United MileagePlus Eliminates Award Redeposit Fees

I hope this is for all tickets, not just those originating in the US. I often redeem miles internationally and this exception has been annoying and confusing.

That said, at least United made it somewhat transparent... Delta exempts international tickets from free change/redeposit, but nowhere on their website do they actually list what the fee would be in these cases...

Last time I checked - a couple of weeks ago - Delta still charges $150 for miles redeposit fee for tickets originating outside of the US. This was listed somewhere on their website after some digging.

Lucky Delta definitely states they charge these fees (not sure if they actually do):
In addition to eliminating change fees for tickets originating in the United States and Canada to anywhere in the world,* we have also eliminated the redeposit fee for Award Tickets and mileage upgrades. There are no change fees for travel within the U.S. (including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), international travel originating in the U.S. and Canada and travel between the Caribbean and the U.S..* You may redeposit miles any time prior to departure. A redeposit fee of $150 will still apply for Award Tickets and mileage upgrades for travel originating outside of North America.

I'm unclear whether the changes at United will apply to award travel originating outside the USA. If so, does it apply to both changes and redeposits?

@ Sean M. -- Yep, it applies globally to changes and redeposits.

@ mdande7 -- Good catch, thanks, I should have clarified that. Post updated now.

@ Ryan -- Indeed, unlike with Delta, this applies globally.

I think Delta also waives redeposit fees for awards that originate in Mexico, no? (North America). I have a paste of a Twitter message that confirms that, but am now not sure if I was given correct info. Thanks Ben

I don't know about globally, but the 30 day penalty window for mile redeposit on domestic travel has definitely been waived for me for the last year, despite their stated policy.

First, this is definitely a great change as these sorts of fees are quite annoying and feel like extortion (vs. fees for added value).

However, I wish United would think about other ways to enhance and differentiate their loyalty tiers as they remove fees that previously provided differentiation.

For example, the lack of a 24-hour / same-day change fee for 1K used to be a huge perk as I frequently switched flights the day before or day of departure. Once they eliminated the fee and expanded this perk, I now almost never am able to take advantage of it because if there was any space available, someone else had potentially already scooped it up. Certainly higher loads etc. have also contributed but I noticed an immediate degradation in availability when the policy changed.

Instead they are removing differentiation between status levels and increasing the hurdles to maintain them with no added benefits.

The main differentiation between status levels at this point feels like the number of minutes you wait on hold for a customer service rep...
I'm Global Services today but will drop to 1K next year and I'm basically expecting it to feel like Silver with pre-boarding privileges..

It makes sense for revenue tickets, but award tickets often only have a couple seats available. So if someone snags them many months out, then cancels at the last minute, it deprives others of the opportunity to book those.

This was particularly problematic when you have people with millions of miles book many speculative tickets

So Southwest no longer has the advantage it once had for domestic flights when it came to spec or backup bookings with points. Any airline will now do... If I think a flight might be over and they will need vols I book a back up itinerary on another airline just behind it so I can take the bump money and run, even if the flight offered is the the next day!

On United's website, it says for flights beginning Jan 2023. Not clear, confused.

Does this mean that United also fully refunds the taxes and fees paid upon booking an award ticket if cancelled?

Very informative article. Does anyone know what the absolute limit is with United to cancel an award ticket and redeposit miles with no fee? I am travelling to Europe in a few days and there is a possibility that I am not allowed to fly (problem with the passport). if that were the case, could I still redeposit the miles merely two or three hours before the flight or will that be considered a "no show" and I will be charged the $125 fee? Thanks a lot!

Does this also apply to partner airline awards booked on United? For instance, if I book an award in economy on ANA until a business class seat is available, can I then cancel my award economy ticket on ANA if/when a business award opens up?

Is there a cap on the number of miles UAL can charge if you change the return ticket on a mileage plus award ticket? Do you have the option to pay an additional fee instead of being assessed additional miles? If so, is there a cap on the fee? Thank you! (trying to get thru to UAL on the phone is hopeless)