I don't suppose I should expect to see an exception policy for travel affected by the gov't shutdown, should I? Had some field work booked next week in a National Park that is looking pretty sketchy at this point.

No -- they would've issued it awhile ago if so.

How would they enforce this?

OK, good point. Guess this is what trip insurance is for, if you're into that sort of thing.

Now a moot issue since the shutdown is over BUT when I called to cancel a planned EWR-PDX trip early this week, I asked the 1K agent about any possible waiver of the change fee since my trip was being cancelled because the federal employees I was scheduled to meet were on furlough and unavailable. The agent told me that United was making some exceptions, and would require a letter and some documentation. I was transferred to the executive services desk and enjoyed a conversation with a truly nice agent. I explained the situation and without any further effort on my part, she waived the $200 change fee and arranged for the ticket purchase price to be credited to my account. Ten minutes, tops, to save the $200 fee. And leave me feeling very, very well treated.

This is called "Friendly" although some people on the FT do not agree with this characterization. Happy flying!

As the shutdown is now over, I'm going to close this thread.

iluv2fly
Moderator, UA