channa

Couple differences, though. The value of the voucher is significant. We're not talking about a 25-cent coupon off a box of cereal here.

Also, other airlines do refund the vouchers. DL and CO, for example, will refund and replace the voucher, respectively. I think it's only UA that treats it like a "coupon" and not a voucher. In fact, other UAL vouchers (Type B) would be refunded.

StingWest

yes, you're right in the strictest sense of things, but I agree with the other poster that it is "customer-unfriendly" to handle things this way, even if the flights are immediately re-booked.

These vouchers are usually not just good-will gestures, they are "hard earned" in terms of the customer having endured some United-caused misadventure, and as such they should be treated more like cash than a department store giveaway.. Just my 2c though...

hobo13

Here's an equally good question. Say I book a ticket with an e-cert, that covers precisely the base fare. But I'm forced to cancel later, long after 24 hours. Can I at least get the taxes / fees refunded (and just forego the e-cert)? For Canada tickets, this amounts to $50 or so.

mahasamatman

And neither am I. The same applies to $25, $50, or $100 coupons that department stores often hand out.

hobo13

The trick is to return it without a receipt. Yes, you'll (usually) only end up with store credit, and not cash, but at least you don't lose the value of your coupon.

mkenwayx

Resurrecting this one...given the change in laws requiring the 24h rule, do the ecerts get refunded now? I know on DL it's been policy before the law that all funds went back to the ecert/DL Dollars (I think NWA used to be like UA IIRC).

Any experience yet with canceling a ticket within 24h using the ecert since thhe change?

hobo13

What law changed?

emcampbe

I doubt it's changed, or had to. I assume this because of the way ecerts are applied. While it shows an ecert on the itin when you get it, the dollars come off of the base fare as if it was never there. Say you can buy a ticket for $200, and have a $50 ecert. It comes out of the fare first, so shows no differently than as if the price was always $150.

Vouchers, on the other hand, are different. These show the fares, minus the discount - so you should get the full amount back in that case.

100countrygoal

Effective today (along with the all-in fare transparency requirements), airlines have to allow you to reserve a ticket for 24 hours without making payment or allow you to cancel within 24 hours and receive a refund (which UA has been doing for a while).

Unfortunately, as the other poster surmised, I'm guessing this law change won't change the cert discount issue. . .

naxos

Experience yesterday with trying to change itin within the 24 hour period for a trip using a $200 ecert. First, second and third answer was NO to be able to reapply the value of the e cert. BUT the fourth answer was YES..My advice is to be persisitent.

twoaisleplane

Does the "no e-cert returned with a refund" rule apply if the reason for the refund is a schedule change by the airline?

Here's the issue:

I used an ecert to buy a ticket for a 6pm flight RSW-IAH. (CO flights, but booked on ua.com precisely because I wanted to use my ecert). Now CO has cancelled that flight entirely, and the last flight out of RSW to IAH each day is around 11:00 am, which is what they have me rebooked on.

I don't want to leave over 7 hours earlier, and am thinking about calling and asking them to refund the ticket. But will I lose the value of my ecert entirely? Seems unfair if the schedule change was entirely of their making.

bamboola

I have been lucky in the past to get my e-certificate back when I cancel an itinerary within 24-hours. The agent simply transfers me to web support to cancel the ticket and to return the e-certificate.

Today I attempted to book a ticket using a $350 e-certificate on a $360 fare. I expected to pay only $10, but the $350 value is applied only toward the base fare and I would have to pay $50 in taxes.

I quickly aborted the booking and didn't finalize it. However, the booking showed up in my account as "not yet ticketed and will be cancelled if not ticketed by XX date."

I called the 1K line to remove the booking. The agent said that the e-certificate has been redeemed even though I never finalized the booking. She said she would have to transfer me to web support to get the e-certificate back. I hung up and tried again. The second agent told me the same thing. Both of these agents happened to be Ex-Con agents.

On my third call, I got a "real" UA agent who was able to confirm what I've known all along - if the ticket is not ticketed, the e-certificate has not been redeemed. There was no need to contact web support because the e-certificate was not used and can be applied to a future ticket.

Therefore, no ticketing = no e-certificate used and it is still good.

lax2010

Why did you have to wait for a real ex-UA agent to confirm that the Ecert has not been used? Can't you just try to use it for a new booking to see if it is still good?