I had a weekend trip planned- Friday AM to Sunday that I need to cancel. The friend I was visiting had a death in the family and needs to leave town. Unfortunately I booked 2 separate one way tickets and United wants to charge me a 200 dollar change fee each way. Questions-
Any tips to getting this change fee waived? Its crazy how other airlines happily do it but United is the worst.
Is there any benefit to cancelling before the flights? Could this weather somehow benefit my situation? The flight on friday is 6am and I am sure the seat could be filled with all the cancellations today and tomorrow.
Thunderstorms are expected on sunday and I'm holding out hope my flight is delayed or cancelled. Should I wait or do I need to cancel beforehand?
Thanks in advance for the help. United airlines sucks.
the only hope you have is if United changes the time of the flight
if they do - they have essentially broken the contract and you can ask for refund
they say
United says minimum 2 hours difference but if you call and complain they probably would give you a refund
United Schedule Changes - ( New Window )
but you could wait it out and cancel at the last possible second, if you do in fact need to cancel, this way if there is an early weather cancellation before you cancel it yourself you may be eligible for a full refund, even if it's a non-refundable ticket.
I was in similar situations with Jet Blue and Virgin and they both waived the change fee.
I was in similar situations with Jet Blue and Virgin and they both waived the change fee.
I'll clarify my post,
I'm saying if they cancel your flight then you may be better off taking the full refund, and re-booking then you would be with changing (if you can't get them to waive the change fee).
otherwise wait to the last possible to second to change your flight, so you know it wasn't canceled.
Know what I mean?
Ive only been successful with getting change fees waived on airlines where I had some type of elite status.
I was in similar situations with Jet Blue and Virgin and they both waived the change fee.
They dont care. Same difference whether you cancel or change to them. You're screwed. Wait it out as long as you can but i'm guessing Northeast airports will be back up and running by Friday.
The irony is yeah... lots of people stuck in the weather this week would probably love to have your seat and if you actually went to the airport and 'voluntarily bumped' yourself to another flight theyd give you a full voucher. But, you'd have to be mighty motivated to go to the airport to do this.
United is pretty bad with the fee in general. Even if the ticket you're exchanging has a higher value than the ticket you're switching to, they'll make you pay the $200 and issue you a credit for the remaining value.
^^ Exactly!
Are you serious? I'm not bitching I'm asking for advice. It's 2 one way tickets with the same airline. The change fee both ways is equal or more then the cost of the ticket I paid. I'm not cancelling because I don't feel like going. The person I am visiting had his dad die unexpectedly and has to go bury him overseas.
I'm fine with paying a fee. But paying more in the change fees then the cost of the tickets is a ridiculous practice. Again I've been in similar situations with Jetblue, Virgin and Delta and they have waived the change fee. Also a similar situation with United who reduced the change fee to 75 bucks in a travel certificate.
Entitled society? How about a society where monopolies are constantly ripping off their customers because they can get away with it? And this is an airline I fly 1/2 times a month for the last 10 years. I understand companies need to make money and don't want people abusing the them, but if someone dies suddenly then exceptions should be made.
Complaining? I'm asking for advice. Sorry to inconvenience and force you to read and reply to a thread.
And yes I bought the insurance and I'm not covered because it's not my family member that died. I explained it was my travel companion ( I was meeting him in Miami to go to the Keys) but because he's not flying with me I am not covered.
Quote:
so you buy 2 one-way non-refundable tickets...where the change policy is clearly stated. Then need to make a change and now want to bitch about the cost associated with making a change even though you full well should have known the consequences of making the change? Holy hell what an entitled society we've become.
Are you serious? I'm not bitching I'm asking for advice. It's 2 one way tickets with the same airline. The change fee both ways is equal or more then the cost of the ticket I paid. I'm not cancelling because I don't feel like going. The person I am visiting had his dad die unexpectedly and has to go bury him overseas.
I'm fine with paying a fee. But paying more in the change fees then the cost of the tickets is a ridiculous practice. Again I've been in similar situations with Jetblue, Virgin and Delta and they have waived the change fee. Also a similar situation with United who reduced the change fee to 75 bucks in a travel certificate.
Entitled society? How about a society where monopolies are constantly ripping off their customers because they can get away with it? And this is an airline I fly 1/2 times a month for the last 10 years. I understand companies need to make money and don't want people abusing the them, but if someone dies suddenly then exceptions should be made.
I feel your frustration, but why should an airline waive a fee for your friend's dad? I could see them doing it for an immediate family member but for a friend's dad? No way. Your best bet is to see if there's a travel advisory put out due to weather.
People don't realize what a bargain flying is. It's one of the few services where ticket prices have remained steady or even decreased over the years despite the increasing complexity of the system. No one blinks an eye to spend $150 taking the family to see a stupid movie and get snacks and stuff yet people (not you) complain about paying $400 to fly coast to coast at nearly the speed of sound in all weather in just a few hours and have a 99.9999999% chance of getting there safely.
Be careful how you dip your chips though.
bought a ticket to LA and found out I needed to change to go two days earlier
JetBlue was going to charge me as much as ticket to change departure leg of the flight ..
but a few days before the flight - Jetblue changed the departure time by 20 minutes
I called and complained that JetBlue changed the flight time and JetBlue let me cancel departure flight and gave me credit for the cost of that leg of flight
I booked 1 way ticket on another plane and saved 75 bucks ..
People don't realize what a bargain flying is. It's one of the few services where ticket prices have remained steady or even decreased over the years despite the increasing complexity of the system. No one blinks an eye to spend $150 taking the family to see a stupid movie and get snacks and stuff yet people (not you) complain about paying $400 to fly coast to coast at nearly the speed of sound in all weather in just a few hours and have a 99.9999999% chance of getting there safely.
I see this one on BBI a lot and I dont get it. What the fuck does evolution and innovation have to do with anything? I guess we should be happy our cable bills are only $150 a month - because hey, who would have thought 100 years ago we'd be able to watch a sports event on a 50 inch high-def TV!!
These are publicly owned, for-profit businesses charging you for their service. They make money. If they could get away with it - they'd charge more money, but too many 'discount' airlines out there figured out there's a big enough pie out there for them to grab some too. Competition is fierce. The TSA gets their large, bloated bureaucratic cut too.
just no-show.
they may give away your seat to a stand-by passenger if you no-show, but if you cancel/change they can re-sell the seat plus your change fee.
Also this gives you the most time in the event they do cancel or delay your flight in which case you may have some wiggle room for a refund.
I went to Logan last month and found JetBlue had a strike and my flight was canceled. I got a full refund. It was a business trip so I was less concerned, but still better off than not getting one.
and if my change fee is more than the cost of a ticket, I'm not changing my flight. I'd just book a new ticket.