Over the past couple of months all the legacies have increased their change fees on revenue tickets, and it’s a bit ironic that they’ve left award tickets untouched. Of course I’m thrilled about that, but from their perspective it’s kind of funny how much more flexible award tickets are than revenue tickets, and how much cheaper they are to change.
It seems United agreed, because starting for tickets issued today (June 19, 2013), the change fees on award tickets for non-elite members are increasing.
The fees for elite members remain the same, though for non-elite members the changes are as follows:
So what are the changes? Previously if you made a change to an award ticket 21 days or more before departure there were no change fees, assuming the origin and destination remained the same. Now the change fee for changes more than 21 days out is $75, even if the origin and destination remains the same. Meanwhile changes within 21 days of departure, or changes to the origin or destination, go from costing $75 to $100. Lastly, the mileage redeposit fee goes from $150 to $200.
This sucks big time. I wish I were surprised, but I’m not, and I expect the other legacies to at least match the $200 mileage redeposit fee in due time.
Yesterday United added a revenue requirement for elite status, and many said “well damnit, if they want me to spend more they better add more benefits for elite members.” I guess this is their way of doing that. 😉
(Tip of the hat to Hack My Trip)
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