At TRAVELS.EDU.VN, we understand that travel plans can change. Can You Cancel Award Travel On United? Yes, you can freely change or cancel a United award ticket. We’ll explore United Airlines’ award travel policies, including change, cancellation, and booking rules, providing you with the information you need to travel confidently. Discover more about mileage redeposit and award ticket flexibility.
1. Understanding United Airlines Award Travel Rules
Navigating the world of United Airlines award travel requires understanding its specific rules and policies. These rules dictate how you can use your miles, manage changes or cancellations, and structure your trips. Let’s break down the essential aspects:
- Booking Rules: These rules cover the broad guidelines on how you can use your miles. This includes how far in advance you can confirm flights, whether you can use your miles to book travel for family and friends, and the fees you can expect to pay when booking an award.
- Change and Cancellation Rules: These rules apply when your trip can’t proceed as originally planned. Understanding these rules helps you determine how flexible your plans can be without incurring significant extra costs. You can find more information about airline award ticket change and cancellation policies on the TRAVELS.EDU.VN website.
- Itinerary Rules: These rules dictate the types of trips you can create with your miles. How many stops can you make? How many partner airlines can you include on a ticket? Do you get a discount if part of your flight is in economy class?
Aerial view of a United Airlines 777-300ER
2. United Award Travel Costs and Partner Airlines: Maximizing Your Miles
Before diving into the specific rules, it’s essential to understand the costs associated with United award travel and the partner airlines you can fly with using your miles.
2.1. Understanding the United Award Chart
United MileagePlus no longer publishes its award pricing, but resources like AwardWallet have compiled unofficial charts to help you plan your trips. Understanding the mileage costs is crucial when deciding whether to book with United or another frequent flyer program. Sometimes, United’s rules and policies offer advantages that make spending more miles worthwhile for the flexibility you need.
2.2. Exploring United Airlines Partners
United miles can be redeemed for flights with over 20 Star Alliance partners and more than a dozen non-alliance partners. Here’s a list of United partner airlines:
Star Alliance Member Airlines:
| Airline |
|---|
| Aegean Airlines |
| Air Canada |
| Air China |
| Air India |
| Air New Zealand |
| All Nippon Airways (ANA) |
| Asiana Airlines |
| Austrian Airlines |
| Avianca |
| Brussels Airlines |
| Copa Airlines |
| Croatia Airlines |
| Egyptair |
| Ethiopian Airlines |
| EVA Airways |
| Juneyao Air |
| LOT Polish Airlines |
| Lufthansa |
| Shenzhen Airlines |
| Singapore Airlines |
| South African Airways |
| SWISS |
| TAP Air Portugal |
| Thai Airways |
| Turkish Airlines |
Non-Alliance Partner Airlines:
| Airline |
|---|
| Aer Lingus |
| Air Dolomiti |
| Airlink |
| Azul Brazilian Airlines |
| Cape Air |
| Discover Airlines |
| Edelweiss Air |
| Emirates |
| Eurowings |
| Flydubai |
| Hawaiian Airlines |
| JSX |
| Lufthansa City Airlines |
| Olympic Air |
| Silver Airways |
| Virgin Australia |
3. Detailed United Airlines Award Booking Rules and Fees
Let’s explore the specific booking rules and fees associated with United Airlines award travel, ensuring you have all the details you need before you book.
3.1. Booking for Others: Can You Use Your Miles?
Can you use your miles to book for another person? Absolutely. You can redeem your United MileagePlus miles to book an award for anyone. However, selling miles is prohibited in the terms and conditions of the United MileagePlus program.
3.2. Booking in Advance: How Early Can You Book?
United opens its schedule 337 days out from departure for both revenue and award flights. Some partners, like ANA, may release awards even further in advance, but if you’re using United miles, you’ll need to wait until United releases its schedule.
3.3. Holding a Reservation: Can You Put a United Award on Hold?
Unfortunately, you can’t place most United award reservations on hold. United offers a paid add-on called FareLock, which allows you to hold some award itineraries exclusively operated by United Airlines. FareLock typically costs $10-30, depending on the hold duration.
3.4. Close-In Booking Fees: What Are the Charges?
MileagePlus eliminated its cash fee for close-in bookings in 2019 but increased the number of miles required for awards booked within 30 days of travel. This can be significant, so avoid booking within 30 days if possible.
3.5. Phone Booking Fees: What to Expect?
Yes, United charges a $25 phone booking fee, $10 at a city ticket office, and $50 at the airport. However, if you have United Premier Platinum or Premier 1K status, the $25 phone booking fee is waived. Reservation agents will often waive the fee if booking online isn’t possible.
3.6. Lap Infants: Costs and Considerations
For domestic flights within the United States, there’s no cost to add a lap infant to your United award. For flights between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, you’ll need to pay the applicable taxes and fees. For other international flights, United charges 10% of the cost to buy an adult ticket, capped at $250 plus taxes.
a mother holds an infant on her lap during a flight
4. United Airlines Award Travel Change and Cancellation Rules
One of the most traveler-friendly policies of United Airlines is its elimination of change and cancellation fees in recent years.
4.1. Change or Cancel: What are the Fees?
It’s completely free to change or cancel a United award ticket. If canceling, miles are redeposited into your account, and taxes are refunded to the card used. If changing, you’re responsible for the difference in miles and taxes when you rebook. If the new flight is cheaper, you’ll receive a refund in miles.
4.2. 24-Hour Free Changes: Is it Allowed?
Yes, United allows free changes up until your flight departs. However, if you “no-show” for a flight, it costs $125 to redeposit miles from your award into your account.
4.3. Tracking Flight Changes: How to Stay Updated?
AwardWallet automatically tracks all your travel plans and alerts you to any changes by importing reservations from your email or connected accounts. Linking your reservation email to your AwardWallet account ensures seamless updates.
5. United Airlines Award Travel Itinerary Rules
Understanding the itinerary rules for United Airlines award travel can help you maximize your miles and plan complex trips effectively.
5.1. Stopovers: Can You Book One?
United MileagePlus offers a unique award booking benefit called the Excursionist Perk. This allows you to visit two different destinations on the same award ticket with no additional mileage cost between them on a round trip or “open jaw” itinerary.
5.2. One-Way Travel: Is it Allowed?
You can book one-way awards, round trips, or two separate one-ways. United prices one-ways as half the price of the round-trip award. United uses dynamic pricing, so your award will price according to the flights you select.
5.3. Open Jaw: What are the Rules?
Open-jaw awards are allowed under the United MileagePlus rules. An open jaw itinerary is when you fly into one city and out of another, or fly out of a different city than you flew into.
5.4. Multiple Partners: Can You Fly With Them?
Yes, United MileagePlus allows you to book an award with multiple partners on the same reservation.
5.5. Multiple Classes of Service: Combining Classes
United allows you to book itineraries that combine two or more classes of service, but you’ll generally overpay in miles. MileagePlus sets the award price based on the highest class of service on your itinerary. These itineraries are clearly labeled as “mixed-cabin” awards.
5.6. Round-the-World Ticket: Is It Possible?
There’s no “round-the-world” ticket option with United miles. For Star Alliance airlines, consider programs like ANA Mileage Club or Lufthansa Miles & More. The United Excursionist Perk is more restrictive than other round-the-world tickets since the “free” one-way award must be within one region as defined by the MileagePlus program.
United airplane parked at a gate in Munich.
6. United Excursionist Perk Regions
The Excursionist Perk allows a free one-way flight within specific regions. Here are the regions defined by United:
| Region |
|---|
| United States and Canada |
| Hawaii |
| Mexico |
| Central America |
| Caribbean |
| South America #1 |
| South America #2 |
| Europe |
| North Africa |
| Rest of Africa |
| Middle East |
| Central Asia |
| North Asia |
| Japan |
| South Asia |
| Australia and New Zealand |
| Oceania |
united-excursionist-perk-example
7. Itinerary Rules for Complex United Award Bookings
These rules are helpful for more complex trips and understanding why an award might not price as expected online.
7.1. Published Route Requirement
Award tickets must follow routes available for sale. Unlike American Airlines, United has no published routing rules, but “common-sense” restrictions apply.
7.2. Maximum Permitted Mileage (MPM)
MPM defines how far you can deviate from the most direct routing. United doesn’t enforce a MPM rule, so there isn’t a mathematical way to check if a routing is allowed.
7.3. United Airlines Award Segment Limits
While not a published rule, there’s a four-segment limit for each direction of travel on a round-trip award with United miles. Some reports indicate nine segments are possible on a round trip, possibly including the Excursionist Perk.
7.4. Married Segment Logic
Married-segment logic means that award availability and pricing are based on the entire itinerary. This can make popular and convenient routes overpriced. If your destination is flexible, try searching for awards to second-tier cities to save miles.
aerial view of United Airlines planes parked at gates, one showing United artwork and the other with Star Alliance branding
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9. FAQs: United Airlines Award Travel
Here are some frequently asked questions about United Airlines award travel to help you navigate the system with ease:
9.1. Can I cancel my United award ticket for free?
Yes, United Airlines allows you to cancel your award ticket without any cancellation fees. The miles will be redeposited into your account, and any taxes paid will be refunded.
9.2. What happens if I need to change my United award ticket?
You can change your United award ticket without incurring a change fee. However, you will be responsible for any difference in miles and taxes between the original and new flights.
9.3. Is there a fee for booking a United award ticket over the phone?
Yes, United charges a $25 phone booking fee, but this fee is waived for United Premier Platinum and Premier 1K members.
9.4. How far in advance can I book a United award ticket?
United opens its schedule 337 days before departure for both revenue and award flights.
9.5. Can I book an award ticket for someone else using my United miles?
Yes, you can book an award ticket for anyone using your United MileagePlus miles.
9.6. Does United offer a stopover option on award tickets?
Yes, United offers the Excursionist Perk, which allows you to include a free one-way flight within certain regions as part of a round-trip itinerary.
9.7. What is the cost of adding a lap infant to an international United award ticket?
United charges 10% of the adult ticket cost, capped at $250 plus taxes, to add a lap infant to an international award ticket.
9.8. Can I combine different classes of service on a United award ticket?
Yes, but the award will be priced based on the highest class of service for the entire itinerary.
9.9. What is married segment logic, and how does it affect award pricing?
Married segment logic means that award availability and pricing are based on the entire itinerary, which can sometimes lead to higher prices for certain segments.
9.10. Is it possible to book a round-the-world ticket with United miles?
No, United does not offer a specific round-the-world ticket option. You may need to consider other Star Alliance programs like ANA Mileage Club or Lufthansa Miles & More.
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