thedon

Can I cancel an award ticket on Turkish after checkin?
Do I need to cancel checkin first?

Lux Flyer

yes and yes. If the ticket is checked in UA can’t pull control of the coupon back from TK to cancel/refund the ticket.

notquiteaff

And today I got an email telling me

Weird.

thedon

Update - it happened as you said. I cancelled the UA award ticket on the app, but needed to the TK lounge agent to cancel check in before they were able to refund the miles.

emcampbe

Just checking what I thought I knew.

UA Award options page confirms that there are no longer redeposit fees worldwide. I just booked a BRU-LHR award on SN using UA miles, which is a pretty good deal, I think, at 6K miles/person for economy, especially considering this is meant to be a backup option to Paris in early April, in case they are still on strike and we are unable to get there, not to mention get around. As a cost-per-mile, not particularly great, but having the ability to cancel/redeposit this, with these being backup plans, are absolutely better than having a nonrefundable ticket via SN directly (which will also have change fees).

However, fare rules for this award ticket still seem to indicate redeposit fees for changes less than 31 days prior to travel not originating in the US, as well as for cancelations in <31 days. I was pretty sure that these resdeposit fees were not being charged any longer. Can someone please confirm? I'm throughly confused about why these fees are still in the fare rules if they are in fact 'removed' per UAs own award options web page.

jsloan

Because, sadly, UA's right hand doesn't always know what its left hand is doing.

The overall award fees page wins out. There is no redeposit fee if you need to cancel your trip. If it makes you feel better, you can screenshot that page -- but I have not seen any indications of any problems getting free redeposits for UA awards since they made that change.

emcampbe

thanks for confirming. I knew I wasn’t crazy (at least, not this time…).

definitely glad to have this option. And 6K is a good price for intra-EU (nonstop travel). Was it always that low back when there were charts? Even as a saver, within the US, that kind of award would have been 12K+, and probably 15K plus on many days.

jsloan

There was a special 8K rate for nonstop travel up to 700 miles. The only 6K award I can think of was domestic Japan and maybe Hawaii inter-island.

samrel344

Hi there - very basic question. I booked a round-trip award and need to cancel just the first half (the way there). I know there are no change fees any longer, but just want to confirm this is possible? Should I expect I'd get the miles back that I was initially quoted for this half of the ticket? The way there is on Swiss and the way back is on United

SPN Lifer

Cancelling the outbound of a round trip is just like starting over. So it will depend on what awards, if any, are available on the return trip.

Sorry to be the bearer of sad news.

Next time, if there is any possibility, however remote, that one will have to change the outbound, it is best to book two one-way awards.

vnfilm1

I book an award ticket using United miles to flight from BKK ==> HKG ==> TPE ==> SFO several month ago . The first segment BKK ==> HKG is with Thai airways) and the rest of segment with (EVA) . All of my flights are ticketed.

Today, I contact United to make a change . I will flight from BKK ==> TPE ==> SFO ( 1 connection instead of 2). The first flight is still with Thai airways, and the second flight with EVA .

My departure date and airport ( depart / arrival) is unchanged . However, the TPE - SFO segment becomes waiting list after United agent make the change ( for BKK-TPE flight) . According to United 's agent (over the phone), I was told it takes 24 hrs to confirm my award ticket with EVA, and I have no worry since the changes will not affect me ( on EVA flight) . I log in EVA and able to select my seats without any problem .

FYI, my itinerary showing on United website is listing TPE - SFO is still on waiting list

Here is my question:

1) Waiting 24 hrs for ticket to change from waiting list to confirm is normal procedure for booking with United .
Will there is a chance I will loose my award seat on EVA flight ( TPE -SFO) due to it is on waiting list now . Is there anything I can do to secure my seat on EVA flight.

2) I do not understand why I make a changes on the Segment BKK ==> TPE on Thai airways, and it will affect my seat with on EVA flight

This is my first time booking and making changes with United and if anyone know well how things work, please give me your guidance so that I won't loose my award seat with EVA .

Please advise and thank you.

WineCountryUA

It definitely can.

There are two outcomes here. Changing the ticket as you have will result in a new ticket, a ticket re-issue. If the TPE - SFO BR/EVA flight did not have new confrimable award space, BR/EVA may decline the ticket re-issue. Partners can and have claimed this makes it a new ticket and existing award space can not be re-use. It is also possible BR/EVA will decide to allow you to re-use the prior award space. They are not required to. This is the dark side of award tickets, changes with partner space can be risky.

At this point, all you and UA can do is await BR/EVA's decision. In the past UA has told agents not to try this types of changes. There is a whole thread full of these -- some successful, many not. UA can not restore the original ticket if it goes bad.

A few carriers with honor prior book segments, many/most will not.

Good luck, a good sign is the ticket number (016xxxxxxxx on the partner site is the same on the UA site after the re-issue, not the same as the original)

vnfilm1

Thanks. I asked many questions before giving an O.K to make the changes. However it is too late now . If I have been informed upfront, by making the change, I possibly loose my award seat ( TPE - SFO) , I would have not done so.
I will wait for 24hrs to see how that turn out .

By the way, using the EVA reservation # , provided in the original booking, I still able to re-select my seat again. Does it have big chance, that I still have my award seat on EVA flight . I hope so .

Happy

You need to make sure BR sees your NEW Reissued 016 ticket in order to know for sure your TPE-SFO is intact. A friend went thru similar thing but with LH. LH never confirmed back the change FRA to MUC for returning to US. I kept telling him to check whether LH site showed the new 016 tickets, it never did. At the end UA did accommodate him by opening up seats on UA Metal and they actually had a good flight. If you lose the TPE-SFO seat, not sure UA can accommodate other than reroute you to HKG-SFO?

I just noticed that when you change the award and the replacement itinerary resulting a lower taxes and fees, the difference is shown as a refund during the booking process, but it is not shown on the eTicket and Receipt. On the receipt it just said these tickets used the remaining value of the previous tickets but does not give the info on there is a refund due.

I assume the refund on the residual credit would be automatically processed, and there is no need to make a request to UA, correct?

vnfilm1

Thanks.
With the new ticket 016XXXXXXX... ,received from United system (the confirmation receipt email), I use that to log in EVA web and see the wording "confirmed" listed under my name . However, it is now 24 hrs passed, my EVA flight showing in United account still show wailisted . Besides my name, I do not see any passenger information ( about me) listing in EVA web . And I am not sure whether my EVA flight is for sure " confirmed" as it shows.

Regarding the miles different, I check the activity section in my account. It shows there is mileage re-deposit and less mileage duction again . I was told, there will be a refund to my credit card, and it will take 7-14 business days to see it posted .

I will wait for another day before contact United again. I was told by the United 2nd agent that if my EVA flight is still on waitedlist, she will try to help with another business ticket for me, but it may not be the same mileage cost due to voluntary changing.

By the way, I like to know how long it takes to have the ticket status showing from Waitedlist to confirmed on United account involving partner airline ( EVA).

A lesson learned and I feel very bad about the whole situation I am in. I am unsure what else I can do to savage my EVA flight , and what I can do at this point . If anyone know the way, please guide me thru it . Thanks.