Ismilee

Following on from this question, how long does it take for FFC to be credited when changing a flight to a cheaper flight? Booked in November, took outbound flight mid-Dec, changed return date ($90 cheaper) and flight now completed.

sorry if this is repetitive... I’ve searched the forum but don’t see this answer. Thanks!

fumje

FFC should be credited instantly when change made, tied to original PNR.

emcampbe

my experience as well. Mine is that you receive an email with the residual FFC info pretty much immediately, and simultaneously with the re-issued ticket with changed itinerary.

lancelot21

If I'd realized this, I never would have called in! I knew I could use multiple ETCs, but the last time I tried with FFCs, I could only use one...

Still easier to have them consolidated than to have to apply multiples.

Ismilee

Thanks for the info fumje and emcampbe! I've gotten nothing, so contacted United. Hopefully they'll resolve it quickly :-)

emcampbe

Have you tried looking in the 'wallet' section of your profile, under travel credits to see if its there? Alternatively, have you tried a dummy booking, and using the FFC as payment, using the original PNR. If it can't find it that way, probably the 'system' screwed up and it needs intervention - usually, these are issued immediately

opus2002

​​​​​​FROM UNITED AIRLINES CANCELLATION POLICY

• A refund may be requested for any fare that allows refunds. Depending on the rules of the fare purchased, a cancellation fee may apply. Most fares are nonrefundable, and are not eligible for voluntary refunds. However, the value of your ticket may be eligible to be applied toward the price of a new ticket for a fee. Tickets are valid 12 months from the day of ticket issuance, except for tickets purchased on or before December 31, 2021, which are extended from original date of issue to December 31, 2022. Travel must begin by December 31, 2022. Once travel begins, travel must be completed within 12 months from the outbound travel date.

MY QUESTION:
I have from ETC from 2020, with expiration date of 12/31/2022. I am thinking of using it to book EWR-YYC trip. I am debating if it make sense to spend extra $50 for refundable tickets? If I book a non-refundable ticket using the ETC, then I cancel the trip (for example $300), am I able to use the refund (the $300) for any trip or just the EWR-YYR route?

Thank you.

emcampbe

If you cancel a non-refundable fare, it essentially stays in your current PNR, now commonly referred to as an FFC, and can be used as $300 towards a new itinerary - same route or completely different. There are very limited exceptions where fare rules might be more restrictive, but practically never on an unflown itinerary originating in the US.

if you buy a refundable fare, canceling will throw the value back to original form of payment - so in your case a new ETC. Not sure what the recent data is, but I think in the past it generally went to a new ETC, with potentially a new expiry date. Note the refund to an ETC can take time - maybe 21 days, so you will not have use until then. You’d also have the option to get the value back as FFC (same as above), which generally arrives immediately.

opus2002

Thank you.

At this point, it sounds to me there is no point in getting a refundable ticket since the expiration date is still quite far away. Also, if I make speculative bookings, I got nothing to lose since the money (ETC) is already sitting there.

ValleyOfTheMoon

I've read through this forum to understand my options for the 3 credits I have (amounts rounded for simplicity):
$1,500 in an ETC Exp. 2/11/23
$50 in an ETC Exp 3/30/23
$7,600 in a FFC Exp 12/31/22
I'm ready to book flights for December 2022. The ticket cost will be about $1,300. I tried purchasing this ticket from the FFC link on the Travel Credits page, but then it showed the ticket cost as $0, so I went no further. I then used the direct method to price the flights, assuming I'd have to call United to book using the FFC. Now from this forum, I understand that when I get to the payment page, it will offer me all my credits. Now, what credit to choose?

I could choose the FFC because it has the earliest expiration date. The system would take the $1,300 air fare from the FFC and the difference will remain on that FFC (different from in the past when you would lose the residual). The expiration date on the FFC will remain 12/31/22.

Before the end of the year, I would convert the residual on the FFC to an ETC, thereby extending the expiration. My only reason for waiting to convert is in case it extends the expiration date that much longer. But the risk is as always, how long United will allow conversion of an FFC to a ETC. Even now, apparently, you must phone United to request that.

So when I convert the FFC to an ETC, the expiration date would then be beyond that of the other 2 ETC's. That being the case, maybe I ought to buy the $1,300 tickets using the ETC that expires the soonest.

Does anyone know what the Expiration Date of the ETC will be upon conversion from FFC? That might help me to decide how to proceed. (BTW, my next trip is planned for March 2023, so I plan to use the ETC promptly, but of course best laid plans can go awry.)

emcampbe

Slow down there…how are you planning on converting the FFC to an ETC? UA was doing this for a time, but that practice ended probably at least a year ago, before the end of 2020, IIRC. There were a handful of reports of people successfully asking/receiving conversions after that ‘officially’ stopped, but unless I missed a whole lot of stuff, have not heard about any conversions taking place in the last several months.

id expect the FFC, and all the ETCs, to expire as noted, short of another global extension, which is certainly possible at some point, but I’d say not a guarantee.

ValleyOfTheMoon

Hi emcampbe, thanks so much for your reply, although of course I wish it had been better news. (I did a conversion of an FFC to at ETC on 2/11/21, so apparently, I got in just under the wire!) It seems the only way not to lose the value of the FFC is to use it to book travel for 2022. Let's say we do, and I have to cancel because the destination country is still quarantining foreign visitors at that time (as they have done since March 2020). If we cancel those tickets, would United issue a new FFC with a new expiration date, or the 12/31/22 date of the FFC used to pay for the tickets?

emcampbe

the ‘expiration’ date is now a ‘first flight must be flown by’ date. So you can use it into 2023 as long as the first flight departs by 12/31/22. I’m not sure how that applies when applying it as a form of payment vs. booking within the PNR…I don’t have direct experience in trying it since the use of FFC as a form of payment is relatively new, and the ability to book flights past 12/31/22 Only occurred in the few weeks. You can always try applying as a form of payment toward a flight for Jan. 2023 on a dummy booking and seeing what happens - maybe that works?

that said, typically, FFC expiry has been based on original date of issue, with it being valid for only 1 year from the original date of issue. The 12/31 current expiry is a result of at least one, and probably two or three different extensions of those on a global scale due to the pandemic (I’ve lost track). So given that, I’d expect it to revert to that expiry for now with a cancelation. Given the continuing challenges in the industry, and the state of affairs in general, Id expect there may be additional global extensions to these expiry dates, though IMO I wouldn’t be certain - Delta recently extended expiry for theirs through the end of 2023, which may budge UA to do the same, but I can also see them waiting until late summer/fall to see what the situation/outlook is by then. I’ve also seen other (non-travel) programs do extensions for their expiring loyalty currencies now - Starbucks is a giant one that comes to mind.

jrquad

If United cancels the future flight you are likely to get more time or a ETC to replace the ticket, but only if United cancels. Otherwise back to original form of payment if you cancel.

WineCountryUA

Did a within 24 hour cancellation that used a FFC (decided on a different routing). Card was refunded and new FFC was issued. Took a week to refund, manual review.