Canceling A Flight Using Airline Miles

Andrea, since you're asking the question, I'm assuming you don't have any kind of elite status with United. If that's the case, then figure they will ding you for either $75 or for $125 for making a change or canceling (depending on whether you do that more/less than 60 days before your flight). Note that is per ticket, so if you book two one-way tickets (one way to Europe and a separate one-way back home) then you get charged twice. Obviously, it's less expensive to book a round-trip, but often one has to (or has good reason to) book each way separately.

If I had a relative, who seemed to have mixed feelings about a trip (or an apparent lack of enthusiasm for going), and they said they will only go if they get house projects done, I would interpret that as "no, I really am not going to go, I'll use my house project as an excuse". Especially with many "won't plan ahead" types - IME, a reluctance to do any planning often is a manifestation of a simple lack of interest. It may seem odd to a lot of folks here, but I know lots of people who actually have no interest in travel at all.

I'd just add that while Kaeleku makes a valid point, and using miles for flights is often great, most people have learned that doing so may not be possible when you need to go - so planning far in advance may be necessary (if you need to go soon or don't have a lot of flexibility in your travel dates/plans, you may just need to be lucky).

Good luck.

Thanks everyone. I was hoping to do this trip to Lithuania with my cousins last June, since I was already in Europe. Due to circumstances beyond their control they weren't able to go. Now my uncle (their father) is expressing an interest. It would be a fantastic opportunity to have him be part of this. If he's not, I would prefer to go with my cousins another time as a part of a longer trip to Europe. I'm not interested in going by myself. I would prefer to wait until my husband and I could travel together. We have an elderly dog who now has difficulty with our absences and we decided that leaving him was no longer an option. If I do this trip, my husband would still be home with him.

I no longer make vacation plans that are dependent on other people. I got burned a couple of times. So now I make my plans and invite others to join. If they can make it, great. If not, that's okay too. Yes it still gets a little complicated, but I just don't want to be out of pocket.

I'm sorry that you may get let down. That's not a comfortable feeling. Sorry.

Hi Andrea,

I use my United Miles all the time to fly, the most recent to Edinburgh. You won't pay any penalties to cancel (at least we never have). However, if you cancel, you won't have your miles redeposited unless you pay a fee (usually around $200).

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/awards/travel/ticketing.aspx

Looks like David had the right answer, $75 or $125 (for general members) depending on when you cancel . That fee appears to be per ticket.

To me, paying the $200 or so to have your miles redeposited IS a penalty!

If you don't pay the fee, you lose the miles. Why would you want to lose the miles you worked so hard and spent so much to accumulate?

Thanks again for for your thoughts. Based on my previous experiences with these people I think I'm going to see how this plays out before committing my miles to a trip that may not happen. If my uncle actually purchases an airline ticket I will see if I can find a flight available using my miles. If I can't find a satisfactory flight I won't go. I would still like to do this trip at some point in time with my cousins, but if my uncle doesn't go there is no urgency to do it right away. I would rather save my miles and do this as a portion of a longer trip to Europe with my husband.

I only make Vacation Plans if my traveling partners can confirm. I booked a trip for my Parents and I to Bayonne France this July last month. If you book too far in advance there is a higher likelihood of things going wrong. Touch wood nothing has ever happened where we needed to cancel our entire trip for Civil Unrest or due to medical reasons.

Having a good travel insurance will not cover your family member cancelling just because they can't go. You need a good Medical Evacuation and Repatriation Insurance, Trip Interruption/Delay, Loss of Job etc. Be sure that your Travel Insurance will fly you back to the US after being stabilized to a Hospital of your choice and that they are in contact with your Primary Care Physician. Allianz is a very good company and you can go to www.insuremytrip.com. Medivac is a very good Evacuation Insurance.

Andrea you are lucky that you are going in September which is generally off season. See if you can get a flight on Lufthansa or Swissair vs United. I used 30,000 one way Awards on Lufthansa when I took a Trans Atlantic Cruise and needed the one way return this was in April.

I would book your mile award now just because you don't know the availability. Once I know the dates I book without looking back. Either your Cousin can commit or not. Set a deadline by which they are to commit. If they say yes then and you booked then go(sometimes traveling alone opens more experiences than if you had traveled with our Cousins).

We don't know how the United Miles will be and the likelyhood of low mileage awards are getting slimmer. I used up all of my United Miles and am sticking with Delta.

My point is if I can get a ticket dirt cheap I would much rather earn miles on that trip(even if its not the entire earnings) rather than use miles and save it for a longer trip.

I hope this helps.

Hope this helps.

Thanks again for everyone's advice. I always buy travel insurance, but this wouldn't be covered.

My uncle called today and made some comments that lead me to believe that this trip most likely won't happen. I told him again that if/when he confirms he will go, I will check availability of tickets using the minimum (30,000 each way) miles. If I can't find a reasonable flight, I won't go. I'm okay with that.