GREENCAL

What is difference in Perks between 3 Economy tickets for 1K ?

Thanks,
Green Cal

bookeew

Differences between basic and normal economy (including flexible)

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/con...c-economy.aspx

Flexible might be a higher fare class, thus, earning more miles. Otherwise, the difference is usually being able to cancel (with a refund) or change (both possibly with a fee).

wrp96

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...cussion-q.html

Basically if you buy a BE fare, you lose most of your 1K benefits.

Hipplewm

Flexible economy - this is about what i have been able to determine

100% domestic:
Flexible economy, money back - no ETC, just a refund
Economy - you get a ETC and they minus $200 when you try and use the ETC within a year

International:
Flexible economy - money back MINUS the $300 change fee
Economy - you get a ETC for the full amount and they minus $300 when you re use that ETC later - but it is only good for a year.

GREENCAL

Thank you !

Thank you very usefull conclusion !

WineCountryUA

That a bit of an over statement.
You lose some -- such as mileage earning and E+ access (and advance seat assignment & cancellation residual -- but neither is an elite specific benefit)
But you keep you carry-on benefit, boarding group 1, free food/drink for 1Ks, ...

BE means significant lost benefits for 1K/ elites but hardly most.

Flexible fares are not generally fully refundable, so there may be a cancellation fee.
And on regular economy -- cancellations / changes are not deducted from the ETC but rather require new money.

ermintrude

loss of CPU is important to some as on many routes it's highly likely for 1Ks to clear into F; also loss of SDC some will find significant.

Kacee

They don't subtract the change fee from the residual ticket value, you have to pay the fee in new money.

UA is very flexible in defining a "flexible" fare, so you really need to review the fare rules to know what this means on any particular ticket. Some will be fully refundable with no fee, but many will require payment of a substantial fee for a refund.

Hipplewm

I have just back over 18 months and I have roughly 20 cancelled Domestic tickets which were 100% refunded - all but 2 were flexible, the other 2 were Unrestricted.

I also have 2 cancelled Int'l tickets and both flexible and both were refunded minus the $300 change fee.

I had posed this same question when I first joined flyertalk and got myself in a crappy pickle on fares and stuff. I was leaving Chicago one day and flight was delayed and was going to miss my next flight which was a separate PNR. As the cust service person was going thru this and calling her supervisor, they explained to me exactly as I typed above. So far it has never been wrong and I push the limits with flexible fares quite often.

Also, if you look at the little pop up thing when you go to buy a ticket, the first word after flexible for both domestic and Intl ticks is "Refundable" it is just whether or not there is a change or cancellation fee, which IME only applies to Intl tickets. That matches with what the cust service reps explained to me 18 months ago.

Often1

OP's question and many of the answers simply show that the difference between any two fare buckets requires you to read the fare rules. There is no substitute for it.

There may be some general conditions, e.g. that BE tickets are non-refundable and do not generate a credit if cancelled and cannot be changed. But, when it comes to comparing to a discounted standard non-refundable ticket or a refundable or flexible ticket, there are no general rules.

There are tickets which may be changed without fee or with a fee. Tickets which may be refunded but with a fee or without.

Fare rules change all the time, so the fact that someone you know had one experience means nothing. More importantly, the fact that someone you know caught a break from an agent does not mean that you will.

So, given the amounts of money involved, it pays to spend 2-3 minutes reading these things.

Kacee

+1
Anecdote is no substitute for reviewing the actual fare rules.

Note also that if one flies a particular route frequently, one will be exposed to one set of fare rules. I can tell you, for example, that UA's flexible fare rules on routes where they compete with WN tend to be more favorable to the pax than an routes where they do not.

spin88

Not totally correct. United BE gets you RDMs (redeemable miles), what is does not get you is Elite Status Credit. So if you you don't pay the "loyalty up-charge" to a Y from the BE that United offers (usually $30+ RT) you:

(1) as UA says: "MileagePlus members, including MileagePlus Premier members, will not earn Premier qualifying dollars, Premier qualifying miles, Premier qualifying segments or lifetime miles, nor will they earn toward the four-segment minimum. They will still earn award miles based on the fare and their MileagePlus status."
(4) Don't get any upgrades, either to E+ or CPU eligibility
(5) Don't get same day change
(6) can't get any time of refund and can't change the ticket at all, even with a change fee, as UA's web-site says: "Basic Economy tickets can't be changed once you complete your booking"
(7) As United says: "Your seat will be automatically assigned to you prior to boarding, and you won't be able to change your seat once it's been assigned"

Basically the ONLY benefits you get are what Chase has contractually promised UA card holders they would get (1) higher BG number and (2) a carry on bag. No doubt United would have stiffed elites on this too if they could get away with it, but I'm sure Chase (which can get sued, unlike United, for breaking its promises) prevented that.

I would say that the ONLY benefit that 1Ks don't loose is the "free food/drink item", since a chase card holder gets the only two other benefits.

findark

At present, all "flexible" domestic fare components are refundable and changeable without penalty. But yes, this could change without notice as this is not the definition of "flexible" that UA officially uses. And importantly, a "flexible" international fare is often refundable minus penalty.

Flyingeagle

I'm at a IAD United Club and was curious about this so went up to the Club agents and asked them and they said they have all attended class on this and you board in group 5 even if you are a 1K. It is part of the conditions of purchase. The agent also said that they drilled into them the fact that in buying a BE ticket the customer must acknowledge at multiple places in the purchase process that the customer has read and acknowledges that they have read the conditions and understand...so no leeway from the GA.

spin88

Well more crappy Ua training... 😱 Is anyone surprised?😭