astroflyer

To answer the OP's question is that there is no hard or fast rule. There are surprises. I've had Q fares that are fully refundable, and recently I got a super weird fare with W and S components that I can cancel with something like a $200 fee. I've never seen anything that low that was cancellable altogether.

When you search not he website, select "advanced search" and then tick the box for "Unrestricted Fare". When you get your itinerary build you can click on "Rules and Restrictions" before purchase. You fill out a CAPTCHA and that should take you to the actual fare rules…look at the "Refunds/Change" section.

I'm afraid there's no other easy way without using a commercial service like ExpertFlyer to see the rules. But you're right, usually Y and B fares are what you're looking for.

DaviddesJ

You generally want "Flexible Fare". There's rarely a reason to pay for "Unrestricted Fare" unless you just like paying more.

CCIE_Flyer

Can't agree with you. I have recently faced the situation where I bought a "flexible fare" in C (it was not actually out of a C bucket, believe it was probably Z) and it turned out to be non-refundable and featured a $300 change fee. I am still sitting on some of the residual credit that resulted when I needed to cancel. The green check mark in the "refundable" box that you see under flexible fares is not to be trusted. You must read the fine print of each fare every time you purchase.

Also, there certainly are folks who want the highest priced Y they can get their hands on. I do. In spite of contract language expressly stating that I will fly business class, my primary client recently came to me and politely requested that I no longer do so, as even their executives no longer are allowed to do so. My compromise was that I would buy Y, print the receipt to attach to my expense report, and then promptly turn right around and have the rate desk escalate me to Z or D or C at my own expense. Higher the Y the less that comes out of my wallet.

bmwe92fan

I have learned this the hard way as well - and now sitting on three TCVA credits because of it... It's funny that to UA "refundable" means something very different than most of the world has come to understand...

UA-NYC

Last "flexible" ticket I bought, as I understood it, all it allowed you to do is pay the same exact change/cancle fee as the lowest available fare, but refund the airfare charge to the source of payment (say CC), as opposed to just getting a credit w/UA.

emcampbe

I have an ex-India fare on UA where the change fee is 75 EUR and fully refundable with a 120 EUR fee. It's an L fare.

DaviddesJ

OK, good to know. But it doesn't change my advice: users who want the lowest refundable fare should start by searching for "Flexible fare", not "Unrestricted fare", otherwise they will often end up paying much more than they need to.

That's exactly what I said.

CCIE_Flyer

Very true, starting at unrestricted would exclude some potentially refundable flexible fares. I think it's just crappy that United projects that all flexible fares are fully refundable, and they most certainly are not. So it's just a buyer beware type of thing.



Well, you said if people just "like" spending extra money, as if they must be crazy or stupid. It's not about fattening Jeff's wallet, I can tell you that. I don't "like" spending more on full Y or whatever but there's an advantage to doing so in many different scenarios.

DaviddesJ

I didn't say their reasons for liking to pay more must be crazy or stupid. You're just imagining that. Yes, there are people (although many fewer than there used to be) who deliberately want to pay more for their tickets. They like that result more than a cheaper fare. That's exactly what I wrote.

hockey7711

City Pairs Fare Class Fare Basis Code
SFO - EWR E EAA00TGY
Fare Basis Code EAA00TGY
Sales and Restrictions GENERAL RULES TEXT
TICKETS MAY BE ISSUED BY MAIL.
AND - TICKETS MAY BE ISSUED BY PTA. PTA CONSTITUTES
TICKETING.
TICKETS MAY NOT BE SOLD IN VENEZUELA.
TICKETS MAY ONLY BE SOLD IN AREA 1/AREA 2/AREA 3.
NOTE -
FOR ITINERARIES SOLD OUTSIDE OF VE - CREDIT CARDS
ISSUED IN VE ARE NOT ACCEPTED.
----------------------
EXTENSION OF TICKET VALIDITY PERMITTED UNDER
GUIDELINES SET FORTH BY CARRIER. CONTACT
CARRIER FOR DETAILS.
Refunds/Change GENERAL RULES TEXT
CANCELLATIONS
BEFORE DEPARTURE
CANCELLATIONS PERMITTED.
NOTE -
-- EXCHANGE - CHANGE TO 1ST TICKETED FLIGHT /
WHOLLY UNUSED TICKET
--
RESIDUAL VALUE MAY BE REFUNDED OR APPLIED
TOWARD PURCHASE OF NEW TICKET AT CURRENT
FARE LEVELS ANY DIFFERENCE IN FARE / TAX
COLLECTED/REFUNDED AT TIME OF TICKET EXCHANGE.
--
TICKETS MUST BE REISSUED WHEN ANY VOLUNTARY
CHANGE IS MADE.
.
1. WHOLLY UNUSED TICKETS -
CHANGES TO ORIGINATING FLIGHT -
--
TAG 5--REPRICE USING CURRENT QUALIFYING
FARES IN EFFECT TODAY.
--
NO CHARGE OR HIGHEST FEE OF ONLY CHANGED
FARE COMPONENTS. ONLY CHARGE ONE FEE FOR ONLY
CHANGED FARE COMPONENTS IF CHANGED FARE COMPONENTS
HAVE A FEE TO CHARGE.
--
1. ANY CARRIER FARES ARE USED
Rules and Restrictions
Rules and Restrictions | United Airlines https://www.united.com/web/en-US/app...ght/rules.aspx
1

emcampbe

Looks refundable to me - without any fee (there are refundable tickets which charge a fee with the balance refunded). Note if this is being combined with another segment on a different fare (i.e., SFO-EWR-YYY) on the same ticket, the most restrictive rules usually apply to the entire ticket.

transportprof

Although there are always trade-offs, I'd recommend booking this as a one way itinerary to preserve the refund-ability of the fare class. As emcampbe mentioned, if you combine this with anything else, the rules will change to the most restrictive conditions.

hockey7711

Thanks. That is what I was planning to do. Right now it is a 767-400er, and if they change the plane, I can cancel the ticket and switch to something else.

r m a h

if i have a refundable ticket on UA and end up not needing it :

1. when is the last possible moment i can submit a claim for the refund? i.e. if my flight is scheduled to leave at 7pm, can i submit my claim at 6:59pm?

2. can such submissions be made online, or must i call UA?

i searched the UA site for this info and could not find a clear answer.

thanks for your help!

mherdeg

The reservation and the ticket are separate.

You should probably request a refund of the ticket no later than one year after the travel date.

Re: the reservation, it's polite to cancel the reservation in advance of travel and in some cases the fare rules require it if you'd like a refund.

If the fare rules say "no-show permitted with no penalty", you don't even need to cancel in advance of departure (let alone request a refund).

If the fare rules say "no-show rules: ticket has no value if cancelled after departure", you should cancel the reservation before flight departure.

In principle you could cancel a reservation for a 7:00pm flight at 6:59 pm and it would count as "before departure", but in practice I wouldn't count on being able to be that precise … be polite, cancel as soon as you know you won't need the reservation, and expect to have some trouble within say 30 min of departure time.

You'll need to read the fare rules you got originally.