Airline policy changes (United made another big one)

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I received a Chase points refund for my Delta flight, and the points just showed up back in my account...literally within minutes of hanging up the phone (they said it could take 30 days or 1-2 billing cycles). I didn't even think to check the billing statement because my points showed up (I was almost out of points, so I know what's now there is my refund).

Did you have flights on Alaska Airlines? I have a reservation with them booked with a combo of points and $ that I am procrastinating dealing with. I can't go through their website; I have to call Chase. I noticed with the United reservation I have booked with Chase points, I can access (and cancel for a voucher) on the United website.

I don't keep super close track of my points, which is why I wasn't sure they'd been credited. I had to go to the ultimate rewards portal and look at "recent activity." I didn't see the points credited there, but had to page way down to the date I actually made the reservation which now reads as "0" points.

The Alaska flight I had was booked with Ultimate Rewards points. I received an email from them that my flight had "changed" from nonstop to connecting (new flight number). In other words it was cancelled! They gave me options, one of which was a voucher if I wished to "cancel." I wrote Chase travel a scathing response that they were providing inaccurate information and misleading their customers. I was due a refund as my flight was cancelled. I never received a response from anyone, but a few days later I received a notice of my flight cancellation and refunding on points. I see someone at Chase on Twitter finally got back to me so I'll be responding to that and voicing my dissatisfaction. If no one responded to my email, my plan was to try to call Chase as well. I've heard also that Alaska will refund if you call them, but it will go back through Chase. So you may try that first? Not sure if it will delay things though.

Same happened to me! My flight was showing up as cancelled, but giving me an option to "use future flight credit" which seemed odd. I called again yesterday and found out the first guy I spoke to simply cancelled my reservation, but didn't initiate a refund. Geez. So, the lady I spoke to yesterday did it for me, and I feel confident about it this time because she read off the last 4 digits of my credit card and said it would be refunded there in 7-21 days. She also told me that my refund is #250 in line to be processed.

I didn't get all that info, but I was able to see on my account that the flight is now gone. I'll keep an eye on my credit card. I wonder how much is incompetence and how much is intentional? I swear I will not fly United unless completely necessary after this. They've been abysmal. Maybe the worst.

 

[DLgal]

I don't keep super close track of my points, which is why I wasn't sure they'd been credited. I had to go to the ultimate rewards portal and look at "recent activity." I didn't see the points credited there, but had to page way down to the date I actually made the reservation which now reads as "0" points.

The Alaska flight I had was booked with Ultimate Rewards points. I received an email from them that my flight had "changed" from nonstop to connecting (new flight number). In other words it was cancelled! They gave me options, one of which was a voucher if I wished to "cancel." I wrote Chase travel a scathing response that they were providing inaccurate information and misleading their customers. I was due a refund as my flight was cancelled. I never received a response from anyone, but a few days later I received a notice of my flight cancellation and refunding on points. I see someone at Chase on Twitter finally got back to me so I'll be responding to that and voicing my dissatisfaction. If no one responded to my email, my plan was to try to call Chase as well. I've heard also that Alaska will refund if you call them, but it will go back through Chase. So you may try that first? Not sure if it will delay things though.



I didn't get all that info, but I was able to see on my account that the flight is now gone. I'll keep an eye on my credit card. I wonder how much is incompetence and how much is intentional? I swear I will not fly United unless completely necessary after this. They've been abysmal. Maybe the worst.

I agree on not flying United after this. I never really did anyway. I only booked it this time because my travel companion has status with them and I don't have loyalty to any single airline so I didn't care what airline we flew for this trip. I'm definitely not gonna consider them for future travel now, though. They have been so shady.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I agree on not flying United after this. I never really did anyway. I only booked it this time because my travel companion has status with them and I don't have loyalty to any single airline so I didn't care what airline we flew for this trip. I'm definitely not gonna consider them for future travel now, though. They have been so shady.

Couldn't agree more. So shady!

 

[TXTransplant]

I don't keep super close track of my points, which is why I wasn't sure they'd been credited. I had to go to the ultimate rewards portal and look at "recent activity." I didn't see the points credited there, but had to page way down to the date I actually made the reservation which now reads as "0" points.

The Alaska flight I had was booked with Ultimate Rewards points. I received an email from them that my flight had "changed" from nonstop to connecting (new flight number). In other words it was cancelled! They gave me options, one of which was a voucher if I wished to "cancel." I wrote Chase travel a scathing response that they were providing inaccurate information and misleading their customers. I was due a refund as my flight was cancelled. I never received a response from anyone, but a few days later I received a notice of my flight cancellation and refunding on points. I see someone at Chase on Twitter finally got back to me so I'll be responding to that and voicing my dissatisfaction. If no one responded to my email, my plan was to try to call Chase as well. I've heard also that Alaska will refund if you call them, but it will go back through Chase. So you may try that first? Not sure if it will delay things though.

Thanks for the info. Since I rescheduled our trip to July 15-22, I'm going to hold on to those flights on Alaska a little longer. If the July trip looks like a go, I'll just reschedule instead of cancel.

I dread calling Chase again...they are SO inefficient, and EVERY time I call, the connection is SO bad that I can barely hear the person on the other end.

It's interesting how almost every communication seems to be different. When Delta changed my flight (that I booked through Chase), I got an email directly from Delta. It didn't give me any options - just said my flight had a schedule change (from 11 something AM to 3 something PM); however, the new flight had a different number. If our trip had any chance of still going, I would have just shrugged my shoulders and said "Oh, well."

But thanks to this thread, I knew I was entitled to a refund (which is what I wanted) because the original flight had been cancelled (even though my email didn't say that) and the schedule change was "significant".

I know the airlines are intentionally being opaque about what they are doing with flights because they don't want to give refunds. They are banking on people now knowing what their rights are when it comes to refunds vs. vouchers.

On a side note, another thread that I am participating in, a poster yesterday said one leg of his United flight just "disappeared" off of his itinerary (similar to another poster here). He said he called United, and they recommended waiting a few weeks to see if the flight is reinstated, since if things clear up, they might open flights back up again. He was also told he could cancel anytime up to the day of his flight and get a full refund.

But, this is shady, too. Obviously, United is cancelling flights, but they are telling people to "wait" so they can keep their money!

 

[TXTransplant]

Here is a and screenshot explaining the difference between the two voucher options. I was confused as to why anyone would choose the future flight credit, but I guess some people know they can only book on a partner airline.

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/booking/flight/travel-credits.html#future-flight

 

[sayhello]

Here is a and screenshot explaining the difference between the two voucher options. I was confused as to why anyone would choose the future flight credit, but I guess some people know they can only book on a partner airline.

https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/booking/flight/travel-credits.html#future-flight

That would seem to be the only advantage.

Sayhello

 

[AquaDame]

Not sure if its helpful but I noticed Alaska Airlines has changed their policy - change and cancel fees will be waived on all flights purchased before Feb 26th through the end of the year.

 

[blabadie]

I have United tickets to Ireland for June. My TA said I can cancel with no fee. The credit has to be used within 24 months from the original ticketing date. For me, that means by August 2021.

Perhaps your situation might be different, but the e-certificate I received specifically identifies an expiration date of April 10, 2022----which is exactly 24 months from the date I cancelled.

You may have already looked into this, but if not, I would double-check that your TA understands things correctly. Last I checked, you had to cancel by the end of April to get the 24 month e-certificate from United.

 

[TeeKo]

Perhaps your situation might be different, but the e-certificate I received specifically identifies an expiration date of April 10, 2022----which is exactly 24 months from the date I cancelled.

You may have already looked into this, but if not, I would double-check that your TA understands things correctly. Last I checked, you had to cancel by the end of April to get the 24 month e-certificate from United.

I was just on the United site this morning and told DH that the statement really reads that we will have two years to use our e-certificate. I’m going to email my TA today. Thank you!

 

[pistonfan32]

Check out the new Delta cancellation policy released last night.



I have Delta One tickets to Milan and home from Zurich 7/29/20-8/7/20. I may hold off and see if Delta cancels the flight first so I can get a refund. Otherwise, a e-credit of almost $9,000 is fine since we will use it possibly to fly to Hawaii if conditions allow for it.

 

[TXTransplant]

Ugh...stupid United. I just logged in to check the status of one flight that I still have booked (to Seattle at the end of May).

They changed my non-stop flight to one with a layover in San Francisco. And the flight from SFO to SEA is on an Embraer jet, and they did not give my son and me seats anywhere near each other.

The worst part??? I did NOT even get an email notification!

Calling Chase now to request a REFUND, since I booked this one with points.

Edited to add that Chase has changed their menu. I got an option to put in my itinerary number. When the system saw my flight isn't in the next 7 days, it hung up on me :/.

I can't get through to Chase at all, and if I wait until 7 days before, it will be after the April 30 deadline.

Edited again: I poked around in My Trips on the Chase website and found a place to request a call back. I got a call back immediately after I submitted the request!

If you pull up your reservation and go to "change flight", it takes you to a page that has a "contact us" button. Click that, put in your name and phone number, and someone will call you.

 

[TXTransplant]

Aaaaannnnd...United is stonewalling the Chase rep, telling him that I can't have a refund, but that they are "generously waiving" the $200 change fee and I can have a voucher.

I told the Chase rep I know what I am entitled to under the DOT rules and he needs to go back and insist I am entitled to a refund. I will escalate this up the food chain, if I have to.

Absolutely ridiculous.

 

[TXTransplant]

So after quite a bit of time on hold, here is the status of my flight...

Chase is well aware of the games United is playing. The Chase policy is to give me a refund if the schedule changes by 6 hours or more.

The Chase rep thinks the flights are ultimately going to get cancelled. I tend to agree with him, because I can't find ANY record of the flight that we are booked on from SFO to SEA (not on the United website, not on Orbitz, no where). I think it's a dummy placeholder so United doesn't have to give me a refund or cancel the flight outright.

The Chase rep also said to request a refund on United's website, which I just did. It says it can take up to 21 business days to hear something. United has cc info to refund the price to Chase, who can then refund my points.

So, I am in a holding pattern for now. Chase told me to ignore the April 30 deadline. I believe they want to make this right, United is just making it really difficult.

Link if you need to file a complaint about an airline with DOT
https://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/ConsumerForm.cfm

 

[TeeKo]

Perhaps your situation might be different, but the e-certificate I received specifically identifies an expiration date of April 10, 2022----which is exactly 24 months from the date I cancelled.

You may have already looked into this, but if not, I would double-check that your TA understands things correctly. Last I checked, you had to cancel by the end of April to get the 24 month e-certificate from United.

My flights were canceled!
I messaged my TA to take the e-certificate and she wrote back that two legs of my trip had been canceled and I had option for refund. But I could choose the e-cert....
I took the refund.
TA said I should see the funds returned in three to four months.

 

[sayhello]

My flights were canceled!

How things have changed, that that is actually good news.

Sayhello

 

[Cousin Orville]

TA said I should see the funds returned in three to four months

From United? WOW! We just got notified our United flight was cancelled to Vancouver. I was actually surprised as up until now, they were still running daily flights.

 

[TXTransplant]

My flights were canceled!
I messaged my TA to take the e-certificate and she wrote back that two legs of my trip had been canceled and I had option for refund. But I could choose the e-cert....
I took the refund.
TA said I should see the funds returned in three to four months.

Three to four months to get a refund?!? Is that what they are telling people to try and convince them to take the electronic travel credit?

 

[TeeKo]

How things have changed, that that is actually good news.

Sayhello

I know, right??
You might remember me from the WowAir Iceland trip debacle! You were a big help to me

 

[TeeKo]

Three to four months to get a refund?!? Is that what they are telling people to try and convince them to take the electronic travel credit?

Yeah....that seemed like a long time. But I parted with the money in August 2019. I can wait three to four more months to get it back

 

[TeeKo]

From United? WOW! We just got notified our United flight was cancelled to Vancouver. I was actually surprised as up until now, they were still running daily flights.

Yep, United.