Lux Flyer

1) Departure of the flight. Check in cut-off time to be safe
2) Assuming this was ticketed directly through United you can use piece-by-piece and will have a new credit issued for any difference. If it was issued by a traditional travel agency, those credits aren't generally eligible for residual credits and you need to use the full value or lose it
3) Would need to check the fare rules for penalties. US originating itineraries have no change fees. I think most European origins don't either, but the fare rules will be the definitive answer.

danielflyer

Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful.

runpete

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​​​​​​​The missing value was found and it’s all been sorted out.

jmastron

Yes, this should work. I just did a variant of this online a few days ago -- 3 of us traveling, each of us had a ~$25 residual credit from a change last November, and I had an additional ~$200 residual credit from a change last April. I made sure the Mileage+ numbers were there for each traveler, and at the payment screen it showed all of the above credits as options to apply to the respective people, and I paid the remainder on one card. All of us are on one PNR. I did have the others saved in my profile previously, but that shouldn't make a difference.

JIMCHI

If I have a ticket that was issued on 8/15/22 for travel on 3/1/23 but I have to cancel it. I understand that the $ will be stored as a travel credit. Will that credit expire one year from the date the credit is issued or one year from the date that the original ticket was issued?

emcampbe

if you go to the travel credits section of your MP account online or in the app, it should state the date.

typically, for FFC, you need to fly by the specific date - which was traditionally one year from the issue date of the original ticket. I still get confused about what got extended when, as their were several COVID related extensions, but believe that should qualify for the latest blanket extension which was good for all FFCs, which allows it to be used for any ticket where the first flight departs by Dec. 31, 2023.

A very quick hack up job on this, but here’s a quick details-redacted version of it on the app from my account (on another [OT] note, it’s hard to believe but finally almost used all of our credits from when COVID started and the associated cancelations since - took a while - going to be hard to realize we have to ‘pay full price’ on our itins again - been a while).

JIMCHI

Thanks but still a little confused. I haven't canceled the ticket yet. So are you saying I have to use the travel credit for a new flight that departs no later than 8/15/23 ? But you mention COVID extensions- does that make the travel credit good even later than 8/15/23 ?
Thanks again.

WineCountryUA

As United states and stated in the wiki of the master thread
Your FFC will be travel by Dec 31.

jmastron

EDIT: Below is wrong, per example in later post confirming that the expiration is based on the ticketing date.

Actually, if I understand the question and the United FAQs, since the ticket hasn't been canceled yet, let's say you cancel on 2/3/23 -- the credit would be good for *travel* beginning by 2/3/24 (a year from when the credit was issued). That doesn't need the waiver, which affected trips canceled in 2022 (or earlier). I canceled a flight in April 2022 and that was subject to the waiver -- it had an expiration date of 12/31/23 (before I used it recently).

I may be wrong, but I don't think any credit expirations are tied to the ticketing date anymore -- which is a good thing; that was always an unwelcome trap, especially for those who book well in advance. You could have a flight booked 11 months in advance, have to cancel right before the trip, and only have 1 month to use it. Now, you would have a year from the date you canceled. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong and there are still ticket-date-based scenarios, because I don't want to spread misinformation.

Given that, it likely makes sense to wait until closer to the flight date to cancel, as that will give the longest expiration.

emcampbe

this is not now and never has been correct. Expiration date has always been based on original date of issue of the original ticket, but then had the pandemic extension[s] incorporated.

Cancelation date does not change anything. The ‘credit’ per se isn’t new once you cancel your itinerary - it is the same PNR, without any flight segments ir tickets included anymore since they would have been canceled. The value paid is still attached to the PNR, so can be used for a new itinerary - either by adding new flights to the existing PNR (or ‘credit’) or by using that credit to fund an entirely new ticket (with any extra value being available for later use, or requiring extra payment if the new itinerary is more than the amount in the PNR). the latter method is new, and was only started to be available during the pandemic - this has some advantages including allowing you to have a new, ‘clean’ PNR for new flights, access to the 24-hour fee-free cancelation, and a new date of issue if you decide to cancel segments again.

WineCountryUA

No it does not

This recent example may help
Booked 2 Jan 2023
Canceled 14 Jan 2023 (to change days)


Expiration for FFC is 1 year from purchase

Expiration for ETC is one year from date of issue

jmastron

I stand corrected -- and disappointed with United for both very misleading wording and for effectively reinstating a pretty unfriendly policy even if it was how things were done in the past.

Thanks for providing a clear example; I was going to ask if anyone had a cancellation in 2023 to verify either way.

The wording in the travel credit FAQ and the terms and conditions on the same page read “Most travel certificates expire 12 months after the original date they're issued”. It’s hard for me to interpret “they” as anything other than “travel the certificates”, and it’s also hard for me to interpret those certificates being issued anytime other than when the cancellation happens. I’m initially purchasing a ticket, not a “travel certificate”, so if they mean “12 months after date the original ticket was issued”, they should say that explicitly. The FAQ on change fees at https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...hange-fee.html does say it that way: “No. If you cancel your flight and don’t choose a new one right away, you’ll get a flight credit that you can use up to one year from your original ticket issue date.”

Hopefully enough complaints from people reading the travel credit version to either rewrite the language there, or even better to reconsider the policy as they eventually did on change residuals. I’ve always thought having to fly 12-months from ticketing was a harsh penalty on those who book well in advance (often at higher prices than available a couple months out). Imagine having to cancel a trip during a school vacation that you booked 330 days in advance, and finding out you only have a month to use it or not. One of the reason airlines used to give for this was legacy system limitations, but that's obviously not the case given the way they were able to manage extended expirations during the waiver period.

But as I stated, I am glad for the correction, and will edit my post so as not to give anyone false hope!

Lux Flyer

"Most travel certificates" for a straight up cancellation are in reality unused tickets and the value remains in the ticket.

emcampbe

you’re conflating two different things (even though your point about Comms at UA is well taken - quite frankly, clear explanations were never a strong suit at UA).

Travel Certificates, aka ETCs (ie, electronic travel certificates) are good for a year from date of issue. It’s just that’s not what you’re getting when you cancel flights. It was an option for a short time - maybe a few months - in 2020 early in the pandemic. But otherwise, ETCs we’re given for compensation, DBs, etc.

when you cancel a flight, you get an FFC, or a future flight credit, not a travel certificate. This again has always been the way. Essentially, it’s the PNR without any segments left. So nothing is newly issued, at cancelation of otherwise. it’s just the shell of your booking, with the value ($ or miles) stored, and you can use that to fund new segments when you choose them. Issue date is still the same - when you booked the original flights. Mostly the same on other carriers. When you choose new segments in the PNR, if you re-book that way, the ticket does get ‘re-issued’, but that still is not and never will be the ‘original’ date of issue.

Since the pandemic, these have actually become more flexible - in the past, you could only add new segments in the existing PNR to use the funds. Now, you can use the funds in that PNR to pay for an entirely new one, getting you the benefits of a new PNR - including a new 24 hour refund ability, an updated date of issue, etc.

like it or not, that’s just the way it is. If you truly want to extend it, you can always use the latter method - book a new itinerary on a new PNR, then use the FFC to pay for it, then wait 24 hours to cancel that (so it doesn’t get ‘refunded’ back to the old PNR) and then voila, you have a new credit for another year. This works unless UA at some point goes back to change fees, but doesn’t seem like that so going to happen, at least anytime soon.

slickvik

If you book one reservation for 2 people, will that generate 1 or 2 future flight credits?