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Home  >  United Airlines  >  Official: United Airlines Will Also Permanently Eliminate Change Fee On International Flights
United Airlines

Official: United Airlines Will Also Permanently Eliminate Change Fee On International Flights

Matthew Klint Posted onDecember 9, 2020 16 Comments

Well that didn’t take long…As expected, United Airlines will join American Airlines and Delta Air Lines in extending its global travel waiver and permanently eliminating change fees on most international flights originating in the United States.

In This Post:
  • United Airlines Confirms It Is Eliminating Change Fees On Most International Tickets Originating In The USA
  • American + Delta Will Offer A More Generous Policy Than United
  • No Change Fees On Any United Ticket Through March 31, 2021
  • Reminder: Tickets Must Be Issued By United
  • CONCLUSION

United Airlines Confirms It Is Eliminating Change Fees On Most International Tickets Originating In The USA

United sent me the following statement this morning:

Recognizing that flexibility is more important to our customers than ever, United was the first legacy airline to announce it would permanently eliminate change fees – a policy that included Basic Economy and International tickets booked through the end of this year.  Today, we’re pleased to announce two important changes to this policy.  First, we’re extending this policy to include Basic Economy tickets purchased through March 31, 2021.  Second, this policy will also apply to all international tickets purchased in the United States moving forward.

The last sentence is a bit ambiguous, but a spokesperson clarified that after March 31, 2021 the change fee waiver applies to all international itineraries which originate in the United States.

American + Delta Will Offer A More Generous Policy Than United

It’s not that United’s elimination of change fees is not generous. Quite the contrary, it is a huge improvement over the last two decades. But it is worth noting that American and Delta offer a more generous policy. Both American and Delta will not only waive the change fee, but offer residual credit in the form of a travel voucher if your new itinerary is cheaper than the old one. United, on the other hand, considers a cheaper ticket an even exchange and does not offer any credit for the difference.

A spokesperson confirmed that this policy is not changing:

We don’t have any changes to the residual policy to announce at the immediate moment.

American’s international change fee elimination also applies to all of North and South America, not just the United States.

No Change Fees On Any United Ticket Through March 31, 2021

United also extended its global change fee waiver to cover all tickets issued on or before March 21, 2021. Any ticket you buy, no matter the origin or fare class, can be changed without fee. That explicitly includes basic economy tickets.

Reminder: Tickets Must Be Issued By United

While other airlines are free to set their own change fee polices, this fee waiver policy applies only to tickets issued by United (on 016 stock). That means, for example, if you buy a United ticket on Air Canada, you won’t necessarily enjoy the same flexibility.

CONCLUSION

It took United Airlines just hours to match Delta Air Lines, which itself matched American Airlines in eliminating international change fees. Of the Big 3 U.S. legacy carriers, American offers the most generous policy while United offers the least generous. Keep in mind, at least for now, that if your new fare is cheaper on United, you will eat the difference. Nevertheless, it is great to see United match and U.S. carriers move toward the elimination of more change fees that were never commensurate with actual expense in the first place.

image: United

Previous Article Delta Air Lines Eliminates International Change Fees. Will United Airlines Match?
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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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16 Comments

  1. StarAllianceFlyer Reply
    December 9, 2020 at 1:30 pm

    What if the ticket is bought via UA but includes a segment on another carrier like for LH or BR?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      December 9, 2020 at 1:41 pm

      Waiting for a reply on United on this. I asked them this earlier and they said they would get back to me. I’ll update the post once I have this info.

  2. Dick Bupkiss Reply
    December 9, 2020 at 1:42 pm

    And what about the fees to redeposit miles if you cancel/change award flights?

  3. Steve Reply
    December 9, 2020 at 1:49 pm

    Nice – they retroactively applied this to a flight credit for an int’l flight I had made back in Jan 2020 and cancelled in March 2020. And I have until Jan 2022 to use it…

  4. Daniel Reply
    December 9, 2020 at 1:50 pm

    “No Change Fees On Any United Ticket Through March 31, 2021
    United also extended its global change fee waiver to cover all tickets issued on or before March 21, 2021”

    Which date is it? March 21 or 31?

  5. Alaska Rick Reply
    December 9, 2020 at 2:11 pm

    I’m planning to book away from United because they won’t offer residual credit for changes and because of their partner PQP cap.

  6. Santastico Reply
    December 9, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    LOL!!! What did I say on your previous post? United is simply a pathetic company. They should fire all their top executives and just hire interns and say “just copy whatever Delta does.”

  7. lisa torres Reply
    December 12, 2020 at 12:50 pm

    I live on Guam we have no choice but to fly United. Does this new policy on International include Guam? The domestic one – except Guam-. When you are on the plane to Hawaii they act like its domestic- have pay for food. Upgrades- then its considered International.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      December 12, 2020 at 1:35 pm

      I know, United takes full advantage of its monopoly on the route. I was really hoping Delta would ramp up service there. But you won’t face any more change fees unless you buy a Basic Economy ticket.

  8. Roke Torres Reply
    July 6, 2021 at 5:30 pm

    What about airline tickets purchased in the month of June 2021? Does the no change for changing my departure date from the US still apply? Need further clarification on this. Thank you.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      July 6, 2021 at 5:45 pm

      No change fee unless you bought a Basic Economy ticket.

  9. Pingback: COVID-19 upends more irritating airline fee policies - Aviation News Global
  10. Pingback: UA/DL/AA/AS 即日起永久取消美国境内机票的改签费用; AS/AA/DL 永久取消部分国际机票的改签费用【2020.12 更新:DL取消国际机票改签费用了】 - 美国信用卡指南
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