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Change Fees "Gone For Good"(WW ex-USA,non-BE), credit for lower fare!, Intl&BE waiver

View Poll Results: What do you think of the recent UA changes in Changes fees?
Good idea: No Domestic Change fee w/ no rebooking residual AND No Standby fee/Free SDC all elites
148
64.35%
Good idea: No Domestic Change fee w/ no rebooking residual but NOT No Standby fee/Free SDC all elite
25
10.87%
Good idea: No Standby fee/Free SDC all elite but NOT No Domestic Change fee w/ no rebooking residual
18
7.83%
Neutral /dont care about either
30
13.04%
Dont like / think either is a good idea
9
3.91%
Voters: 230. You may not vote on this poll

Old Aug 30, 2020, 2:32 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: DELee
Latest Update: 23 December 2021:

"Change fees are gone" (change fee waiver): https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/notices.html#changefeesaregone
We've permanently gotten rid of change fees for most Economy and premium cabin tickets for travel within the U.S., or between the U.S. and Mexico or the Caribbean. There also won't be change fees for other international travel originating in the U.S. Learn more

For all other standard Economy and premium cabin tickets, change fees are waived through January 31, 2022. Basic Economy tickets can only be changed if theyre issued by December 31, 2021, for travel commencing by December 31, 2021. See terms and conditions
(change fee waiver) Terms and Conditions: https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/notices.html#ChangeFeeTerms

Tickets: Applies to standard fare tickets issued between March 3, 2020, and January 31, 2022, and Basic Economy fare tickets issued between March 3, 2020, and April 30, 2021, or Basic Economy tickets issued between May 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 for travel commencing between August 11 and December 31, 2021.

Changes/Cancellations: Customers with Basic Economy fare tickets issued between March 3, 2020, and April 30, 2021, or between May 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 for travel commencing between August 11 and December 31, 2021, or standard fare tickets issued between March 3, 2020, and January 31, 2022, will be permitted to change without paying a change fee. If the new flight is priced higher, the customer may change for no change fee but must pay the fare difference. If the new flight is priced lower, the customer may change without paying a change fee, and standard fare tickets may be given residual value in the form of a future flight credit. If you purchased your ticket from a third-party agency, please check with the issuing agency for the rules of your ticket. Contract fares such as special bulk fares sold by travel agencies (e.g., opaque) may not be eligible for free changes. Any changes or cancellations must occur prior to ticketed travel date.

Please note: As of August 30, 2020, we no longer have change fees for most Economy and premium cabin tickets for flights within the U.S., or between the U.S. and Mexico or the Caribbean. We also no longer have change fees for international travel originating in the U.S. For more information visit united.com/changefee.

Fare validity: This applies to all standard fare tickets issued through January 31, 2022, all destinations, all points-of-sale, all travel dates available for sale, provided ticket number starts with 016. It also applies to Basic Economy fare tickets issued through April 30, 2021 or Basic Economy tickets issued between May 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 for travel commencing between August 11 and December 31, 2021, all destinations, all points of sale, provided the ticket number starts with 016.

Miscellaneous: Fares, fees, rules and offers are subject to change without notice. Seats are capacity-controlled and may not be available on all flights or days. Some fares are nonrefundable except during the first 24 hours after purchase. Other restrictions may apply.

New fine print (1 April 2021)
  • You can change Basic Economy tickets without change fees if the ticket is issued by April 30, 2021,
  • and all other international travel without change fees if the ticket is issued by May 31, 2021.
  • If the new flight is priced lower, the customer may change without paying a change fee, and may be given residual value in the form of a future flight credit.
Updated 30 Sept 2021
Tickets: Applies to standard fare tickets issued between March 3, 2020, and December 31, 2021, and Basic Economy fare tickets issued between March 3, 2020, and April 30, 2021, or Basic Economy tickets issued between May 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 for travel commencing between August 11 and December 31, 2021.

Changes/Cancellations: Customers with Basic Economy fare tickets issued between March 3, 2020, and April 30, 2021, or between May 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 for travel commencing between August 11 and December 31, 2021, or standard fare tickets issued between March 3, 2020, and December 31, 2021, will be permitted to change without paying a change fee. If the new flight is priced higher, the customer may change for no change fee but must pay the fare difference. If the new flight is priced lower, the customer may change without paying a change fee, and standard fare tickets may be given residual value in the form of a future flight credit. If you purchased your ticket from a third-party agency, please check with the issuing agency for the rules of your ticket. Contract fares such as special bulk fares sold by travel agencies (e.g., opaque) may not be eligible for free changes. Any changes or cancellations must occur prior to ticketed travel date.

Please note: As of August 30, 2020, we no longer have change fees for most Economy and premium cabin tickets for flights within the U.S., or between the U.S. and Mexico or the Caribbean. We also no longer have change fees for international travel originating in the U.S. For more information visit united.com/changefee.

Fare validity: This applies to all standard fare tickets issued through December 31, 2021, all destinations, all points-of-sale, all travel dates available for sale, provided ticket number starts with 016. It also applies to Basic Economy fare tickets issued through April 30, 2021 or Basic Economy tickets issued between May 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 for travel commencing between August 11 and December 31, 2021, all destinations, all points of sale, provided the ticket number starts with 016.

Miscellaneous: Fares, fees, rules and offers are subject to change without notice. Seats are capacity-controlled and may not be available on all flights or days. Some fares are nonrefundable except during the first 24 hours after purchase. Other restrictions may apply.

Originally Posted by spartacusmcfly
I just went through the process on a post-April 1st itinerary and was issued the new FFC vs ETCs. The agent tried to explain the new FFCs in detail:

The Bad:
1. No more ETC
2. No transferability
3. No combinability
4. Given there is no combinability, there is no more date-pushing (meaning new expiration date is most favorable of combined cert dates)

The Good:
5. Can use multiple towards a single itinerary (up to 10 she said)
6. Can pull from multiple accounts (3 from yours, 3 from spouse), so you don't have to split the locator to use from multiple accounts
7. Can be used on partner itineraries as long as one segment is UA
8. The FFCs show up in the account of the recipient and the booker. So I can see my spouse's FFCs if I booked the itenerary
9. FFCs now show up as a payment method in the app booking flow. For multi-passenger FFCs, both passengers show up!

I can live with all this, in exchange for no change fees, and reclaiming residual!
The fine-print on the change rules:
  1. If the new ticket costs less, the residual value from the old ticket is lost
  2. Multiple cancelled reservations cannot be combined to pay for a more expensive ticket
  3. Strictly U.S. and Mexico or the Caribbean only (excludes Canada) and excludes Basic Economy and International flights
    1. Worldwide until Dec 31, 2020
United Airlines Permanently Eliminates Change Fees
Applies to all Economy and Premium cabin tickets for travel within the U.S.;
Airline also announces complimentary standby travel, becomes only U.S. airline that will let all customers in all classes of service fly same-day standby for free
With these new options, United gives more flexibility than any other U.S. carrier when customers' travel plans change
Video(1) Photos(1)

CHICAGO, Aug. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The only thing constant is change and at United Airlines, some of the fees associated with changes related to flying are gone for good. The carrier announced today that it is permanently getting rid of change fees on all standard Economy and Premium cabin tickets for travel within the U.S., effective immediately. And starting on January 1, 2021, any United customer can fly standby for free on a flight departing the day of their travel regardless of the type of ticket or class of service, a first among U.S. carriers, while MileagePlus Premier members can confirm a seat on a different flight on the same day with the same departure and arrival cities as their original ticket if a seat in the same ticket fare class is available.

United is also extending its waiver for new tickets issued through December 31, 2020, to permit unlimited changes with no fee. This policy applies to all ticket types issued after March 3, 2020 and is valid for domestic and international travel. With these improvements, no U.S. airline gives their customers more flexibility when booking and changing their travel plans than United Airlines.

"Change is inevitable these days but it's how we respond to it that matters most. When we hear from customers about where we can improve, getting rid of this fee is often the top request," said Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, in a video message to customers. "Following previous tough times, airlines made difficult decisions to survive, sometimes at the expense of customer service. United Airlines won't be following that same playbook as we come out of this crisis. Instead, we're taking a completely different approach and looking at new ways to serve our customers better."

The new change fee policy applies to all standard Economy and Premium cabin tickets for travel within the U.S. 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and customers will not be limited in the number of times they adjust their flights.

Additionally, United is giving customers more flexibility to change their flights on the day of their travel so they can head home if a meeting ends earlier or enjoy a few more hours on vacation. With the ability to list for same-day standby for free, customers will now have an option to take a different flight with the same origin and destination airports as their original itinerary if space is available at departure. This enhanced option will be available to all customers for travel within the U.S. and to and from international destinations beginning on January 1, 2021. Customers who want to switch flights will be able to add themselves to the standby list through United's award-winning mobile app, on united.com or at the airport no later than 30 minutes prior to departure for domestic flights and one hour before departure on international flights.

The carrier is also improving the travel experience for its MileagePlus members including waiving all redeposit fees on award travel for flights changed or cancelled more than 30 days before departure and allowing all MileagePlus Premier members to confirm a different flight on the day of their travel. As a way to thank MileagePlus Premier members for their loyalty, beginning January 1, 2021, all Premier members will be able to confirm a seat for free on a different flight with the same departure and arrival cities as their original ticket. This expanded option will allow MileagePlus Silver members and above to confirm a new seat in the same ticket fare class if space is available. Earlier this year, United announced that it will extend status for MileagePlus Premier and Global Services members through January 2022. United also reduced thresholds for Premier qualification by 50 percent for each status level, to make reaching an even higher status tier easier.

For more information on United's new flexible travel policies, visit https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...hange-fee.html.

......
Related Threads
AA Eliminates Many Change Fees, Other Benefits 31 Aug 2020
Delta to Eliminate Change Fees on Domestic Tickets [Consolidated Thread]
Alaska Eliminates Change Fees (9/1/2020)

UA will extend BE/International change fee waiver (In response to AA?)
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Change Fees "Gone For Good"(WW ex-USA,non-BE), credit for lower fare!, Intl&BE waiver

Old Sep 16, 2021, 8:30 pm
  #676  
formerly 1984SW
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Originally Posted by emcampbe
im not sure what I said, but glad to help.
It was the reference to September 31. ("Thirty days hath September...")
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Old Sep 17, 2021, 1:23 pm
  #677  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
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I am looking through the terms/online blogs and still not 100% sure about united policy. Lets say I purchase an economy ticket (ORD-EWR 12/1-12/4) for $200. If I have to cancel the ticket on 11/20, will I be able to get $200 as future credit? If I do, may I use the credit for someone else?

Thanks!
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Old Sep 17, 2021, 1:33 pm
  #678  
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Originally Posted by zxrst
I am looking through the terms/online blogs and still not 100% sure about united policy. Lets say I purchase an economy ticket (ORD-EWR 12/1-12/4) for $200. If I have to cancel the ticket on 11/20, will I be able to get $200 as future credit? ...
Yes and good until 12/2022
For a domestic ticket, there are no cancellation fees, no changes fees and you generally have a year to use (but UA has extended that to 12/2022). You will be responsible for any fare change.

Originally Posted by zxrst
If I do, may I use the credit for someone else? ....
Not impossible but not straightforward
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Old Sep 27, 2021, 12:49 pm
  #679  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
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Originally Posted by N104UA
It appears UA with it latest website release now allows you to rebook the same flight into a lower fare and generate a credit vs having to either completely cancel or switch to a different flight and switch back
​​​​​​​Not seeing this option for a flight I ticketed on Sep 9th and travel next March. I booked a "W" fare, .COM is showing the price ~$100 lower than what I paid 2 weeks prior. I tried a Change while logged-in and it is only showing First class available as a Change option for the same day.

Last edited by DenverF9Flier; Sep 27, 2021 at 12:49 pm Reason: Add Quote
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Old Sep 27, 2021, 1:01 pm
  #680  
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Originally Posted by DenverF9Flier
Not seeing this option for a flight I ticketed on Sep 9th and travel next March. I booked a "W" fare, .COM is showing the price ~$100 lower than what I paid 2 weeks prior. I tried a Change while logged-in and it is only showing First class available as a Change option for the same day.
You'll probably have to change to a different flight (same day...different day...whatever) and then change back to the original flight. I've had to do that several times. While we do have the one report of being able to do it as a change (that I'm aware of), without more consistent reports, I'd be hesitant to say this was something intentional. It's possible the situation of the poster being able to do this was an anomaly, though also potentially possible that UA has made this possible, but isn't consistently working - as many in here know, UAs IT, and what can and can not be done, is not particularly consistent. YMMV.
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Old Sep 28, 2021, 12:44 pm
  #681  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,323
Any news on an extension for international flights beyond September 30th? I have a couple TATL trips next summer that I might be tempted to book now if I must, but I would prefer to hold out for a little while longer. I know they have been announcing the extensions last minute, but now that travel is opening up, I fear they may be bringing the change fees back.
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Old Sep 28, 2021, 1:15 pm
  #682  
 
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Originally Posted by downinit
... but now that travel is opening up, I fear they may be bringing the change fees back.
This is not happening. If I listed all the reasons why, mod would have to do a database reset
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Old Sep 28, 2021, 1:47 pm
  #683  
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Originally Posted by spartacusmcfly
This is not happening. If I listed all the reasons why, mod would have to do a database reset

Travel is not opening up, or change fees are not coming back (ex-International?).

Look, travel is opening up...but slowly, and by all means, not everything is opening, or going to open soon. US already plans to open up travel to many more people in November, and some other places are starting to open...Canada already has, for example (for vaccinated folks), but many others are not. Australia is saying they will open by Dec, but who knows? Asia is still mostly closed to foreigners.

So travel is opening up a bit, and I do wonder if from the perspective of UA (and other US-based carriers), the opening up to the US of vaccinated foreigners will be enough to have them take away change fee waivers. Not saying that's how it should be...just wondering if that's how they will interpret it. Perhaps there will be some sort of medium, where specific areas (ie, Asia) will benefit from continued waivers, while other areas (ie, Europe) will not. Or perhaps they will implement the change fees again, but will waive them for folks who ask. Who knows?

On the other hand, given the lack of change fees for travel ex-US, why they can't just implement that for around the world I'm not sure. For me, I have for several years been booking one-ways to/from Canada, because, well, it's cheaper that way. It's beyond me why, say, SFO-YYZ or SFO-YYZ-SFO would not charge change fees, but booking YYZ-SFO would. I'd guess its simply because they think they can.
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Old Sep 29, 2021, 3:13 pm
  #684  
 
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residual credit for lower fare?

If I'm reading correctly some people have gotten a residual credit FFC when the fare drops? Originally, I had thought I could not do this. If it is possible, how do you do that? I have a trip booked for next April (3 people) and current fare is over $100 per passenger cheaper. I chatted with an agent they said they could not help cause I booked the ticket over 30 days ago. Seemed like an odd answer as I'm not sure why the 30days matters.
Can I just cancel the reservation get a FFC and rebook using that FFC and the difference in fare is given to me in some form of credit?
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Old Sep 29, 2021, 4:02 pm
  #685  
 
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Originally Posted by PDXflying
If I'm reading correctly some people have gotten a residual credit FFC when the fare drops? Originally, I had thought I could not do this. If it is possible, how do you do that? I have a trip booked for next April (3 people) and current fare is over $100 per passenger cheaper. I chatted with an agent they said they could not help cause I booked the ticket over 30 days ago. Seemed like an odd answer as I'm not sure why the 30days matters.
Can I just cancel the reservation get a FFC and rebook using that FFC and the difference in fare is given to me in some form of credit?
I have a very similar question with slightly different details. I booked a ow J ticket LAX-EWR through Amex Travel that has now gone down in price by ~$50 per pax. If I try to change it online, I am given other flight options, some of them with additional fare collect, some with $0 change, but none with a lower fare offer (even though many should be available). At the top, it states that I should reach out to my travel agent as .com will not provide residual credits. Amex Travel says UA policy is that residual fare is forfeited, so they cannot rebook at the lower fare.

Another option available to me on .com is to just cancel the flights, and it is offering a FFC for the full amount of the fare. Is this instantly available so that I can rebook at the new fare immediately? And will I be able to use that residual $100, or is there some kind of restriction with tickets booked through an agent?

Lastly, would an agent be able to re-price over the phone or same issue as .com... no residual if booked outside of UA channels?
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Old Sep 29, 2021, 4:16 pm
  #686  
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Originally Posted by PDXflying
If I'm reading correctly some people have gotten a residual credit FFC when the fare drops? Originally, I had thought I could not do this. If it is possible, how do you do that? I have a trip booked for next April (3 people) and current fare is over $100 per passenger cheaper. I chatted with an agent they said they could not help cause I booked the ticket over 30 days ago. Seemed like an odd answer as I'm not sure why the 30days matters. ...
Because UA has a policy allowing the agent to refare to the lower fare in the first 30 days for a $50 service fee

Originally Posted by PDXflying
Can I just cancel the reservation get a FFC and rebook using that FFC and the difference in fare is given to me in some form of credit?
Not that simple. You can not use the FFC to rebook the same flight. So you need to cancel, book a different flight for the same or lower fee, than cancel again and rebook the original flight for the lower fee. Along the way in one or both rebookings you will pick up the credit.

You can ask why UA makes this difficult BECAUSE it is not in their interest to let you do this.
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Old Sep 29, 2021, 6:26 pm
  #687  
 
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Originally Posted by WineCountryUA
Because UA has a policy allowing the agent to refare to the lower fare in the first 30 days for a $50 service fee

Not that simple. You can not use the FFC to rebook the same flight. So you need to cancel, book a different flight for the same or lower fee, than cancel again and rebook the original flight for the lower fee. Along the way in one or both rebookings you will pick up the credit.

You can ask why UA makes this difficult BECAUSE it is not in their interest to let you do this.
Thank you! This seems to have worked. I changed the flight and changed back and got the fare difference as FFC.
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Old Sep 29, 2021, 9:51 pm
  #688  
 
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Originally Posted by daslax
I have a very similar question with slightly different details. I booked a ow J ticket LAX-EWR through Amex Travel that has now gone down in price by ~$50 per pax. If I try to change it online, I am given other flight options, some of them with additional fare collect, some with $0 change, but none with a lower fare offer (even though many should be available). At the top, it states that I should reach out to my travel agent as .com will not provide residual credits. Amex Travel says UA policy is that residual fare is forfeited, so they cannot rebook at the lower fare.

Another option available to me on .com is to just cancel the flights, and it is offering a FFC for the full amount of the fare. Is this instantly available so that I can rebook at the new fare immediately? And will I be able to use that residual $100, or is there some kind of restriction with tickets booked through an agent?

Lastly, would an agent be able to re-price over the phone or same issue as .com... no residual if booked outside of UA channels?
So just for anyone who may want to try this in the future, there does not appear to be a way to get residual value on an agency ticket. I went through the process of canceling the flight on .com and when I went to rebook, I got the same options as above for changing flights: cheaper flights showed up as $0 residual value. United was able to restore my original booking so Im back to where I started. I could have just saved the FFC for a more expensive trip and paid for a new booking at the lower fare, but it wasnt enough of a fare difference to keep that money locked up.
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Old Sep 29, 2021, 11:20 pm
  #689  
 
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So it's Sep 30 (in the most timezones) and
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...hange-fee.html
still shows Sep 30 as the end of feelessness for internationally originating tickets. I have to book an EU-US-EU ticket with an uncertain return date. I guess I should do it now to take advantage.
Or will they not immediately update the fare conditions? I am assuming the lack of change fee is baked into each fare so they'd have to update one by one. Or can they automatically change all overnight?
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Old Sep 29, 2021, 11:31 pm
  #690  
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Originally Posted by fatlasercat
.... I am assuming the lack of change fee is baked into each fare so they'd have to update one by one. Or can they automatically change all overnight?
Waivers override fare rules
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