United may have been first out of the gate, but AAs changes murder United's changes.
I sure hope UA mAAtches all of them.

Hi NYC Flyer – we hope you like the changes. To clarify, the existing change fee waiver policy that is valid for tickets issued on/after April 1st and up to December 31, 2020 applies to all United ticket types including Basic or International, and allows customers to change without paying a change fee for travel up to 12 months from the original travel date. You can find more information about that waiver in the FAQ at this site: https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...hange-fee.html

The new policy, which is elimination of change fees on most Economy and Premium Economy tickets within the United States, starts January 1. Unlike a travel waiver, this will be United’s permanent policy going forward. However, also beginning January 1, same day standby will be complimentary for everyone, and all MileagePlus Premier members will be able to same day change to a different flight and get a confirmed seat at no cost if their fare class is open. Better yet, the same day standby and same day change policy for Premier members applies to both domestic and international flights. While everyone can same day standby on a domestic or international flight, the ability to get a same day confirmed seat on a different flight at no cost when the same fare class is open is a Premier benefit. The included link has more information and full details.

Glad you enjoy the changes and we’re looking forward to seeing you in the friendly skies! While the elimination of change fees doesn’t extend to international trips, the elimination of a fee for Premier members to same day change or same day standby applies to domestic and international flights.

Thanks Drgreg, glad you like the changes and looking forward to seeing you on board soon!

Yes, but I don't see United offering unused residual value without significant customer/competitor push-back. I think UA's pricing engine not only makes extensive use of AI but also withholds low fare buckets until closer to departure. From my experience it is pretty rare that the lowest fares are offered more than 2 months prior to a flight. The $200 change fee helped prevent a mass re-ticketing issue as fares dropped. Offering unused residual value probably messes with their pricing model as many customers could easily capture the lowest daily price leading up to a trip. There are plenty of websites that will issue fare alerts to make this an easy process.

Not really, as UA sells very few tickets more than 2 months in advance. Consumers have learned to wait.

You may see price differentials tighten for "basic" BE, with higher all-in cost once extras are bundled in. This will by dynamic as market demand shifts.

I am lifetime gold on AA...as soon as I got over the amazement of AA's announcement, my next thougth was "will my benefits be cut, or will lifetime status go away entirely".

Thanks and congrats on shaking up the industry! My point was that none of the details about stacking unused tickets, storing multiple unused tickets, etc after Jan 1 has been announced.

That's the problem with going first in the airline industry. Folks tend to forget the first mover and the second mover gets to enhance their response to hit the weak points of the first mover. Classic one-upmanship

UA was second mover on some of the original COVID waivers with an improved terms.

While first movers change the landscape, second movers tend to get the credit for the better response.

At the very least include Canada! (selfishly)

I think this is a positive change especially for my work travel which sometimes needs to be flexible but I'm not willing to pay the way more expensive flexible fares. That said, I wonder how much of this was done to reduce potential DOT backlash to the lack of refunds offered. The issue of change fees has been on DOTs radar screen for some time but I'm merely guessing.

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Future changes will be interesting to see how the environment evolves. As mentioned previously moving to booking One-ways is a given; does that turn the lowest fares into RT only?
Basic Economy to Economy spread will increase most likely.

I added a :"fine-print" section to the Wiki. Help me edit/keep it current (or take it out if not appropriate.

You know, I was wondering if they take one more step (i.e. you have a non-refundable "bank account" where you can put in the money to be used for a longer period of time and cancellations go back to the account), then how many of us won't mind putting some money in that bank with a small discount and occasional promotion?

Not necessarily. There is a huge advantage to booking RTs if you expect to change the return flight and might need to pay a fare difference -- you get to calculate advance purchase from the date of the original purchase. So, if you have a RT G fare, there is a K fare in the market (say, +$20 each way), and you need to change the return, inventory is K1 G0, and the 0-advance purchase fare is an E (+$400 each way), booking an RT will save you $380 on this change. The numbers are made up, but the scenario isn't -- I've been on both sides of it (a RT, and a cheap change, and two one-ways, and an expensive change).

Not any more than was already the case; that's already true in many markets.

There's no reason for that to happen as a result of this change (although it might happen anyway, just as a natural consequence of time). Southwest already had a similar policy (arguably, a better one, in many aspects), and UA is already trying to match its BE product to WN's cheapest fares. The lack of change fees doesn't immediately have to translate into a higher regular economy fare.

I looked at a few routes and fare classes on its matrix and they are showing up. Most of the oal fares have a mix of non ref no change fee and ref with penalty with no change fee depnding on route and carrier. Very much like back then.