canalskater

I have a ticket with UA for Syd to Yow.($1700) that I want to cancel . I was told by UA that I will get charged a $300 change fee the next ticket I book and then will have a UA credit for the balance. I was also told the first new ticket I book has to be in my name, but any leftover credit can be used by anyone. Is this correct or is it possible to use the entire amount for someone else in my family (my son is flying YOW-MEL in a few weeks).
If UA is correct, i am thinking of buying the absolute cheapest UA flight and then having the credit for future use for anyone.
Thanks for assistance and any ideas on the cheapest UA flight out there.

WineCountryUA

yes, yes, yes

azzurro

As you may have read in past posts, you may wish to wait to cancel as a couple things could result in your getting a full refund, especially if your flight is still quite a ways away: if they change scheduled and cause a misconnect or your arrival departure time is so different that you can no longer accomplish what you initially purchased the ticket for (late for an event, etc), or there is a travel waiver on your scheduled time of departure. It is also possible that neither of these 2 things will happen but could be useful to not cancel the ticket until an hour before departure...

WineCountryUA

This small chance needs to be weight against the chance of missing the the cancellation deadline and losing everything or the desire to use the credit now to book another alternative. These are choices only you can make for yourself.

flyer081900

If you cancel a ticket, you are entitled to a refund for security fees, etc that are beyond the cost of the ticket.

WineCountryUA

Your post refund credit will be based on the ticket price (including government / airport fees). What security fees are you thinking about that are not part of the ticket price?

flyer081900

I just meant to say all fees itemized on the receipt beyond the base fare.

WineCountryUA

They are included in the non-refundable portion. Some have attempted to get taxes refunded separately -- I believe they were unsuccessful.

UA's Contract of Carriage states
Since the governments / airports get paid on ticketing, it is not the airlines that are keeping the funds
Advocates urge refund of air taxes when flights aren't taken

flyer081900

If you call United or ask an employee...of course you will not get your money back. I cut out the middle person and fill out a DOT complaint form. I have always gotten a refund.

canalskater

A refund for what? The entire cost of the ticket and no change fee?

flyer081900

If I cancel a ticket, I request a refund for all taxes and fees. The airline is entitled to the base fare....that portion is non- refundable IMO.

DENflyer3

In looking over my whole years travel I have a whole slew of cancelled tickets, probably about 10k worth. Am I allowed to string them all together in some manner including change fees to buy lets say a more expensive SYD HKG J seat?

emcampbe

No. The value of each ticket remains in each individual PNR, and can not be combined. While the word canceled is used - you are only canceling the segments - the PNR remains active and you are simply changing to a new date/route to be determined later. Assuming these are typical non-refundable tickets, and you canceled prior to departure of the first segment, you are able, after paying the change fee (if applicable) in new $, and gain access to the value in the PNR.

The value in multiple PNRs can't be combined, however, if you want, you can book one way instead of round trip to use 2 of the older ones for one round trip. Sometimes, however, 2x one way is more than a round trip, and also note if you need to make any changes down the line, it will cost two change fees if you need to make changes in both directions.

Also - I notice you used the word "years" I'm not clear if you meant years as in the cancelations were made over the last several years, or referring to the whole year of travel (I.e this year only). You must rebook within one year of the original issue date of your ticket. If you don't, the value goes poof. Just something to think about. So for example, if you booked a ticket on Feb. 2, 2014, and then canceled it later, regardless of your start date of travel, you must rebook a new itinerary by Feb. 1, 2015.

WineCountryUA

Two key issues
-- 1 year ticket life (as already covered)
-- What do the fare rules state on refundability? if not refundable , see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...le-flight.html .

But in simple terms, only one unused ticket can be used to book another trip. See the referenced thread for more.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Unfortunately, you can't really view a cancelled non-refundable ticket as "cash". You have to view it as a cancelled ticket which has to be re-booked to salvage the cash value.