Anyone had luck getting around United's change fees?

[Fionasmommy]

We booked a trip for April and had to cancel it. We rescheduled for July, but when I called about our flights, United said that after the change fee we'll only get a $20 credit for each ticket. I had gotten a "deal" because I exchanged mileage plus miles for a gift cert to use on the flights - apparently they don't count that as part of the payment though, they only look at the final price.

I was wondering if I should call again, and see if I can even change one of the dates (returning early) without paying the change fee. It kills me to let roundtrip tickets to MCO go to waste! If they'd let me, I'd love to do a weekend at POP or something and break in my AP!

Is it worth calling again? I swear I've changed flights in the past and gotten by only paying one change fee for all the tickets, but maybe they're just tougher on it now.

 

[bicker]

Unfortunately, coupons and certificates have "no cash value" and so they don't count towards what you've paid for a ticket.

I remember, many years ago, some of my colleagues thinking they could go through coupon-laundering scheme , buying tickets and then having them reissued, to get the cash value, but the airlines have a very good system of tracking where every penny for an airline ticket "came from" -- they know exactly how much was from non-cash coupons.

It can't hurt to call again, if you're calling toll-free, but don't expect to get anywhere.

 

[n2mm]

Only once we got them to waive the fees. My son had an accident the night before we were to leave. He was on a ventilator and things didn't look good. We had to cancel everything that night. Disney was wonderful and waived their one night room deposit, no problem with National either. When we called United, they were great and very understanding. They too waived the fee. Then we tried to rebook the trip weeks later after all was well. We called United and then was told, no the fees were not waived. We asked for a supervisor, and was told no they will not waive them, then asked for a higher supervisor and was told no they will not waive them. Finally after an hour on the phone and yet another supervisor, they waived the fee. Had we not been told that they were waived we would not have gone as far as we did, but it all worked out. So the only way to get the fee waived with United is by going through alot of hard work and having an extremely life threatening issue involved. Glad my hubby did it, because I couldn't have dealed with that much more stress. Good luck and let us know how it works out for you.

 

[Fionasmommy]

Ugh, what a hassle! I did try again, and I told them that I understood about the change fee policy and was willing to pay that but the sticking point for me is the 75 dollar promo. I cashed in 15,000 frequent flier miles for these coupons, so I'd like the promo applied to my new reservation before I'm charged any change in fare. The promo is ongoing and my new dates are within it's reservation window. I paid in money AND miles so I'd like credit for both of them!

Anyway, the agent just did not know what I was talking about and acted as if she hadn't heard of the promotion at all. So, word to the wise, if you use a mileage plus gift certificate on a reservation you will lose the full value of it if you make changes to the reservation.

Now I know why everyone arond here books with SWA!

 

[n2mm]

That's too bad, because I know about the certificates too. I cashed in enough for two $25 coupons to use for my trip next month. That is terrible that you had to waste all of those miles. Both hubby and I are almost at the 50K mark which means 4 rt tickets for us, so we will continue with United. We have flown most of the major carriers and each has their issues. There is no way around it. Some have better customer service. While I don't have many complaints about United, I do find their customer service not very good.