United Airlines refund policy & Cancellation policy

United Airlines is a US-based airline, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company also operates its subsidiary under the name United Express. The company has a fleet size of 860 planes and employs 96,000 people.

Have you ever booked a flight with the company and your plan got postponed or canceled? You would have looked for ways to get a refund in your account. The company will provide you the refund of its tickets, without asking any questions. Here is the full detail to the United Airlines return policy, go through the article to know more.

united airlines

Guide to get your refunds

The period for return – depends on the type of tickets

United Airlines operates a very hassle-free refund policy for its customers, the basic time frame to get the refund for most of its bookings is defined by the type of ticket you have purchased by the company.

For all kind of cancellations, all customers are allowed 24 hours to change their reservation from the time of booking, except for Basic Economy tickets.

Keep in mind the following guidelines before refunding your booking

  1. Try to book refundable ticket from the company, as most of the tickets do not have refunds or refunds given are way too less.
  2. Read all the cancellation and refund guidelines associated with a ticket, before returning a ticket.

See Also: American Airlines Refund Policy

Getting your refund – Detailed explanation

You can get a refund for your ticket, by visiting the official website of the company. The refund method guarantees you a hassle and worry-free refund. The company will refund your ticket with no questions asked. However, there are certain restrictions and limits to the refund; we will describe them in the latter half of the article.

Refund procedure

United Airlines Refund Policy allows you to cancel your booking within 24 hours to get the refund.

To get the refund, you need to go through the following steps:

Step 1: Firstly, you need to visit the company’s official website.

Step 2: Go to My account.

Step 3: Sign in to your United Airlines account and click the button “My Trips”.

My Trips Section

Step 4: Next, you need to confirm the cancellation of your booking.

Step 5: After clicking on cancel button, you will receive e-credits, after deduction of any cancellation fee.

Step 6: Users of United e-credit, need to click the drop-down box under “United payment types”.

Redemption options

Refunds

Refunds are generally directed to the original mode of payment by the company, make sure that you cancel within 24 hours not to be charged any cancellation fee. If you paid through a credit card, then you’ll have to wait for 1 or 2 billing cycles for the amount to reflect on your statement.

To check the status of your refund, go to the refund page and open the check status tab.

They’ll take around 5-7 working days to process your refunds. Following are the refund gateways for different modes of payment:

Type of paymentThe Number of days you will get a refund in:Refund and Credit Policy
Credit card/debit card  1-2 billing cyclesUnited Airlines will issue a refund in the form of the original payment; if you use a credit card, you will get a refund in your credit card.
Cash7 business daysCash
PayPal7 business daysPayPal
e-credit7 business dayse-credit

Cancellation and refund policy for various type of bookings

United Airlines Refund Policy is known to have a very customer-centric approach toward providing refunds to its customers. The company requires you to cancel the booking within 24 hours to get the full refund and without being charged for the cancellation fee.

Ticket TypeCancellation fee
Basic EconomyYou are not allowed to cancel the ticket
Non-refundableYou’ll be paying straight $200 in case of domestic flights and up to $400 for international flights depending on the fare charged for your class.
RefundableNo cancellation fee
Award TicketVaries (explained below)

Basic Economy Ticket

  1. If you have canceled your ticket within 24 hours, only then you will be allowed to cancel the ticket. If the period is more than 24 hours, then you will not be allowed to cancel the ticket.
  2. Your refund will be provided to the original method used to make the payment.

Non-Refundable Ticket

You’ll be paying straight $200 in case of domestic flights and up to $400 for international flights depending on the fare charged for your class.

After paying for cancellation fee, you will be given the chance to book your ticket with United Airlines within 1 year of your booking from the unused value left after the cancellation of your ticket.

Refundable Ticket

United Airlines will provide you the full value of your transaction if you are canceling your booking on a refundable ticket. You will be given the full amount in refund within 7 business days. However, If you paid through a credit card, then you’ll have to wait for 1 or 2 billing cycles for the amount to reflect on your statement.

Award Ticket (Mileage plus cancellation)

Cancellation through award ticket largely depends on the status of your miles with the company. Below we have explained whole cancellation schedule for award ticket flyers.

Cancel FeeGeneral memberPremium SilverPremium GoldPremium PlatinumPremium 1K
Before 61 days of departure$75$50$2500
Less than 60 days of departure$125$100$75$500
No Show$125$125$125$125$125

If you do not show to your flight, you will be charged $125, regardless of your status level with the United Airlines.

Flight change policy for various type of bookings

United Airlines allows all its customers to change their bookings except for the customers booking under basic economy class. You will have to change your flight within 24 hours to escape from levy of charges by the company.

Ticket TypeCancellation fee
Basic EconomyYou are not allowed to cancel the ticket
Non-refundableYou will be charged $200 for domestic flights and up to $400 for international flights depending on the fare charged for your class
RefundableNo cancellation fee
Award TicketVaries (explained below)

Award Ticket (mileageplus change of bookings)

Change of bookings through award ticket is similar to cancellation and largely depends on the status of your miles with the company. Below we have explained whole change schedule for award ticket flyers.

Cancel FeeGeneral memberPremium SilverPremium GoldPremium PlatinumPremium 1K
Before 61 days of departure$75$50$2500
Less than 60 days of departure$125$100$75$500
No Show$125$125$125$125$125

United Airlines Travel Certificates

You can use Electronic travel certificates for travel on United and United Express® flights. However, you aren’t allowed to use a certificate for United-marketed flights or Star Alliance™ flights.

How to use a travel certificate?

Step 1: Search for your flight.

Step 2: Go to the payments page, enter your certificate number and apply.

Step 3: Tap the purchase button to finish booking.

For more details visit this link.

United Flight Credit

You can use your future flight credits within 1 year of issue by the company.

Finding your baggage number

Following are the sample receipts to view baggage number:

Sample receipts

Conclusion

Do you know that if we measure by flight size and the number of routes operated by an airline, United Airlines is the 3rd largest airline in the world? Also, the company is a founding member of Star Alliance, an alliance of 28 airlines.

You might also be interested in checking out our guide to SkechersFamous FootwearPayPal Refunds, or Academy Return Policy.

Please feel free to ask us questions on United Airlines Refund Policy or on their cancellation policy, we would be more than happy to answer them.

Related: Airbnb Refund Policy

1 thought on “United Airlines refund policy & Cancellation policy”

  1. this company is the WORST. i cancelled a trip, they gave me the option for a refund as a lesser amount. i took that. i received an email that it was a credit. i immediately contacted them and was assured it was a refund. i would get the refund on may 30th. NEVER GOT IT. STILL DONT HAVE IT. after going back and forth i was told i would be refunded the whole amount due to the inconvenience. STILL GOT NOTHING. once again on the phone and going through the whole circle again. i have never had an issue like this with any other airline. i would suggest never using them.

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