I was on the 4:08 ORD-LHR flight today with an award C seat. I always preferred the later flight at 5:55 (I would rather arrive at 7:55 than 5:55), but that was never available for award. On a lark I checked this morning and there was an award seat on the later flight. I called to change it and was fully prepared to pay the $100 close-in change fee. But when she checked with her supervisor she said I would not have to pay it (I am PremEx, not 1K). She said it did not have to be paid on the day of travel changes. Is that correct or was she just being nice and cutting me a break?

She was correct, you are making a change to the booking not a new booking

But that is NOT what the award fee chart indicates on united.com (for award tix booked on or after May 15, 2008):

www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,50994,00.html

Of course these fees are waived for GS & 1K, but I've not heard of them being waived for 1P.

Isn't same O&D but different flight number relate to both the OP and the 0$ fee? He was traveling from/to same but just on a later flight, right?

Kathy,

That is what I thought. So I suspect she was either confused or just cutting me a break. But maybe it is like showing up early to the airport on the day of travel and asking to be put on a earlier or later flight....I assume the agents can just do that if there is availability.

camachinist...

Yes, but it is the day of travel, so obviously less than 6 days out, hence the expectation of the $100 fee.

The verbiage and response you received would indicate that the first rule controls. This is similar to verbiage used in the past regarding date/flight changes for award travel in general. No ticket re-issue, no fee.

I've done tons of changes to US-LHR award bookings as a 1P, so any fee waivers for 1K don't apply to my experience. You can get dinged for the close-in fee for changing just the outbound flight(s) date/time. But you don't get dinged for the close-in change fee for changing the date/time of the return flight(s).

It's unclear to me where the OP is based and whether the ORD-LHR flight is an outbound flight or a return flight.

This policy distinction between outbound and return sort of makes sense to me. It prevents the loophole where you book an award way out into the future to avoid the ticketing close-in fee, and then change the outbound flight to one within the next 7 days. I've never specifically queried as to the close-in fee is assessed if you're changing from an relatively imminent departure to one much farther out in the future.

This is my point--The close in change fee only applies to the outbound which is the same as a reissue. Just as you would have to reissue a revenue ticket when changing the outbound. So changing a return would mean no fee.

I have changed the return on domestic awards when I was a 1P and had no fee. But when I had to change the outbound they charged me the fee.

Upon further perusal of the pesky tiny red text on that page and, most prominently, the parenthesis it's placed in, I'll now retract my assertion about date/flight changes and opine that the close-in fee should apply to both outbound and inbound changes, if either fall within the parameter of the close-in fee based on the new/original dates booked, whichever is sooner. So, the OP caught a break. Thanks for the education I haven't done an award change since the new rules came into effect. Good to know...

If that's only a lucky break, then I've caught three such lucky breaks... since I've made three fee-free changes within a few days of traveling the return segment(s) of US-LHR award travel since the mid-May 2008 change of the award fee schedule.