ds408

Hello All,

I wanted to check with the experts on this as I haven't had much luck lately reaching a human at United...

I had booked an international fare about a month back and thought I had a pretty good deal, but then, sure enough, they now have a better sale ($150 less) for the same flights if I leave a week earlier (which would be fine).

My question is .. I am pretty sure any change fees would be more than the $150 I would save, but in trying to read the fine print on my reservation, I am not sure what the fee is!

Here is what I think it might be ...

CALCULATE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FARE PAID AND
QUALIFYING FARE FOR TRAVEL COMPLETE
USING FARES OF ORIGINAL TICKET DATE /
LESS CANCEL PENALTY /
REFUND RESIDUAL VALUE IF ANY TO ORIGINAL
FORM OF PAYMENT.
CHANGES
ANY TIME
CHARGE USD 300.00. <----
WAIVED FOR SCHEDULE CHANGE.

Does this mean I would have to pay $300 to re-book?
It also showed a USD 300.00 for cancellations.

What I'm curious about is the line below it that says "Waived for Schedule Change". Does this mean if "they" change the schedule, or would it be waived if I changed my ticket to the same flights on diff days, too?


Thanks all for the help!

emcampbe

$300 is the standard change fee for international flights. Fare rules are showing this is the change fee, so this is what you would have to pay to get the $150 cheaper ticket the week earlier. Net, that isn’t worth it if the point is only to get a lower fare.

schedule change refers to UA changing the schedule - where they will waive the fee if they do so. Typically, I believe the CoC refers to a chnage of 90 minutes or more (or if a connection is involved, moves the connection time below MCT at the airport involved). However, sometimes agents are willing to waive the fee for shorter changes, but YMMV. This is all likely irrelevant, as the fare is not likely to stay still if there is a schedule change by next week, next month, or even tomorrow.

also mostly irrelevant, but something useful to know for perhaps another time - If UA fares go lower on the same flights (same dates) you booked within 30 days of your booking it, they will give you an ETC for the difference for a $50 fee.

Unfortunately, booking airline tickets is kind of like gambling since the fares go up and down all the time - you win some and you lose some. There is potentially some strategy involved that can help guide you, but it’s a lot about odds - and so it’s never going to guarantee you get the best price all of the time.

Kacee

It's really not. Many TPACs have a $120 change fee, while P fares often have a $450 fee.

jsloan

The CoC schedule change clause specifies 30 minutes, but I agree that it's irrelevant -- but not only for the reason you state. For one thing, it's not going to be easy to convince an agent to move your flight by a week due to a 30-minute schedule change. "3:30 in the afternoon is too late. Let's do a week prior." More importantly, though, if you did convince someone to do this, it's unlikely that they would refund the fare difference. I suspect that you'd keep the same fare you already had, just with a different date. (After all, they wouldn't charge you more if the new flight was more expensive).

In order to take advantage of a lower fare, you'd generally need a refund and then book a new ticket, and the policy for that is a schedule change of two hours or more.


Anybody who tells you that they can guarantee when the cheapest airfare will be is a liar or a fool. Airlines can't afford to let everybody know when the best time to buy would be, so they constantly adjust their strategies so that there's not one single best time.

Agreed. There's no such thing as a "standard change fee" for international travel. However, $300 is common for ex-US economy tickets in markets where the $120 isn't available.

ds408

Thank you all so much for the help and information! I've learned so much in these forums and it's made me a much better traveler!