CA Wildfire Cancel Trip to Tahoe/Sacramento (SMF), refund? if Basic Economy
 

Hello
I have a trip planned for the next week and we are planning to fly to SMF and from there go to Lake Tahoe which is experiencing bad Air quality and Smoke from the Fire both North and South of Tahoe. I have United Basic Economy ticket. Would UA refund the money if i have to cancel the ticket? is there any other options?

Unless they issue a travel waiver, no. (Even then, I'm not sure how that works with Basic Economy).

Your options are to watch for delays on your flight -- if your flight is canceled or delayed more than two hours, you can call and ask for a refund due to the schedule change -- and check to see if your credit card offers travel insurance.

The ticket was purchased using Chase Explorer Card.

The Explorer Card includes trip cancellation benefits for "severe weather." I'm not sure whether or not this qualifies. You can ask -- see the contact information on the "Travel Protection" page on the Explorer benefits website: https://www.chase.com/personal/credi...vel-protection

I will say that I just spent last week in Lake Tahoe for work abd the air quality was variable -- bad (but not truly horrible ) to good (but not excellent) based on the winds, etc.

Don't know if that makes you feel any better but if you can't reschedule, at least you have a chance of making it work.

Although I like laxmillenial's advice, changing the BE ticket might sit better with the agent than an outright refund.

You are in luck, as this is now declared a national disaster (well not the Tahoe area and this may cause a potential problem) you can apply for reimbursement through their coverage. I would just be more general and say your "Northern California" vacation was effected by the fires.....I used it for a hurricane abbreviated trip two years ago. Took about 60 days to get credited but it works. I would just say the disaster affected your plans. Obviously this is what I did when I applied for hurricane coverage. I suspect you won't be the only one calling about this.

Unless you or someone you're traveling with is particularly sensitive to poor air quality (asthmatic, elderly, infant, etc...) I wouldn't completely write off the trip. I live just north of the lake and the last few days have been wildly variable for smoke in the area, even across a relatively small area. Saturday morning I could barely see a half mile from my house, while the the east shore of the lake near Spooner Summit was clear blue skies. I generally avoid outdoor activity in the bad smoke, but I've had no problem getting out for a hike/run the last couple of days. If you have a little bit of flexibility in your schedule, I'm sure you'll still be able to have a great trip.
Ultimately, if OP does want to cancel, this is probably the best way to do it. Be a bit vague and they might be willing to work with you. If not a refund, you may at least get credit to use for a later booking.

Please report back and let us know what you decided to do, and what happened!

This topic would be better suited for the Chase forum and thread on travel insurance.

United does not refund tickets unless they are unable to provide service due to weather, mechanical delays, etc. None of that applies here if the flight takes off which seems likely as SMF is not closed. Does not matter what fare class is long as it is not a refundable fare your are SOL. Would be curious about whether the "insurance" sold by United when you buy your ticket would cover this type of event. I never purchase it but normally this is the response you get from UA when you call for refunds due to medical issues, etc.

It is good know that Chase MP card may provide travel insurance as this would not have occurred to me seeing as the airport is open. It is a bit different than a hurricane aftermath where the airport may open but the entire area is a disaster zone (e.g. New Orleans, Houston, Puerto Rico). The smoke is not great but Sacramento is still functioning. Ditto for Reno, Lake Tahoe, etc.

Ditto. @Boraxo, you're factually incorrect. Many of us have documented posts and experiences with UA refunding us money on 100% non-refundable tickets. This invalidates your point where you said "UA does not refund...does not matter...". The OP is not a SOL. While many of our experiences depend on the 'graciousness/mercy' of the employees, we have posted that in our advice to the OP. Sure, the chances are slim, but not SOL.

In fact, I think the OP has a good chance of being refunded/travel credit/dates moved. This is a natural disaster with real-world impacts being felt. It's not just a "my meeting got cancelled and I want a refund" kind of request.

A few anecdotal exceptions do not break the general rule and policy. I think the chances are close to nil but who knows maybe OP will get lucky. Obviously there is little cost to playing telephone roulette with United CSRs but I would temper expectations.

Would sort of agree, this more of a "my hotel burned to the ground" or my clients are in "survival mode" and not prepared to meet now. I've never lied to UA, ever. But the two times in ten years I've needed to change or cancel do to events out of my control, UA didn't blink in helping me, Neither did Hilton as well. Car rentals don't matter, yet...

NorCal is a hot mess with the fires currently, if only based on the pictures from my friends. Clients in Colorado canceled meetings in 2013 because of the fires and floods. Worst UA can say is no.

If OP were on a regular economy fare, I'd agree. On Basic Economy, I'm much less sure. There have only been a few IRROPS reports and they're hit or miss -- I remember one report where a flight went MX, the BE customer was reassigned, and reservations refused to touch what the computer had done, citing BE.

Absent a travel waiver, there's a good chance UA is going to be inflexible here. The punitive nature of these fares is intentional; while it might be nice if UA would be flexible, I'm not sure it's good business.

Any for BE?

Your right the worst they can say is no. As noted this is probably for the Chase board but I would then go to Chase's travel insurance as I did. They (Chase) were with Chubb and they were great, now I heard they changed from Chubb so maybe a bit more red tape and push back.

Can't see why fare class should matter, i.e. BE vs. Y, but agree that unless there's a travel waiver you shouldn't expect a refund.

After all, in 1989, would anyone have expected that tickets into SMF would've been refunded due to the Loma Prieta earthquake and its impact on the SF Bay area? Hint for those of you who don't live out here, SMF is roughly halfway between SFO and Lake Tahoe.

Precisely. With a regular economy fare, the pax is asking for the change fee to be waived; based on the board, that's something that seems to happen from time to time. With basic economy, there is no change fee, because no changes are allowed. You're asking for a bigger waiver.

Also, while I don't fault anyone for taking the lowest available fare, UA has consistently treated BE passengers as though they had a big scarlet "Group 5" tattooed to their forehead. This psychology is intentional -- it's an up-sell tactic. "Didn't like that experience? Buy regular economy next time." (The thought that a passenger might try another airline entirely next time doesn't seem to enter into the occasion). You can expect that this was emphasized strongly in the BE training for phone agents.

UA's argument will be that a passenger assumed these risks by purchasing a discounted, no-changes ticket.

Yesterday was the first time in a week I could see the entire periphery of the lake so it's clear at least yesterday and today