United Airlines drops ticket-change fees -- for good

[Zorro]

Good news for airline passengers. United Airlines announced Sunday that it would no longer charge fliers $200 to change their tickets on flights within the U.S. The airline said in a statement that it was “permanently getting rid of change fees ... effective immediately.”

Under the new rules, fliers can change their domestic flights as many times as they like without penalty.

CEO Scott Kirby said in a video statement the changes come in response to the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. “You may remember that as we emerged from previous tough times, we made difficult decisions to survive financially, sometimes at the expense of customer service, either by adding new fees or cutting the things that made the flying experience better, simply because they were too expensive,” he said. “United Airlines won’t be following that same playbook as we come out of this crisis.”

The airline also is waiving change fees for passengers holding domestic or international tickets for new tickets through the end of the year. The same goes for tickets issued after March 3.

https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2020-08-31/united-airlines-drops-ticket-change-fees-for-good

Well, that's a start. What they don't tell you is that you'll have to pay the difference in price between the original ticket and the new one.

[Sherman A1]

1. It's a start

[redstatebluegirl]

2. My guess is they are going to start treating the regular people like they have treated the

business traveler for a change. Maybe flying won't be like riding a greyhound bus the next time I fly.

[Fiendish Thingy]

3. United is terrible - most airlines I fly charge $25-100 to change

I will never fly United again.

[we can do it]

4. Who cares when they're still packing planes like sardines.

[SharonClark]

5. After multiple attempts, United finally refunded

(today) the cost of my trip scheduled to leave June 3. I called weekly until I got someone who agreed that the airline’s cancellation of a direct flight and the substitution of 2 flights was really a cancellation.

That $1500 was mine all along, but it seemed like a gift when it was credited to my account.

[Ms. Toad]

6. Why would you expect otherwise?

Well, that's a start. What they don't tell you is that you'll have to pay the difference in price between the original ticket and the new one.

If I wanted a flight tomorrow, chances are the ticket price would be through the roof.

Did you really think that eliminating ticket change fees would let me game the system by buying a ticket for 6 months from now (likely pretty cheap by comparison), then change flights to the out-of-my-price-range flight in order to get a last minute deal, by pretending I was flying 6 months from now?

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Good Call!

While I laud them for dropping the fees for work that costs them almost nothing, it seems a fair business practice to charge the difference between the 2 flights.
Expecting them to honor a $600 flight for the $180 paid is fantasy.

[Initech]

8. About damn time!!!

[spanone]

9. Southwest never charged a fee for changing