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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Changing or canceling United award tickets
We understand that plans can change. We’ll be happy to assist you with changing or canceling your award ticket.
If you have a flexible award ticket, you can change or cancel your reservation online by going to Manage Trips at united.com. Sign in to your MileagePlus account and click on the Trip Details link for the trip you want to change or cancel. Then select Change/Cancel from the Actions drop-down list and follow the instructions. If you need further assistance, please contact the United Customer Contact Center. For details on fees, refer to our policy on changes and cancellations for award travel.
If your ticket is not refundable and does not allow changes, it may be eligible for reinstatement as a MileagePlus award or travel certificate, depending on how recently it was issued. To request reinstatement of an award ticket or travel certificate, please contact the United Customer Contact Center. Refer to our policy on reinstating unused tickets and travel certificates for more information on this process and any applicable fees.
Policies are subject to change.
Changes or cancellations can be made on United.com.
You’re responsible for any difference in fare, and you may have to pay a service charge.
If you’re not able to cancel your reservation online, contact the United Customer Contact Center.
Allow enough time before your flight if you need to make changes or cancellations.
You can change or cancel your ticket:
- Within 24 hours of making a reservation without paying a service charge if we received your request at least 7 days before departure, and the reservation was made at least one week prior to travel; or
- Anytime without paying a service charge if we received your request at least 1 hour before departure and the reservation was made at least 1 hour prior to travel; or
- By contacting the United Customer Contact Center up to 4 hours after making your reservation or during the 24 hours following the purchase of a nonrefundable ticket, provided that the ticket was purchased at least 7 days prior to departure, and the scheduled time of departure for your first flight is at least 7 days from when you contacted us.
Changing or canceling United tickets booked with credit card points
If you book United tickets with your credit card points, you may have to pay a fee if you need to change or cancel the reservation.
The charge for canceling your flight is $200, but if you used miles to pay for the flight, you can cancel it without paying the fee.
You can call United and ask an agent to refund the miles used for your ticket back to your account. You will also be able to make changes to your reservation or request a full refund this way.
However, you won’t be able to make any changes to the number of award miles redeemed for a ticket. Once redeemed, these miles are nonrefundable.
You can also cancel your reservation online by visiting united.com, logging in with your MileagePlus number and password, selecting My Trips from the drop-down menu in the upper right corner of the page, and following the prompts available on that page.
The amount of the fee depends on how much time is left before departure and how far in advance you made the reservation. The fee can be as low as $50 or as high as $300.
You can use your Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred cards to book flights on United — but there are some restrictions. You’ll be charged a $75 fee for booking an award ticket through the Chase travel portal, which is waived for status holders and those with other premium credit cards.
Changing or canceling United Airlines basic economy fares
You have the option to change or cancel your United Airlines basic economy ticket. If you choose to change your flight, you can do so for a $200 fee.
Alternatively, you can cancel and rebook your ticket at a later date for a $200 fee plus any price difference between the existing and new tickets.
If changing flights is not an option, you may also choose to cancel your basic economy ticket and book a new one at any time without incurring the $200 fee.
This option is only available for the original purchaser of the ticket, however, so transferrable tickets are excluded from this rule. Cancellations must be made within 24 hours of booking, but changes can be requested until 30 days before departure date.
United Airlines standby policy
United Airlines has a very strict standby policy. The airline will only allow you to check in as a standby passenger if there are available seats and your original flight is delayed.
The airline does not accept standby bookings for flights that have been cancelled or overbooked. If you try to check in as a standby passenger on an overbooked flight, you’ll be denied boarding and asked to rebook your trip on another flight.
United also won’t allow standby passengers to check in prior to their original departure time — even if they have an earlier connecting flight in their itinerary. In other words, if your original flight is delayed, it’s best to wait until your new departure time before trying to check in again.
How to get on the United Airlines standby list
In order to get on the standby list for a United Airlines flight, you must be a traveler who has not yet purchased a ticket. If you have already booked a flight, you will need to cancel it and wait 24 hours before placing yourself on the standby list.
I will show you how to get on the standby list for a United Airlines flight by following these steps:
- Call United or go to the United website and click “Contact Us” in the top right corner of the page. You can also visit your local airport’s ticket desk for help.
- Tell the representative that you would like to be placed on standby for an upcoming flight. They will ask about your travel plans, including where and when you want to fly as well as whether or not you have checked luggage or carry-on items with which they can assist during boarding time.
- The representative will let you know if there are seats available on another flight. If not, they may suggest other options such as taking an earlier departure date or switching airlines altogether (for example, American Airlines).
How do you change or cancel your United flight?
If you need to change or cancel your United flight, you can do so online, by phone or at the airport.
Before You Book Your Flight: If you have a nonrefundable ticket and wish to change or cancel your flight, you may be able to use that ticket on another flight. If not, there may be a fee for changing or canceling your ticket.
Online: Log in to your MileagePlus account and select Manage Reservations from the My Trip section. Select Edit Reservations and then make any necessary changes.
By Phone: Call 1-800-UNITED-1 (1-800-864-8331) within 24 hours of booking your flight to request a change or cancellation.
