Questions and Answers

I and my mom are traveling to Spain (into Madrid, out of Barcelona) in April (4-14) for personal travel. With the obvious concern regarding the coronavirus, we have decided to cancel the entire trip. We were able to get refunds on everything as far as hotels go because we booked through a travel company. We booked our flights ourselves, on United, on a paid ticket using my United Explorer Card. The flight was booked in early January. As of about 30 minutes ago WHO had declared COVID-19 a pandemic, so what impact would this have on us being able to acquire a full refund, as we want to minimize the amount of money being left on the table. Thanks in advance!

Sophia, you should be able to cancel with no penalty. Have you tried calling?

Calling may take forever. Here’s what the United website says:

[I]We are committed to helping all of our customers with their travel plans. If you are scheduled to travel between now and April 30 and would like to change your plans, there is no fee to do so. You can cancel your flight for a future travel credit quickly on [URL=’http://united.com/’]united.com[/URL] or through the United mobile app – a phone call is not required. To change or cancel your flight online, [URL=’https://www.united.com/en/us/manageres/mytrips’]view your reservation[/URL], enter your trip details and select the appropriate option.[/I]