I need to buy a flight to SYD for a family member. He will be studying abroad in Australia. I know when he will be flying there, however, is it possible to book an open return ticket? I would like to give him the ability to stay a few extra weeks, if he would like, after the program has ended. Does UA allow the booking of open ended tickets, and if so, do they have to be booked into a certain fare class?

Thanks

Yes, it's possible. Applies only to select fares - usually the refundable ones (in which case it's easiest to pick a date & change it as needed).

United doesn't sell tickets with open returns using this terminology, you simply buy a refundable ticket which allows you to change the return date without penalty. However, be aware that refundable tickets can be several times more expensive that inflexible ones.

If he's planning to change the return date at most once, the optimal solution would be to buy a cheap fare which allows changes for a fee (keep in mind some cheap fares don't allow changes at all, so double check this before buying). The cheap fare plus the change fee will still be much cheaper than buying a refundable fare outright.

Thing are really more complicated than that because he will have to pay not just the change fee but also the fare difference in case his original booking class is sold out. However, if he has some flexibility in the return date and can make the change some time in advance, it will still usually come out cheaper than buying a fully refundable fare.

I've read elsewhere that student travel programs (statravel or similar) will sell special fares that are discounted for students but afford some flexilbility.

You can buy it as long as the visa is valid at check-in. Best thing to do is that you get a unrestricted fare and have the depature date be the last day that your visa will expire.

statravel.com (call, don't try to book online) or studentuniverse.com are the ways to go in your case. There are caveats if you're planning to upgrade him, but, if not, certainly all studentuniverse fares and most statravel fares carry something like a $50 or $75 change fee. Painless, especially if you want to take a look at what a B fare to SYD is running nowadays.

yeah i would go with the post above about statravel..when i studied abroad in japan most of my friends bought tix from them. they were even able to change the return dates for free. (Subject to availability & Fare classes.)

another way is to use Vaustralia which should be starting up service soon out of LAX..as you can purchase flights by segments.

Actually, they do -- bereavement fares are one popular example (the return is shown as 'OPEN.') Many other fares allow open returns as well, but they're usually refundable tickets and UA encourages you to book a specific return date & change it as needed.

I agree this is probably the best solution, but he needs to check the fare rules with his travel (or booking) agent -- he needs a tariff who's maximum stay covers his expected length of travel. If he buys one of those cheap fares floating out there that allow a maximum 30-day stay, he'll likely pay more in upgrading to a higher fare (permitting a longer length of stay) + the change fee at a later date than he would purchasing it up front.

I've done this to Sydney.

You can buy a regular fare and ticket the return date. Once you've flown the outbound segment, call UA and cancel the return segment. The return ticket remains valid for a year from the departure date. You can call up and change for the date you want later on and pay the change fee of $250 if I remember correctly.

Be aware that you need the same fare bucket to be available. I'm guessing they would charge you the difference in fare if it's not. I try to avoid the cheapest fares and typically buy W, so it hasn't been a problem. I found all this out from the 1K line.

I don't think that's quite correct, and is an important point -- I believe the validity is one year from the ticket issuance date (although perhaps not controlling in your specific case to Australia given their visa time limits). Others please correct me if wrong?

Good question. I'm not exactly sure. I seem to remember them telling me from the departure date, but it's definitely worth asking the reservation agents.

Since I bought the ticket shortly before departure, this wasn't an issue.

That's correct.

And again, you need to ensure that the length of your trip will not exceed the maximum stay permitted by the tariff. In other words, if you purchase one of those cheap fares floating around that permit a 30-day maximum stay, but you really intend to stay for up to six months, when you go to change your ticket, you'll need to buy-up to the higher (as well as pay the change fee) fare -- often this is more costly than doing it up front.

Thanks everyone, looks like I will go with STA Travel, they fare is around 200 bucks more expensive than UA.com, but the change fee is only 35 bucks on their "blue" fare.

If I fly over to visit, what are my chances of upgrading on an H fare, using miles. Right now, it looks like most flights are NC0? Would be during April, probably flying on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Thanks again for the suggestions. Never knew about STA.

Just to correct something:

That's actually not true for international bereavement fares (at least it was not true last March). The intl. bereavement fare is the lowest available fare to your destination on the day you need to travel ignoring any advance purchase requirements. The penalty for changing the flights are still determined by the fare you book - i.e. you can buy an S fare up to 2hrs before the flight, but you'll still have to pay $200 to change the return.

In addition to statravel.com, travelcuts.com, studentuniverse.com, and LH's generationfly.com are worth a visit to see what they have on offer for cheap/free return date changes.

STA and Travelcuts will require the student travler have an ISIC card ($22 to purchase, and it actually includes some decent basic travel insurance). Studentuniverse and generationfly require student ID/status, but no ISIC.