Maxwell Smart

Interesting follow-up experiences:

We ended up having to change travel dates and paid a fare difference of roughly 80 bucks for the ticket (U-fare).

Today I saw that the fare dropped by $40 for the same flights (trip is in 3 days). Lower fare bucket is H, but showing only H1. In order to make the change online (per the above advice), I could change over to the same departing flight with a longer connection time, bag the credit, then change back to the desired connection time. Unfortunately, because it's showing up as H1 I'm worried that once I make the first change I might not be able to get back to the original 2nd flight if the fare bucket zeros out. Can't risk it because the long layover results in an unacceptably late arrival and other issues, so that's off the table.

I called UA hoping an agent might be able to do this via phone (and only if they waive the fee). Called twice, got 2 totally different and strange responses:

First time I was told that the fare is actually still the same and not lower. When I pressed, I was then told that the lower fare is only for new bookings, can't lower my current fare. (had a flashback to talking with my cable company!)
Second time was told that I could only cancel the trip altogether and re-book with the credit. Further, that it could only be done online, that United will not reissue tickets over the phone for fare reductions.

Sheesh. Guess I'm stuck with the higher fare unless it opens up to H2.

jsloan

Is there a reason that you can't follow this advice? This should work. Cancel the entire trip, get FFC for the full amount, then rebook using the FFC.

The biggest potential drawback is that you could potentially lose the ability to refund to your original form of payment if there are IRROPS, and you might lose benefits from your credit card (e.g., free first checked bag from the Explorer card).

Maxwell Smart

I could, but trip is critical and only 3 days out. If it were me traveling, then maybe I'd do it, but it's my spouse traveling for a special occasion and I simply can't risk the possibility (however remote) of cancelling and then not being able to rebook at current fare. Yes, being very overly risk-averse here, but some things not worth taking a chance on!

HNLbasedFlyer

The "second time" advice sounds right.

serpens

In a hotel forum, it was emphasized that one should make the new reservation first, then cancel the old reservation. This is to be sure inventory does not dry up. Of course, with United (and airlines in general), I think this means the entire value of the old flight goes on a FFC. How often is inventory drying up a problem? How often does the FFC not appear immediately? Thanks.
Thanks for pointing that out.

jsloan

For award inventory, I would absolutely agree. For paid inventory, it's much less of a problem, because you're right -- you'd end up with a FFC for the full amount in that case.

I'd say FFCs are instant in at least 90% of the cases I've seen. The other 10% generally come up when there's something odd with the booking (lots of previous changes, re-routes for schedule change, etc), or for partially-used tickets.

serpens

Thanks, jsloan.
Either I wasn't clear or I'm not understanding your answer. The only reason I'd cancel the flight (in the context of this discussion) is to book the same flight at a cheaper fare. If I cancel, get the FFC, and then find no cheaper flight, it's a problem. If I can't find the same flight at the same price, then it's a bigger problem. Did I miss something?
That helps. I think I would almost always be in the 90%, so the interval for the inventory to dry up is reduced.

jsloan

Sorry, I didn't phrase my answer well. I was agreeing with you. I meant, "it's much less of a problem" in that "it's quite rare to lose the last paid seat while you're canceling another ticket." Because, you're right, if you first rebook the new ticket to secure the fare, and then cancel the old ticket, you'll end up with FFC for the entire old amount. If you cancel, then rebook, you can use that FFC, which normally gets created immediately, at the slight risk of losing the inventory in between.

serpens

Got it, thanks. Sometimes communication is difficult and I appreciate your second effort to aid my understanding.