How to Cancel or Change United Airlines Flight

United flight change policy

United Change Flight Policy is simple: You can make changes to your ticketed flight anytime before the flight's scheduled departure.

You don't incur the fee if you change your flight within 24 hours of booking, or if you book your ticket at least 7 days in advance and you're flying domestically.

But if you don't meet those requirements, United will charge you a change fee, which is $200 for domestic flights.

The fee is higher for international travel, so check the United website for more details on that. So as long as you follow those rules, you shouldn't have to pay an arm and a leg to reschedule your flight.

Change to a different flight on the same day

Premier members

If you're a Premier member, you can make changes to your flight reservation within 24 hours of departure and have the same flexibility as a First Class passenger.

You may be able to confirm a seat on another flight for no cost at all.* If your original ticketed fare class isn’t available on the new flight, you can always stand by for free.

If you have questions about this benefit or wish to make changes, please call united or visit their official website..

All other travelers

If you’re a customer or MileagePlus member without Premier status and your flight is cancelled, you may be able to confirm a seat on another flight within 24 hours of your originally scheduled departure time. A fare difference may apply even if the same original fare class is available. And don’t forget — you can always stand by for free!

Basic Economy Tickets

If you're traveling on a Basic Economy ticket, you may only confirm changes to your flight within 24 hours of your original departure time. Once the 24 hour window has passed, you will not be able to change your flight.

Once your new flight has been booked, it's always a good idea to check in online and print out your boarding pass before going to the airport. If you arrive at the airport with an electronic boarding pass and printed confirmation email, you can skip the check-in line and head straight to security!

How to Cancel or Change United Airlines flight

Canceling or Changing a flight with United Airlines can be relatively easy, though the details depend on whether you booked directly through the airline or through a third party, like a travel agent.

If you booked directly with United Airlines, the first step is to determine if your ticket is refundable. If it is, you can cancel it and receive a refund by calling 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331). Be sure to have your confirmation number handy when you call.

If your ticket is not refundable, you may still be able to make changes for a fee. To do so, call United Customer Service and request any of the following:

• Change in date
• Change in time
• Change in destination
• Change in origin

United Cancellation Policy

We understand that circumstances may arise that result in you needing to change your travel plans, and we're here to help!

As per United Cancellation Policy, you can cancel your flight within 24-hours of booking your ticket. Just call us at 1-800-UNITED-1 and we'll refund the full value of your ticket.

If you cancel your flight less than 24-hours after you've booked it and more than seven days before the day of the flight, we'll refund the cost of your ticket minus a $200 cancellation fee.

If you cancel seven days or less before your trip and at least one hour before the scheduled departure time, we'll refund the cost of your ticket minus a $400 cancellation fee.

Unfortunately, if you cancel within one hour of the scheduled departure time or miss your flight for any reason, we cannot provide a refund. If you need to change your trip, please call United Customer Service as soon as possible to avoid any schedule changes resulting in additional fees.

Canceling or changing United tickets during a travel waiver

If you booked a flight on United Airlines and need to change or cancel it due to weather-related travel disruptions, there are no fees for doing so.

1. For flights canceled or changed by United, customers can rebook in the original class of service or travel on standby within 14 days of their original date of travel between the original city pair, subject to seat availability. Customers can also choose to apply the value of the ticket toward future travel, which must be completed within one year from the date when the ticket was issued.
2. If you purchased a refundable fare, you can request a full refund without penalty. If you purchased a nonrefundable fare, any applicable difference in fare will apply.
3. To change or cancel your reservation online, visit United Airlines Official Website. For all other tickets that were not booked directly with United (including those booked through an online travel agency), please contact your original point of sale for assistance with your reservations.

If you're a United Airlines frequent flyer, you may have noticed a travel waiver for weather or other events that sometimes ends up causing flight changes, cancellations, and delays. These waivers can make it difficult to reschedule your flights as normal, but we've got the tips you need to get your itinerary back on track.

When an airline issues a waiver, they're letting passengers know that they will not be charged a fee to change their flights because of the conditions outlined in the waiver. These are usually issued in weather-related cases when it's possible that airports will shut down or flights will be delayed or canceled. Waivers impact both award tickets and revenue tickets.

It's important to remember that while you aren't being charged the standard change fee to alter your flight plans, airline employees are still working under heavy constraints and uncertain schedules. They may not be able to rebook you on another flight immediately even if it seems like there should be seats available. If this happens, just wait until the next day—the system may be updated once more information is available about how flights are running now that it's daylight and/or airports have reopened.

Sometimes travelers won't be able to change their flights online at all during an airline waiver period, so try to connect with United Customer Service.

Changing or canceling paid United tickets

If you paid for your ticket but are not a MileagePlus Premier member, you may cancel or change your reservation within 24 hours after purchase. If it has been more than 24 hours since you purchased your ticket, you can still cancel your reservation, but the airline will either collect a cancellation fee or will issue you a credit toward a future United flight. This credit is valid for one year from the date of issue.

If you are a MileagePlus Premier member, you can still cancel or change your reservation within 24 hours after purchase with no penalty. If it has been more than 24 hours since you purchased your ticket, then instead of collecting a cancellation fee, United will issue a credit for the full amount of the original ticket purchase toward another United flight for use within one year from the date of issue.

For more information about how to make changes to your booking once it has been completed, please contact our United Customer Care Team.

If you need to change or cancel a United ticket, you can do so with no penalty. You can change or cancel your ticket within 24 hours of purchase for a refund for any reason, or within one hour of departure if you have a flexible ticket. If you need to make changes after that time, visit the Manage Reservations page on united.com and enter your information.

To cancel a ticket, select "Cancel" from the dropdown menu next to the flight number and date of travel. You will receive an email confirmation when your request is processed by our Customer Care team. If you're eligible for a refund, it will be processed in 7-10 days.

• Originally published at https://aviationrepublic.com on June 1, 2022.