prevail) - The new ticket must be for the same named traveler
- The portion of a ticket purchased with nonrefundable ticket credit will be nonrefundable regardless of the new ticket's fare rules
- The change fee requires payments of new funds and cannot be funded from the original ticket's value
- Any fare residual will issued as an ETC valid for
onetwo year.
- If an ETC is issued, all of the funds in it must be used within
- The ETC can be used by anyone.
- The
onetwo-year limitation only limits purchasing, not travel - travel may be outside the12-year limit. - There are no additional fees to use the ETC
- The credit voucher can only be used for UA/UX operated flights (workaround - UA Electronic Travel Certificate & Codeshares/partner flights)
To get maximum ETC (or new type FFC), an option is to pay the change fee (if any) and book the cheapest possible OW fare and throw that ticket away -- how to find that cheap fare, see Cheapest possible flight (How do I redeem this flight credit?)
If the reason for the change / cancellation is due to medical issues or death of a close relative, see Consolidated "Refunds/Cancellations Due to Illness/Death" Thread [Merged] for the process to get a refund of the change / redeposit fee.
Other cases for "free" changes are:
1) if the flight is covered on the day of departure by a waiver (WX related or other reasons). Note there may be a limited time frame for the change fee waiver.
2) or by an airline's change in schedule
What if it is 1 year from the original ticket purchase date and I am not ready to buy another United ticket using my canceled ticket's funds? Buy a throwaway ticket on the cheapest fare you can find. United will issue an Electronic Travel Certificate for any unused funds. That ETC is valid for one year from issuance (see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-airlines-mileageplus/1369495-ua-electronic-travel-certificates-etc-general-q-new-combinability-policy-34.html). If you do this on the expiry date of your original ticket, you effectively extend the availability of the funds for an additional year at the cost of a throwaway ticket.
What if I purchase a refundable ticket with the credit from the non-refundable ticket, can I then cancel and get a refund? No, the funds from a non-refundable purchase remain non-refundable even if used to purchase a refundable fare.
Cannot find the canceled reservation online?
Go to Manage Reservations and look in both "Current" and "Cancelled" tabs
Find the appropriate reservation and look for "Use Future Flight Credit"
After rebooking a canceled ticket, is there a new 24-hour window for fee changes?
No, the 24-hour flexible change only applies to the original /new booking and does not extend to rebooking of canceled / changed tickets.
United’s 24-hour cancellation / flexible booking policy
What if one leg is a refundable fare and another leg is non-refundable?
For a single ticket, the most restrictive fare rule applies to the entire ticket. So a refundable segment paired with a non-refundable segment makes the entire ticket non-refundable. Same with the change fee, the segment with the highest change fee applies to the entire ticket.
Archive thread: How to get residual/"future flight credit" from non-refundable flight {Archive}
Other related threads
Changing/Canceling/Replacing a ticket costing less than the change fee?
How to get residual/"future flight credit" from non-refundable flight
#196
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,850
You may want to double check that. My understanding was that the flight needs to occur within one year after you purchased your ticket. I'm not saying I know for sure I'm right, but that was my understanding (and also when I asked the CS agent, that is also what she said to me).
#197
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: SFO
Programs: COdbaUA Platinum 2MM
Posts: 5,532
You may want to double check that. My understanding was that the flight needs to occur within one year after you purchased your ticket. I'm not saying I know for sure I'm right, but that was my understanding (and also when I asked the CS agent, that is also what she said to me).
#198
Join Date: Mar 2020
Posts: 1
booked flight but I dont see travel credit being used
So i had a travel credit ($430) from canceling a flight (was a non-refundable flight). Obviously I have to pay a fee ($200) when I re-book a new flight later in order to get the travel credit. So here I am just booked a flight for $800. Its still in the 24 hour window to cancel. However I have nothing in an email that indicates I am getting $430 credit (less the $200 fee I payed). The eticket states that I have 1 Purchase Summary for a total of $800. Then an additional purchase summary for a Change fee of $200. Then there is an "Add Collect" part that states: "An additional amount of 390.00 USD for the difference in fare was charged to...". Has anyone ran into this before and is this usual? At present I have several pending charges on my card $800 and $200 and $390.
#199
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,460
So i had a travel credit ($430) from canceling a flight (was a non-refundable flight). Obviously I have to pay a fee ($200) when I re-book a new flight later in order to get the travel credit. So here I am just booked a flight for $800. Its still in the 24 hour window to cancel. However I have nothing in an email that indicates I am getting $430 credit (less the $200 fee I payed). The eticket states that I have 1 Purchase Summary for a total of $800. Then an additional purchase summary for a Change fee of $200. Then there is an "Add Collect" part that states: "An additional amount of 390.00 USD for the difference in fare was charged to...". Has anyone ran into this before and is this usual? At present I have several pending charges on my card $800 and $200 and $390.
Welcome to flyertalk, by the way!
#200
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: EWR
Programs: United 1 Million Miler Platinum, Marriott Gold
Posts: 4
UA Cancel Policy re COVID-19
Just cancelled flight - EWR-LIS for 3/14/20-3/25/20 Polaris class. Platinum status, still took 1 1/2 hours to get to anyone on the phone!! Originally booked 8/14/2019. Was advised by the agent that I could cancel, and as long as I use that same Booking Code by 8/13/20, can book a flight (2 Pax) and get full credit against the fare. She cancelled for me and put a note in the record about no rebooking fee due to the travel waiver in effect due to COVID-19. If the new trip costs less, ETC's will be issued for the difference in fare, which will have a one year usage date from the date of issuance. I presume any new flights would have a one year expiration as well. Anyone care to comment on my understanding of all this?
#201
Join Date: Mar 2020
Posts: 1
United Credit Restrictions
I'm canceling a United Flight today but need to know if the credit I receive to use on a future flight has to be the same departure/arrival airports? Conference was canceled so I'm not going to be flying to the same city. Can't seem to get a direct answer online and have been holding forever. Can any one offer insight on how the credit will work.
#202
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: HNL
Programs: UA GS4MM, MR LT Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,447
The credit can be used for however you see fit - new dates, new cities, different class of fare, etc - United credits are very flexible.
#203
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: sfo,lax
Programs: United 2 million, American 1 Million, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14
Canceled ticket - must fly within 12 months of ticketing ?
Does anyone have experience/knowledge on enforcement of the rule that rebooked cancelled travel must be completed withing 12 month of the original date of a cancelled ticket ?
I purchased a couple of tickets last September for travel in March that I need to cancel.
I would like United to hold the credit and then book something later this year for travel after the 12 month period.
Does that seem feasible or do they rigidly enforce the 12 month rule ?
I purchased a couple of tickets last September for travel in March that I need to cancel.
I would like United to hold the credit and then book something later this year for travel after the 12 month period.
Does that seem feasible or do they rigidly enforce the 12 month rule ?
#204
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
I think it is enforced.
#206
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: EWR
Programs: United 1 Million Miler Platinum, Marriott Gold
Posts: 4
UA Cancel/rebooking policy
Does anyone have experience/knowledge on enforcement of the rule that rebooked cancelled travel must be completed withing 12 month of the original date of a cancelled ticket ?
I purchased a couple of tickets last September for travel in March that I need to cancel.
I would like United to hold the credit and then book something later this year for travel after the 12 month period.
Does that seem feasible or do they rigidly enforce the 12 month rule ?
I purchased a couple of tickets last September for travel in March that I need to cancel.
I would like United to hold the credit and then book something later this year for travel after the 12 month period.
Does that seem feasible or do they rigidly enforce the 12 month rule ?
#207
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 55
I have been on hold for over an hour....
If I purchased tickets on September 7, 2019 for flights March 20-30, 2020 and I want to cancel them per their COVID-19 policy, do I need to have my re-booked travel start before September 7th 2020 per this statement on their website:
"Rebooked travel must commence within 12 months from the original ticket issue date"
If that is the case, do you think a customer service agent would be able to extend it by any chance? I cannot travel before that time and I spent so much money on these tickets. What other options might I have? Thanks.
If I purchased tickets on September 7, 2019 for flights March 20-30, 2020 and I want to cancel them per their COVID-19 policy, do I need to have my re-booked travel start before September 7th 2020 per this statement on their website:
"Rebooked travel must commence within 12 months from the original ticket issue date"
If that is the case, do you think a customer service agent would be able to extend it by any chance? I cannot travel before that time and I spent so much money on these tickets. What other options might I have? Thanks.
#208
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1MM 1K, BA Gold
Posts: 430
I have been on hold for over an hour....
If I purchased tickets on September 7, 2019 for flights March 20-30, 2020 and I want to cancel them per their COVID-19 policy, do I need to have my re-booked travel start before September 7th 2020 per this statement on their website:
"Rebooked travel must commence within 12 months from the original ticket issue date"
If that is the case, do you think a customer service agent would be able to extend it by any chance? I cannot travel before that time and I spent so much money on these tickets. What other options might I have? Thanks.
If I purchased tickets on September 7, 2019 for flights March 20-30, 2020 and I want to cancel them per their COVID-19 policy, do I need to have my re-booked travel start before September 7th 2020 per this statement on their website:
"Rebooked travel must commence within 12 months from the original ticket issue date"
If that is the case, do you think a customer service agent would be able to extend it by any chance? I cannot travel before that time and I spent so much money on these tickets. What other options might I have? Thanks.
#209
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Honolulu, Hawaiʻi [+MKK4 EBBER R577 EDSEL R577 ELKEY EXERT]
Posts: 15,826
My understanding is this: You MUST rebook with that booking code (from your "Cancelled Flights" tab), changing destination and dates, flying within the initial 12 month window from original booking. If the flight you take costs less than the original booking, United will issue an Electronic Travel Certificate (ETC) for the difference, which will then be valid for 12 months from the date the ETC is issued. Take a cheap flight for a weekend before Sept 2020 (maybe subject to the rebooking fee unless a waiver was in effect when you cancelled), and then you have another year to use the credit. I'm in the same boat...
#210
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 55
I don't know if they are willing to extend the deadline, but if you purchased a regular non-basic economy ticket, you can always change to a cheap domestic one-way (that you might or might not fly) and get certificates for the rest of the amount. Those expire a year after they were issued (i.e. when you make the change) and and can be used to buy tickets with dates after expiration. So if you get a certificate today, you can get almost 2 years from now to fly.
I was also thinking, could I buy a fully refundable ticket and then re-book at a later date?
BTW, I finally did get through and they told me that based on the date that my ticket was issued, that they would let me book it through the issue date but that I could travel any time towards the end of the released schedule. If I had purchased the ticket later, in October, then I would have had to start my travel by the year after the booking date. They said there was a change in policy. No one could give me any written guarantee of that....so I guess I will find out when I try to book.