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
#361
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,040
#363
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: DCA
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Titanium, United Silver
Posts: 575
Flight credit if drop in fare value?
If you rebook to a cheaper flight, do you retain the difference as a flight credit? I know that you don't get "cash" back but am trying to understand if you retain any flight credit WN-style.
#364
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: CLE, DCA, and 30k feet
Programs: Honors LT Diamond; United 1K; Hertz PC
Posts: 4,162
Not in a straight rebook situation with a restricted fare (the most common type)... per the fare rules any residual is forfeited. There may be clever workarounds (I'm not up to speed on all of them anymore) but if you just change the ticket to one that is cheaper there is no credit of any kind for the excess value.
#365
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,405
Not in a straight rebook situation with a restricted fare (the most common type)... per the fare rules any residual is forfeited. There may be clever workarounds (I'm not up to speed on all of them anymore) but if you just change the ticket to one that is cheaper there is no credit of any kind for the excess value.
Possible workarounds include attempting to convert the flight credit to an ETC prior to purchasing the lower fare, but (a) UA may refuse to convert the ticket, and (b) it seems to take a while for the new ETC to be issued. This also requires that your new flights be UA-only, and it precludes any chance of getting a refund to the original form of payment if there is a schedule change or cancellation. The other workaround, for people who fly frequently enough on UA to make this practical, is to book the cheaper flight as a new ticket and then cancel the old one. That will allow you to benefit entirely from the cheaper fare… provided that you then use your original ticket to purchase a new flight for the same passenger, more expensive than your current fare, within the ticket validity (one year from the date of ticket issuance).
#366
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, CM Plat, Amex Plat, Hertz CP, Hyatt Globalist, SPG Gold, Vons Club
Posts: 6,852
Right, it entirely depends upon the fare rules. For non-refundable fares, on tickets issued since March 2, in general, the rules call for residual value to be ignored. For anything issued prior to March 2, you'd need to check the fare rules.
Possible workarounds include attempting to convert the flight credit to an ETC prior to purchasing the lower fare, but (a) UA may refuse to convert the ticket, and (b) it seems to take a while for the new ETC to be issued. This also requires that your new flights be UA-only, and it precludes any chance of getting a refund to the original form of payment if there is a schedule change or cancellation. The other workaround, for people who fly frequently enough on UA to make this practical, is to book the cheaper flight as a new ticket and then cancel the old one. That will allow you to benefit entirely from the cheaper fare… provided that you then use your original ticket to purchase a new flight for the same passenger, more expensive than your current fare, within the ticket validity (one year from the date of ticket issuance).
Possible workarounds include attempting to convert the flight credit to an ETC prior to purchasing the lower fare, but (a) UA may refuse to convert the ticket, and (b) it seems to take a while for the new ETC to be issued. This also requires that your new flights be UA-only, and it precludes any chance of getting a refund to the original form of payment if there is a schedule change or cancellation. The other workaround, for people who fly frequently enough on UA to make this practical, is to book the cheaper flight as a new ticket and then cancel the old one. That will allow you to benefit entirely from the cheaper fare… provided that you then use your original ticket to purchase a new flight for the same passenger, more expensive than your current fare, within the ticket validity (one year from the date of ticket issuance).
#367
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
#368
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Plat MM, CM Plat, Amex Plat, Hertz CP, Hyatt Globalist, SPG Gold, Vons Club
Posts: 6,852
I think one was from August 2019 and the other was November 2019. If it’s real important I could look up the tickets. The one that came back in two days was a straight ETC For the full value. And the other was a split where a portion was returned to the original form of payment, and balance was in a new 2 year ETC (used ECERT originally)
#369
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
I think one was from August 2019 and the other was November 2019. If it’s real important I could look up the tickets. The one that came back in two days was a straight ETC For the full value. And the other was a split where a portion was returned to the original form of payment, and balance was in a new 2 year ETC (used ECERT originally)
Pre-3 March 2020 looks good. Maybe until 1 August 2020 is OK for manually request ETCs but is post-1 August 2020?
#370
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: SFO
Posts: 266
Glad I found this thread as it may directly apply to my situation. Can someone please confirm that I am eligible?
Pre Covid, (Nov 2019) I used Chase UR travel site and booked $2,000 worth of flights on United for my family and I for travel in February 2020.
When covid hit, I voluntarily cancelled the flight (did not wait for United to cancel the flight).
United said at that time in 2020, there was an expiration date of future flight credits set at only 1 year from the flight date to use those credits. Which meant I had to use and fly by Feb 2021.
It appears they change their policies to 24 months usage for this future flight credit? If so this is big deal for me as I have close to 100,000 UR pts dumped into this, and this change in policy will buy me another year to wait for a covid to blow over.
Lastly, just wanted to confirm the ETC concept. For my case which I booked before March 2020, am I eligible to just pursue ETC and get it all cashed out?
Pre Covid, (Nov 2019) I used Chase UR travel site and booked $2,000 worth of flights on United for my family and I for travel in February 2020.
When covid hit, I voluntarily cancelled the flight (did not wait for United to cancel the flight).
United said at that time in 2020, there was an expiration date of future flight credits set at only 1 year from the flight date to use those credits. Which meant I had to use and fly by Feb 2021.
It appears they change their policies to 24 months usage for this future flight credit? If so this is big deal for me as I have close to 100,000 UR pts dumped into this, and this change in policy will buy me another year to wait for a covid to blow over.
Lastly, just wanted to confirm the ETC concept. For my case which I booked before March 2020, am I eligible to just pursue ETC and get it all cashed out?
Last edited by mdosu; Feb 4, 2021 at 4:22 pm
#371
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
Glad I found this thread as it may directly apply to my situation. Can someone please confirm that I am eligible?
Pre Covid, (Nov 2019) I used Chase UR travel site and booked $2,000 worth of flights on United for my family and I for travel in February 2020.
When covid hit, I voluntarily cancelled the flight (did not wait for United to cancel the flight).
United said at that time in 2020, there was an expiration date of future flight credits set at only 1 year from the flight date to use those credits. Which meant I had to use and fly by Feb 2021.
It appears they change their policies to 24 months usage for this future flight credit? ...
Pre Covid, (Nov 2019) I used Chase UR travel site and booked $2,000 worth of flights on United for my family and I for travel in February 2020.
When covid hit, I voluntarily cancelled the flight (did not wait for United to cancel the flight).
United said at that time in 2020, there was an expiration date of future flight credits set at only 1 year from the flight date to use those credits. Which meant I had to use and fly by Feb 2021.
It appears they change their policies to 24 months usage for this future flight credit? ...
If the dates you wrote are correct and your travel was schedule before 3 March 2020 and you voluntary cancelled before 3 March, I'm not aware of any UA COVID waiver that would apply.
And the credits would expire 1 year from purchase, not travel date.
There were earlier waivers but destination specific -- China, Itlay, ... but they did not have 24 month rebooking window.
Where was this travel planned for?
Have you checked, do you still see those credits on UA (under cancelled flights)
If so this is big deal for me as I have close to 100,000 UR pts dumped into this, and this change in policy will buy me another year to wait for a covid to blow over.
Lastly, just wanted to confirm the ETC concept. For my case which I booked before March 2020, am I eligible to just pursue ETC and get it all cashed out?
Lastly, just wanted to confirm the ETC concept. For my case which I booked before March 2020, am I eligible to just pursue ETC and get it all cashed out?
#373
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
UA will not do a cash refund if a refundable incident occurs - cancelled flight. UA sends you to Chase.
Have you been successful in doing this?
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...l#post32357816
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Feb 4, 2021 at 6:57 pm
#374
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 489
Believe others have reported otherwise, UA can tell how it was purchased. It would be a way to convert UR to a cash-like instrument -- usable by anyone.
UA will not do a cash refund if a refundable incident occurs - cancelled flight. UA sends you to Chase.
Have you been successful in doing this?
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...l#post32357816
UA will not do a cash refund if a refundable incident occurs - cancelled flight. UA sends you to Chase.
Have you been successful in doing this?
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...l#post32357816
#375
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