ozweepay

I'm a total newbie when it comes to gov fares... I've traveled on them only a handful of times. They have always booked into Y (along with the corresponding EQM/RDM bonuses). Since my travel is via the NSF, we are obliged to use SATO as our TA.

My question is this: since Y is "unrestricted", what changes am I allowed to make to the ticket once SATO books it with UA? Can I change the times/dates I fly without charge? The routing as well? Or do I have to go thru SATO for all changes?

roadrhino

Generally, if it's before you start travel (receive boarding passes) you must make changes with SATO. Once you start travel you can change dates/times with UA at no charge but if you change routing it may bump against another city-pair or contract fare. If that's the case, you can use the gov't charge card to pay the diff. but be prepared to justify the expense.
Even more bizarre is the effort to get a refund if you choose a more economical way home for example.

UA_Flyer

Congratulations on making 1K this year on mostly government fares. I will also write in gripe to UA to allow government fares to qualify for all promos.

djerikd

I've changed times, dates and routing without charge on both international and domestic tickets. I always prefer to deal with UA or the night&weekend SATO phone agents than the local SATO/CTO office (who always think we're trying to pull a fast one), so I wait until the travel has commenced. IIRC, SATO wants all changes to go through them, but the carrier is more than able to facilitate ticket changes. I just wish SATO would issue tickets more than 72 hours in advance so I could get on the upgrade list earlier.

Regretfully, the latest list of city pairs has my frequent routings going to AA, who I abandoned a few years ago when I got status on UA. Getting creative and flying out of CLD instead of SAN, so I can fly UA, practically quadruples most of my prospective fares and makes them cost prohibitive.

Superguy

We have the general 72 hour rule, but our in house travel office was always cooperative about ticketing me earlier (sometimes up to a month for international travel) so I could upgrade. They'd call the contract travel office and tell them to ticket me, then send me an email telling me to call UA and have at it.

Portolan

our (DoD) agency's travel agent is Carlson-Wagonlit (which, I might add, always gave us great service when we had an in-house CW team, less good when it moved out-house , and now terrible under the DTS linkage). DTS case in point: during the most miserable airline trip I've ever had (details to painful to post, but it was a rare trip on AA) I needed to reroute. Tried calling the emergency number (which worked in the past) and got a recording directing me to use the phone number printed on my travel orders...except they aren't under DTS. When I finally found a working emergency number, CW said there would be another "travel agent fee" ($23) for them to reschedule. Me: -click-. Called AA direct (and have done this many times with UA to keep this forum-relevant) and made the change at no fuss and no charge. The city-pair fares are fully non-restricted with the only possible charges being a move to a flight where the limited availability more havily discounted fare isn't available or a dramaitc change to a different airline. The city pair fares are route independent (within reason, whatever that means), so direct flights and 1-stoppers are the same fare.

And my agency, too, will ticket before the 3 day window. That is mostly in place to protect the traveller since we are personally liable for the "government" credit card charges (another racket since I'd much rather use my UA MP Visa) and the earlier they are charged the higher the probability that the bill will come before the travel settlement.

Superguy

Thanks.

Looks like it hit a snag today. The conference I'm going to is canned, so I have to find another one to go to. And of course, the boss is out until Monday ...

Super

Superguy

NW started pulling that crap earlier this year. They require a reticket anytime a change is made once the reservation's ticketed. So if you want to take an earlier or later flight, that's a reticket. And of course, the $24.50 fee gets charged EVERY time.

We were just having a talk at work today on what a waste these contracted travel agencies are. The only thing they do is put in the reservation. Usually, I give them the routings I want and tell them the flight numbers. Nothing I couldn't do on United.com.

I'd gladly take $24.50 for the effort.

Same reason here. I know when my statement cutoff is, so I call right as the billing cycle when I travel begins.

Travel will process the funding more slowly than a normal RTA, but it gets paid directly to my card and on time, so no biggie.

I wouldn't mind carrying a balance and paying the interest on the ticket for a month if it meant I got miles (and more importantly, EQMs ) out of the deal.

BillyIdol

Can you book the Government Y fare online at United.com?

I'm curious how others book Govt. fares, aside from using whatever travel office they have (i.e. booking yourself directly with UA).

Deeg

I don't think you can book them online. But I have co-workers who always book directly with UA over the phone, thus saving the Sato fee.

sumnbt01

Any experience whether YCA fares count toward GS qualification/requalification?

usa18dca

That is what I do when I am on Government travel, I will call United to confirm YCA space...create my own routing & stopovers...obtain a PNR then contact the company travel agent to validate with a government issued credit card account then will ask them to push control back to UA...

Very helpful and saves on the fees we have to pay the TA.

daw617

I believe you can only purchase these fares through a government-approved travel agency or with a special credit card that is associated with the government. (I don't konw what you have to do to get one of those credit cards; I think the answer is "forget it, you can't have it".)

PHLGovFlyer

Can't do it on United.com.

I can book them on line through my gov travel booking portal though. Its reasonably slick and often offers flight combinations that UA.com doesn't.

BillyIdol

Good info thanks. One more question. If I buy a refundable (i.e. YCA) fare and then need to cancel the trip, would I get a full refund?