May 19, 2023|United

by Eric Lipkind

It is always annoying when you buy a plane ticket and then the fare drops in the days following.   Sometimes, there is a way to get the lower fare on United.

Did you know that if you purchase a nonrefundable ticket on United you can cancel the ticket and rebook if a lower fare becomes available within 24 hours of your purchase?However, if it is more than 24 hours, it gets a little complicated.  For Basic Economy tickets, you are out of luck.  But for other tickets, if it is within 14 days of purchase, you can call United and pay a $50 fee and they will issue you a travel voucher for the difference between the old fare and the new fare.  Of course, this only makes sense if the price drop is more than $50.

But…there is a better way.   Even after 14 days, since United dropped all change fees, if you cancel your ticket and then immediately repurchase the same flights at a lower fare using the canceled ticket, you will be issued an unused flight credit for the difference in price (and no $50 fee!).   You can do this over and over again if the fare continues to drop.  Your only risk is if the fare suddenly rises between the time you cancel and the time you repurchase the new ticket.  Also note that this will only work on tickets purchased directly from United (not travel agencies).  It is also best to do this yourself on United.com as phone agents may not want to do this for you.  

The way to do this on United.com is to make sure you are logged into your Mileage Plus account.  Then find your trip and cancel it.  You will be issued a future flight credit for the value of your ticket.   Then go to book a new trip.  On the payment page, you will see a box to check for your unused flight credit and the amount from your old ticket.  Check the box and then complete the transaction.   The ticket will issue and you will be issued a new future flight credit for the fare difference.  You can then use this unused flight credit on a future trip.

Hopefully this works for you!