Yes, you can change flight with United Airlines for a non-refundable ticket, but it’s important to be aware of the specific fare rules and conditions associated with your ticket. United Airlines offers options to change non-refundable tickets, but usually, fees and restrictions apply.
How To Change Flight With United Airlines For Non-Refundable Ticket?
Here are a few options for trying to change a non-refundable United Airlines ticket:
- Call United and ask nicely if they can make an exception to change your ticket. There will likely be a change fee involved, but sometimes agents can waive this, especially if the reason for changing is outside of your control.
- Use the same ticket towards a more expensive new ticket. You’ll have to pay the fare difference, but you can reuse the value of your current ticket.
- See if your ticket allows changes for a fee. Many non-refundable tickets allow changes but charge a hefty fee (often $200 in the US or more). If the change fee plus any fare difference is worth it to you, this is an option.
- Check your credit card benefits. Some travel credit cards provide trip cancellation/interruption insurance or allow you to redeem points for travel. You could see if you can use these perks to book a new ticket and salvage some value from the original purchase.
- Purchase travel insurance in the future. Many policies allow cancellations for covered reasons and can refund the cost of non-refundable tickets with qualifying circumstances. But insurance likely can’t help with an existing booking you want to change.
The options are short, but those are some possibilities to potentially change or modify the booking if needed. Reaching out to United or your travel agent is the best first step to understanding any flexibility with your specific ticket.
Non-Refundable Change Flight Policy
However, here is a brief overview of United’s general change policies for non-refundable tickets:
- Non-refundable tickets on United allow a one-time flight change for a fee of $200 domestic or $300 international, plus any difference in airfare.
- Same-day standby to take an earlier flight is allowed for a $75 fee on domestic itineraries.
- If travel plans are cancelled entirely, non-refundable tickets have no value.
- Rare exceptions may be made for changes or cancellations due to medical emergencies, jury duty, etc. But there are no guarantees.
Cost To Change Flight For Non-refundable in United States
United charges a $200 change fee for non-refundable tickets if you want to take a different flight, as long as your origin and destination airports stay the same. If the new flight you are changing to has a higher airfare, you will also need to pay the full difference in airfare costs between the flights. Additionally, if you request a same-day flight change to take an earlier United flight on the same day of travel, there is a $75 domestic same-day standby fee.
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