BudgetJetsetter

I know it's totally speculation but any thoughts on what are the chances United's travel/change waivers get extended past May 30th?

I'm currently in Vietnam and have a return leg ticket back to the US for mid-July but am not 100% sure it is a good idea for us to visit then. We may want to push back the dates depending on the situation.

SFO 1K

I think we at least have another month, maybe two with waivers. Depends how much demand picks up in that time.

kevflyer

I think maybe once more month as well. Travel is ticking up now.

gokeeper

At least another month, in that case I will book spring break travel for my family of 4, with a backup plan to travel in June 2021.

Repooc17

Another month is likely, I think. Beyond that, maybe not.

TSA has been publishing daily checkpoint data at US airports, and while number do not provide a full exactness of actual travelers, all indication point to a healthy uptick.

https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus/passenger-throughput

From the low number of 87,534 on April 14 to 318,449 just yesterday (May 21).

In seeing some crew YouTube videos, some airports are no longer ghost towns anymore, and are actually filled with passengers. A lot of promising stuff!

wco81

Sure hope they say something soon.

WineCountryUA

Last month the extension posted on the 29th, the 2nd to last day of the month. I would not expect any earlier this month. UA would prefer people to make a decision on an existing reservation to get a better idea of future traffic (and fewer waiting, hoping for grounds for a refund).

nerdbirdsjc

I expect the change fee waivers and ETC options to remain in place for the remainder of 2020. There's really no upside to United to ditch them anytime soon.

jsloan

I disagree. In good times, ancillary fees are a gigantic source of profit for UA. Furthermore, they have a decade's worth of revenue management tools built upon the assumption of punitive change fees. The current waivers are turning that on its head; it's virtually impossible for UA to tell the actual load on any given flight right now.

UA, and the other US carriers, will ditch these policies as soon as it's competitive to do so. Given that UA has said that demand seems to be turning a corner, that might well be as soon as the end of this month. They can always reinstate the waivers if it turns out to be necessary.

thaliajen

I booked a Polaris seat from ORD-EWR--ATH . Then I saw that my Polaris Flight from EWR is “waitlisted.” It also doesn’t offer any other direct from EWR option. In fact, it only offers Lufthansa flights. I’m going to call for options by the 31st, but this is my 3rd time attempting to get the full Polaris experience.

My 1st flight had the bedding & most offering but no lounge or teddy bear, lol, and no Polaris sears. My 2nd flight had no Polaris seat and the EWR lounge not open yet.

So I was truly hoping that this third trip to Greece would offer everything. But the Polaris Lounges are closed, and they’re trying to get me to take Lufthansa. I GET that this virus is forcing changes. I bought my ticket in January because I saw a great deal. Who was to imagine this?

i bought trip insurance but I’m unsure what it covers. We need to make changes by May 31st but my flight isn’t until August. So how am I supposed to know now what they’ll be doing in August? We should be given at least a change/cancel policy that is closer to the departure date.

myperks

since there was a change in your itinerary, I don’t think you need to change by May 31. Just don’t accept the changes and let your itinerary sit. That is what a rep told me about a cancelled flight in July.

WineCountryUA

I would rate that as very bad information or misunderstanding. The May 31 date (presently) refers to when you cancel the itin or no fee. If not extend and UA can offer a flight alternative that meets their policy, the fees may not be waived (although you can challenger the schedule change to the DoT but that has not yet done a lot of good).

myperks

Interesting. This is the same ticket that you provided information on in the other thread where I was trying to get a refund on an AC cancelled flight and United wants me to go on their one stop flight. I was told by two separate reps that I can cancel up to day of flight and get an ETC for two years, or FFC for up to one year from date of purchase or change flights free of charge. Both told me that they will keep reservation as is without accepting the changes on their end and it is still showing as not accepted on my app.

WineCountryUA

If done by 31 May (if not extended) for pre-3 March tickets or if the flight was originally booked 3 March 2020 or later.

Best to read the notices yourself -- https://www.united.com/ual/en/US/fly...l/notices.html and find the one that apply to your case. There are multiple waivers and easy to "blend" the T&Cs and get a bad answer.

as far as I know that means nothing and at some point, the UA system will auto-accept the change,

myperks

thanks. I might need to decide quickly then. Ticket was purchased in December. I thought the rule applied to “just because I don’t want to fly”
situations while I actually have a flight that is cancelled on my reservation. I would think that overrides the May 31 deadline, or at least that was what I was told.