Being able to use United credit

[amm543]

Earlier this week (but unfortunately more than 24 hours ago). I booked 6 roundtrip tickets on United for travel from EWR to TLV in January using the Chase Ultimate Reward travel portal using points. The tickets for my flights came down today. I knew the tickets were not refundable but thought that I could change them for a difference in fare and I assumed I would keep any credit amount that I don't use for future travel on United. I went to United.com to try to modify the flight. I received a warning stating that they recommend I make any changes directly with the third party I used to book the flights. I then logged into my Chase Ultimate Rewards account. They had me "cancel" the ticket which gave me United credit. When I tried to rebook on united.com it stated I need to rebook through the third party travel company. When trying to use the credit on the Chase Ultimate Rewards website for the lower amount it allows me to do so but then simply states I will forfeit any unused credit. I called them to see if there was anyone around this. They said no. Then I asked if I could rebooked 1 or 2 of the return flights in Premium Economy so that I'd be able to at least get some use of the funds. They said yes and after being on the phone with them for an hour the rep tells me I have to pay the difference in airfare per person (so I'd pay the difference for 2 passengers and then forfeit the loss for the remaining 4 passengers) which obviously isn't what I wanted to do. The rep then said she'd try contacting United to see if they could make an exception. She said they would give me a full refund minus a $200 cancellation fee and then I could rebook whatever I want. Although I'd be losing $1,200 I was thinking of doing it as that would be less than forfeiting the change in airfare for all 6 passengers. The rep then tells me I need pay $200 per person by credit card and then they would reimburse me the points. I explained that I didn't pay out of the pocket for the airfare so per their terms all refunds should be in the original form of payment. I'm getting the runaround and basically currently have the flights cancelled with the flight credit available to use only through Chase. I'm trying to get this resolved ASAP as I'm sure the airfare will go back up soon. Anyone have any advice / tips?

Dan- Are you in the mood to help out a follower of yours? I've been saving up points for 10+ years to have our first family trip to Israel.

[yelped]

Have United convert it to ETC so that you can keep the change for future travel. They have been getting difficult about it recently, but you should be able to get it done with this story, just be polite and firm.

[aarony]

I’ve never had good experiences when canceling chase flights and receiving flight credits that can only be used through chase.  I avoid that situation as much as possible. 

[amm543]

Have United convert it to ETC so that you can keep the change for future travel. They have been getting difficult about it recently, but you should be able to get it done with this story, just be polite and firm.

Thank you. I just got off the phone with United and spoke with a supervisor. They said they can't even give me a credit for future flight for the difference in fair b/c it was booked through 3rd party. I didn't use the term ETC so do you think it's worth it for me to try again with a different United agent and ask to convert it to ETC?

[yelped]

Thank you. I just got off the phone with United and spoke with a supervisor. They said they can't even give me a credit for future flight for the difference in fair b/c it was booked through 3rd party. I didn't use the term ETC so do you think it's worth it for me to try again with a different United agent and ask to convert it to ETC?

Future flight credit doesn't keep residual. ETC does.

Try Dm'ing on Twitter.

[amm543]

Future flight credit doesn't keep residual. ETC does.

Try Dm'ing on Twitter.

Thank you for clarifying. I'm DMing them on twitter. They said:
"May we know the reason why you want the tickets converted to an ETC? Are you looking to apply the value of the tickets for different passengers other than one named on the tickets?"

I replied saying I want to keep the same names and just want to be able to use the balance as a credit and explained I was having a lot of trouble with the OTA today. I'll let you know what they say.

[yochai]

Had a similar story a few months ago. No real way around this. If you find a flight at the same price, you may be able to get united to change it for a $50 rebooking fee, and then you’ll get the residual value.

[yelped]

Had a similar story a few months ago. No real way around this. If you find a flight at the same price, you may be able to get united to change it for a $50 rebooking fee, and then you’ll get the residual value.

Should be able to get them to waive the $50 as changes are free now (just you don't want to lose the reservation in case the price jumps while booking, etc).

[amm543]

Had a similar story a few months ago. No real way around this. If you find a flight at the same price, you may be able to get united to change it for a $50 rebooking fee, and then you’ll get the residual value.

Yeh twitter is taking forever to respond. I called United again and they keep saying they can't do anything with a OTA ticket. Chase travel said I could reprice but then would forfeit the remaining funds which makes no sense and seems to be in violation with the terms of the United ticket which clearly says I can change for free and just pay difference in fare (or receive credit for future use if the ticket is currently less). At this point I wish United would offer me the credit at only a $50 rebooking fee. I even asked if I they could just give me reserved seats and they refused. They keep saying it's OTA ticket. I wish Chase gave you 1.50 cents per point (or 1.25 for Sapphire Preferred)  just using the your card for tickets.

[amm543]

Should be able to get them to waive the $50 as changes are free now (just you don't want to lose the reservation in case the price jumps while booking, etc).

United keeps telling me they can't touch the OTA ticket.

[yelped]

United keeps telling me they can't touch the OTA ticket.

Twitter team is better, but takes time for responses.

[amm543]

Thank you everybody. They finally did it for the $50 fee. Of course not thrilled with the fee but at least this way I have flight credit of over $300 per person and the agent claimed that after a few days I can request they convert it to ETC. I hope I can but it would be much easier to used up that way.

[yochai]

Thank you everybody. They finally did it for the $50 fee. Of course not thrilled with the fee but at least this way I have flight credit of over $300 per person and the agent claimed that after a few days I can request they convert it to ETC. I hope I can but it would be much easier to used up that way.

Happy things worked out. To me this is one of the downsides of using OTAs. I book directly with the airline if I plan on making changes.

[amm543]

Happy things worked out. To me this is one of the downsides of using OTAs. I book directly with the airline if I plan on making changes.

I totally agree!! If paying cash I book through the airline but I was booking using chase points so had no choice. Also I didn't think the flight would go down b/c it was trending upwards and it was approaching 2 months away for an international flight.