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Feel good experience with United Airlines

There's a lot of airline bashing lately, so I want to share a very good experience with United which saved me a third of the ticket price. I called United this past Sunday (Memorial Day weekend). After a 20 minute hold time, I talked to a rep in Houston.

Three reasons for the call: 1) Since I can't see it online, I wanted to be sure priority boarding was on all four legs. 2) I was charged for five legs priority boarding instead of four so requested a credit. 3) I wanted to know if she could help me adjust the refundable airfare from what I paid last October to the current rate.

Results: 1) Confirmation all legs have priority boarding. 2) Refund received and credited to CC for overcharge. 3) Before I could ask my question about the fare difference, she said "I see you are eligible for a fare reduction refund". Today $668 refund posted to my CC. Not only is the airfare cheaper but taxes and fees are less. Preferred seats are still the same.

I didn't receive an email saying the fare refund was in progress but the rep stayed on the phone until she saw it go through in UA's system. Chatting with her while we waited, I thanked her for her help and since I had worked on phones for years (as a stock broker) I understand the nuances of customer service. She said it was nice to talk to someone who was polite and not demanding or rude.
I buy refundable tickets because I book far in advance. I don't know if this helps with the customer service. I don't have standing but have always had good customer service from United.

UA system improvements that would be helpful: On their app and website show priority boarding. Send a refund-in- progress notification.

The moral of my story is Be Prepared for your call. I had paper copies of all the ticket changes (theirs and mine) and conversations since the ticket was bought. I had the current fare up on the screen so if I had to discuss it, I could. I had made notes about the fare difference to know what to expect. Ask, Don't Demand. Treating the person on the other side of the phone the way you want to be treated goes a long way.

Posted by
15616 posts

I agree with Trotter and Est.Prophet. Thanks so much for posting a great outcome! Preparation is essential.

Posted by
1990 posts

A nice outcome! Well done.

I'm just curious -- about how much, by percentage, above the non-refundable fare do you pay for a refundable fare?

I also tend to buy my tickets well in advance, and I'm wondering how much sense it would make to pay extra for refundable tickets. If there's a 10% chance I'll have to cancel or change, I guess I should be willing to pay 10% more than the non-refundable fare. If it's 25%, I should be willing to pay 25% over. And so on.

Does that make sense?

Posted by
2875 posts

I often rebook my flights from the airfares go down. I do not buy a refundable fares. I don’t think it’s worth it for me. I travel enough that I know if the airline is giving credit I can use it. So what you want to look for in my opinion are carriers that give you an e-credit that you can use if the airfare goes down and doesn’t don’t charge you for that.

I live in Atlanta so a lot of my flights are on Delta. Delta will do that on every fare, but they’re basic main. (Which I’m not picking anyway cause I’m not flying any airfare I can’t pick my seat). Also track this manually do not depend on the airline. For example, I have one very helpful agent on the phone who insisted on adding my full name to the reservation and instead of just my middle initial. That meant the credit didn’t track in my Delta account. Luckily another agent helped me figure out what happened and we were able to find the Credit but it was about a $500 credit so now I keep a spreadsheet with all my credits on them so I know what’s going on.

Posted by
4213 posts

Thanks for a happy airline post! Honestly, it is extremely rare that I have a bad experience with an airline. It helps that I have status with my usual airline, Delta. I will heap praise on United in this case for treating someone without status like a valued customer. Thanks again for sharing a good experience!

Posted by
3302 posts

Thanks Everyone!
Carol, I usually fly only once a year. Credits really don't help me. If I can't take my trip it will be for health or family reasons so I won't be flying anywhere else. I can see how having credits available benefits you.
Lane, I can't give you an exact percentage of the cost difference between cancellable for credit ticket and refundable ticket. It ranges between $150 to $250 roundtrip or around 10% to 13%. A few flights are the same fare between refundable and not. It just depends on the airline and the route.
I could add the airfare to my travel insurance coverage and probably save money, but I consider refundable tickets easier.

Posted by
813 posts

Has anyone had any luck getting a price adjustment with a refundable ticket on Swiss AIr? My son is struggling with this right now after the price of his ticket dropped $700.