maewest

After 2 schedule changes, the entire outbound leg (with connection) from my Sept PHL>HND flight was cancelled by United... since I'm feeling less confident that Japan's borders would be open by then, and I'm less flexible with fall travel due to childcare constraints, I called to rebook for next year.

Representative initially said they were offering me a flight credit when he pulled up my itinerary, and when I pointed out United cancelled the flight (not me) and I was calling to rebook, he said I would still be responsible for the difference in fare unless I booked a departure date that was within 7 days of the original departure. I've only had good experiences easily rebooking far outside that window with other airlines in the past, though this has only happened to me a handful of times over the years. I don't think it should matter but I no longer have status, not sure if that was a factor, but he did pass me to his manager who confirmed the 7 day 'internal policy' (though he also navigated to the website and saw the published info does not mention this).

Has anyone run into this before? Any thoughts on how to get to someone who can help me rebook outside of this window? If I can't rebook I will cancel/refund but I'd really like United to keep my money and I still go on my trip

The FAQ on the website says the following which the new flight meets, though I'm assuming the reps I spoke with have internal system constraints that they can't work around:

Rebooking options if a schedule change has affected your itinerary

If your scheduled departure or arrival time changes, we're happy to try to find other available flight options that meet your needs. Please keep the following in mind when you call:

- Your origin and destination will have to be the same as on your original itinerary.
- If you have a connection, you may be able to choose a different connecting city or airport.
- Alternative flights must be operated by United or our United Express® partners.

jsloan

This is standard.

It's in United's Contract of Carriage. Furthermore, what you're essentially saying is, "Your schedule change doesn't work for me. Move me by several months instead."

If you pay the fare for the date you want to travel, you'll have no problem rebooking.

Implicit in this is the idea that they're trying to make up for a disruption that's actually caused by United's change of plans. That doesn't appear to be the case here -- your desire not to travel has nothing to do with the schedule change and everything to do with thinking Japan won't be a great place to visit in October.

maewest

Interesting take - as noted before, I have been able to shift previous flights (for various reasons) well outside of a 7 day window, and I know folks who have done similar reschedules to up to a full year from the date of change/cancellation so perhaps YMMV. Will be curious to see other responses from folks who have rebooked (or attempted) based on a schedule change or cancellation.

Japan is wonderful in October, I have visited before and would love to go but even if the borders are open then I won't have childcare to make the trip. To your comment
Yes, as spelled out on United's page: we're happy to try to find other available flight options that meet your needs.

jsloan

Clearly YMMV, but it's also possible that the same fare -- or, at least, inventory bucket -- was available on those dates, which makes it a lot easier to make the change. (If the fare difference is zero, there's nothing to collect).

Again, "If you can't get me there at the exact time I specified, move me by several months" is not within the spirit of that statement, and I'm not surprised that you were denied. There have been multiple similar reports posted here, along with a very small number of successes.

WineCountryUA

For a non-UA caused, voluntary change to a future date with no waiver, you will be charge the fare difference

In those other cases the same fare may have been available so there was no fare difference.

HNLbasedFlyer

If they cancelled the flight just take the refund - you are subject to the new fare outside the 7 day window.

maewest

Admittedly I am not on FT as much as I used to be but a quick scan before I posted showed scenarios where the cancellation was initiated by the passenger (vs this case by United). Will take a closer look - thanks.

It wasn't but thanks! and this is a UA cased change

Kacee

It's certainly not as generous as, say, QR's policy, but it's not totally unreasonable.

dkc192

If a schedule change/cancellation impacts the return leg of an itinerary, can/will UA refund just the return leg while keeping the outbound intact? This would obviously happen before commencing travel on the outbound.

Context: considering booking KUL-NRT-ORD-HND-KUL on ANA and applying Plus Points. ORD-HND-KUL hasn't been operating during the pandemic. If it does get cancelled, I would like to keep the outbound but ditch the return (obviously preserving the confirmed upgrades).

Edit to add: if ANA auto rebooks the cancelled flights and UA auto reissues the ticket, then the safest route would be to fly the outbound, then call in to request a refund of the return. But I'm asking in case this doesn't happen, as I likely wouldn't be able to check in for the outbound with the ticket in limbo.

jsloan

Generally, yes, assuming that the change triggers the refund threshold. An involuntary change allows you to get a refund of the affected legs on a half-round-trip basis, so it won't be re-fared to a one-way. However...

Are you talking about a UA ticket or an ANA ticket? That affects whose change policy applies.

It may also be tricky to hold the upgrades if they reissue the ticket. (I'm not sure).

Agreed on all counts.

In either case, I probably wouldn't request for a refund until after you travel; the chance that the whole thing gets refunded is too great. If you end up with a ticket that's a mess, you can just call and say "can you just remove the return flights from the ticket for now, and I"ll figure out how to get home later?"

dkc192

UA ticket. Thanks for the pointer on removing the flights but not requesting a refund until the outbound is completed. Hopefully it (or whatever else needs to happen after the likely cancellation) doesn't mess up the upgrades on the outbound...

dkc192

One more question...what procedurally happens if/when I make that request? Is the ticket reissued with just the outbound segments (and hopefully the upgrade)? If not, will check-in for the outbound be inhibited in any way due to the weird ticket status (original ticket contains four segments but active PNR only contains two segments)?

jsloan

They should not reissue. In order to reissue the tickets, they'd need a valid fare, and they wouldn't have one anymore (you're almost certainly on a round-trip fare and you would no longer have round-trip flights). What should happen is that the PNR gets cleaned up so that you can check-in, and that's the end of it.

At checkin, the system will not complain if you have additional downline coupons on your ticket beyond what's in the PNR. It's only going to check to make sure that you have valid coupons for today's travel.

Weyland Yutani Corp

Had to cancel a flight today. Was surprised to see that I was given a choice of refund, due a "schedule change" that had occurred (not why I was canceling). I faintly remember it being a complete re-route mess. I also think that I used an ETC to purchase the flight, which is probably not a thing. Either way, love that I finally get some sort of credit back to my cc!

scubacat1

What is United’s policy for refunds for schedule changes on their end? My upcoming flight was changed by one hour and I’m wondering if I can get a refund. The contract of carriage uses the term “significant change” (is 30 minutes their definition of significant?) and section 4 is a bit odd because it makes it seem that a refund is only possible if you aren’t put on another flight or take flight credit future use. The only options I’m given online are to accept the changes or make a one time change.

Quote from their contract of carriage:

1. Schedule Change - When a Passenger’s Ticketed flight is affected because of a Schedule Change that modifies the original departure and/or arrival time by 30 minutes or more, UA will, at its election, arrange one of the following:
   1. Transport the Passenger on its closest available flight to the Destination, next Stopover point, or transfer point shown on its portion of the Ticket, without Stopover in the same class of service (subject to availability), at no additional cost to the Passenger; provided that if such alternate transportation results in a significant change to the originally scheduled departure or arrival times and the Passenger chooses not to accept such alternate transportation, United will (at the Passenger’s request) provide a refund;
   2. When a Schedule Change results in the cancellation of all UA service between two cities, at UA’s sole discretion, UA may reroute Passengers over the lines of one or more carriers in an equivalent class of service; provided that if such alternate transportation results in a significant change to the originally scheduled departure or arrival times and the Passenger chooses not to accept such alternate transportation, United will (at the Passenger’s request) provide a refund;
   3. Advise the Passenger that the value of his or her Ticket may be applied toward future travel on United within one year from the date of issue without a change or reissue fee; or
   4. If the Passenger is not offered transportation as provided in C) 1) or 2) above and does not choose to apply the value of his or her Ticket toward future travel as provided in C) 3) above, the Passenger will be eligible for a refund upon request. See Rule 27 A).