elannic123

Hey everyone, I'm planning a trip and considering booking with United Airlines, but I'm a bit confused about United Airlines flight change policy. Can anyone shed some light on how it works?

RoamsAround

United's change policy will depend on which "fare class" of ticket you purchased. Basically, the change policy is as follows:

1 - If you purchased a fully refundable fare ticket - it is just that - you can get a full refund if you cancel your trip. If you just change your flight you'll get a credit for the full amount applied toward the cost of the new ticket. If the fare for the new ticket is less than you originally paid you'll be refunded the difference either in cash or as a credit to your credit card depending on what payment method you originally used.

2 - If you purchased a non-refundable fare you'll be assessed a Change Fee starting at $49.50/per ticket for a domestic flight and $150/per ticket for an international flight (if it's a r/t flight the Change Fee is assessed for each direction). If the fare for the new flight is more than the original price you paid you'll have to pay the additional cost. If the new fare is less than you originally paid you'll receive a credit voucher for difference that can be used for future travel. You cannot get any refund in cash or as a credit to your credit card.

For what it is worth, you'll generally find all major airlines have similar policies with the only differences being the amount of the actual change fee can vary slightly.

Seamus

Actually, United has done away with change fees for most fares (not including Basic Economy) but you will have to pay any difference in fare between your original purchase and your desired change. If the same fare class is available, no added cost. If only higher fare is available, you'll pay the difference.

Also, within 24 hours of your original purchase, the fare is fully refundable.

Christina

I think that's true of every airline, that if you rebook, you always have to pay whatever the new price is, unless the flight is cancelled due to the airline's fault or they just decided to cancel it for no reason (usually scheduling and plane availability).
United's site says this:

You can change your flight as many times as you want without change fees. But, you will have to pay any fare differences that apply each time you change.

That doesn't apply to Basic Economy, though. You an get some partial credit if you cancel a Basic Economy flight, but I don't know what it is as I've never flown that category.