United Loosens Ticket Change Rules For Travel Agents
by Michele McDonaldUnited Airlines made several changes to its rules regarding how travel agents can make changes to tickets. Previously, many of the changes required the intervention of a United reservations agent.
It has discarded the rule that limited rebooking to four nonrefundable booking classes above the original class.
Agents can book the original class or next lowest up to and including M (full-fare economy).
The threshold for agency intervention or unacceptable schedule changes is now 30 minutes from the originally scheduled arrival or departure time.
For schedule changes, on other airlines agents can change any United-operated segments in line with the full UA schedule change policy.
Agents can now rebook customers using airports within a 100-mile radius of the original the origin or destination airport.
They also can change a customer’s departure date within a seven-day range before or after the original schedule to maintain full trip duration.
A United issued weather waiver is no longer required to self-serve irregular operation delays of less than hours. Agencies can service any disruption resulting in delays 60 minutes or longer (including blue sky delays).
The re-accommodation window has been extended to seven days both before and after the original date of travel, rather than the previous window of one day earlier or two days later.
