Lowly 1P, so no SWUs, however, I have had my share of good luck with op-ups. If I absolutely knew that the new C was on my outbound flight, I'd spend the miles for an upgrade, just for the h*ll of it. Thanks for offering your opinion.

Except you would have to up-fare to an H fare to do that, since even int'l W is not upgradeable with miles.

In any case, if you have no SWU (and don't intend to procure one from a friend ;)) then, were I in your situation, I'd take the $60 rather than gamble on the op-up. Of course, if you are feeling lucky, go for it... $60 won't make or break you, I imagine. :) Good luck with whatever you ultimately decide!

If I could do a refare, I could potentially save $650 AUD. I have H class tix SYD-JFK rtn. Doing miles upgrade one way (so need H fare) but have SWU on rtn (so only need W class). However, I have only half my waitlists cleared. So I am not sure its worth the major hassle trying to explain what I want to do to MCC and trying to keep my confirmed ugs and waitlist positions :td:

However that is a lot of money in fare difference. When I do a dummy itin, my actual H class fare is costing more now (go figure - this is SYD after all - they charge like wounded bulls because they can :eek:). So if they refare the whole H class there is no benefit. However, if they split the fare and just do H class one way and W class the return leg, then there is that saving.

Do UA even do this, ie split fare classes on one itin?

Yes.

Really stupid question, where do you refare online now? I haven't seen it since they rearranged the website.

The same way as before... you go to "My Itineraries," then "view/modify" the itin you want to refare, then "change itinerary," then (at the bottom of the itin) "Check the price of this itinerary." If the price has dropped, the site will prompt you to refare (assuming that you were able to get into the "change" screen at all, since the website barfs on some itins, e.g. multi-city).

Simple and intuitive, isn't it? :) (Yes, I'm kidding.)

Just checked an itinerary I have in October and it is available for a refare of $0.50!!!! :D

I know it goes against my earlier post in this thread, but I decided not to bother with that one.

See, that's where it use to be for me, but there is no option to check the price when I get to the change screen. I can do dates, cities, etc, but the pricing option isn't there anymore. I'll try different browser combinations and see if that's it.

Thanks.

I did an online refare on Sept 6 and received a refund of $72.08 yesterday, Sept 14. I'm very pleased with United's response time & the ease of the process.^^^

Thanks for this cepheid :)

A question for those who have done this before. .bomb shows a service charge of $100 to refare this, and I don't see an option to select a voucher or cash refund. I'm not changing anything about the flight, just trying to get the almost $300 difference in the fare I paid and what it would cost now. Anything I can do here? Thanks for any help.

update: Just got off the phone with a great guy in the Honolulu CC who said the $100 service charge does NOT apply to a refare-only. He took good care of me and issued vouchers for my IAD-CDG and IAD-LHR flights. Great CS call on this one. Thanks United.

Has there been any change from your originally-booked itin, e.g. a schedule change? The online refare tool unfortunately barfs if there has been any change from the itin as originally ticketed, and erroneously applies the $100 change fee because it thinks you're trying to change the ticket.

In a case like this, your only option is to call to refare. Call Reservations (or the 1P, 2P/3P, or 1K numbers if you are elite), tell them that the fare has dropped on an itinerary you have already booked, and you would like to refare and claim the difference as a voucher. They should know what you're talking about and they should not charge you the $100 change fee. If either of the above is incorrect, try with another agent.

Well, looks like you took my advice before I even gave it! :) But, the above holds for other people in the same situation, of course. It'd still be interesting to know whether you had any changes to the itin that caused the online refare tool to barf, as I mentioned above.

Glad you got it resolved!

I've had to call to get a voucher in the past. Sometimes .com doesn't even give me tho option to refare. I also wonder how long this will last. There was a WSJ article (11 Sept of all days) where US just changed their policy and that their GAF rule will now impose a charge even if there are no changes. Sigh.

Hi cepheid. I didn't make any changes to the itinerary, I just wanted the refare. When I saw the dyspeptic itemized service charge for $100 I lost my bravado, bailed out of the online attempt, played call center roulette. Thanks again for your help. Your instructions on how to get to the refaring option online were VERY helpful. Thanks for taking the time and sharing your info. I owe you a drink!

Bold emphasis above is mine.

That's just bad customer service on US's part IMHO.

Oh, I understand. What I was asking was whether there were any changes made prior to your online refare attempt. For example, did United pull a schedule change on your original itinerary at any point? Did you confirm that schedule change prior to your online refare attempt? I'm basically wondering whether anything at all happened to your itinerary to change it from its original booking, whether or not you initiated that change.

You're quite welcome, anyway. :) As for the drink, well, I make my way back to IAD periodically so we can talk later. ;)