 Home > Reservations > Refunds > Refunds
Requesting a refund
Tickets purchased at united.com or from United Reservations in the last 24 hours may be eligible for our 24-hour flexible booking policy. In all other cases, please choose your refund type below and select Continue, to begin the refund request process. Completing an online refund request form is the best way to ensure a prompt reply to your refund request. A refund may be requested for any fare that allows refunds. Depending on the rules of the fare purchased, a cancellation penalty may apply. Most fares are non-refundable, and are not eligible for voluntary refunds. Items other than fare purchases may be refundable in certain circumstances.
Check refund status
Check the status of your refund by entering your 8-digit refund request number or your United ticket number.
Expand a section below for more information:
- How quickly will my refund be processed?
-
Credit card refunds will be processed within seven business days of the request. All other refunds will be processed within 20 business days of the request, including:
- Cash
- Check
- Traveler's check
- TeleCheck®
- Bill Me Later®
- united.com gift certificate
- united.com gift TravelBank
- PayPal™
- Electronic certificate
- Western Union (excluding any service fees)
- How will my refund be credited?
-
Your refund will be credited back to your original form of payment, as outlined below:
| Original form of payment |
Refunded via |
| Cash, money order, cashier's check, certified bank check, Western Union, personal or company check* |
Check (may be issued in person at any United airport or city ticket office or within 20 business days if received by mail) |
| Credit card |
Credit card |
| Travel certificate or other stored credit |
Travel certificate |
| Any combination of the above |
Individual forms of payment based on how the original purchase was split |
* Proof of check clearance, such as a canceled check or bank verification, is required when requesting an immediate refund in person. In these cases, the ticket amount, United Airlines ticket number, and issue date must match the canceled check.
Ticket refund policies
Tickets purchased at united.com or from United Reservations may be eligible for our 24-hour flexible booking policy.
In all other cases, a refund may be requested for any fare that allows refunds. Depending on the rules of the fare purchased, a cancellation penalty may apply. Most fares are non-refundable, and are not eligible for voluntary refunds. However, the value of your ticket may be eligible to be applied toward the value of a new ticket for a fee.
The amount of refund you will receive depends on several variables. For example, if the ticket has both refundable and non-refundable fares included, each fare will be looked at individually. Tickets that are partially traveled will be calculated using a prorate amount based on the rules of the ticket purchased and segments flown. Fees and surcharges collected in conjunction with the ticket will only be refunded if applicable.
Select a section below for more information:
- Travel agency and cruise line agency ticket refunds
-
Tickets issued through a travel agency should be processed through the issuing agency.
- Tickets issued by another carrier
-
Tickets issued by another carrier that contain United flights should be processed through the issuing carrier.
- Reissued and partially-used tickets
-
In these cases, the refund amount will be based on the difference between the fare and charges applicable to the ticket issued and the fare and charges of the segments flown.
- MileagePlus®
-
MileagePlus award tickets are subject to the fees outlined in our MileagePlus Award Terms and Conditions.
- MileagePlus mileage purchase
-
Miles purchased or transferred using MileagePlus are added to your account immediately. Because these miles are added to your account and are available for future use, they are nonrefundable.
- MileagePlus upgrade service fees
-
Members will be charged the service fee when requesting an upgrade to United First®, United BusinessFirst® or United Business®. If for any reason the upgrade is not completed, the service fee will be refunded in conjunction with the re-deposit of the miles used to upgrade.
- Delayed or canceled flights
-
When complications such as weather, air traffic control, and mechanical delays occur, you may be eligible to request a refund for a restricted ticket. In these situations, please submit a refund request.
If your flight is delayed two hours or more, and you would rather postpone your travel, please let us know, and we'll waive any change penalties that may have applied to your ticket. You may also receive a travel credit or refund for the unused portion of your trip if you choose not to travel. If your trip involves a connection and you have made it to the connecting city, you may ask to return to your origin and receive a travel credit or refund if there are no other suitable alternatives. The amount and type of credit will depend on the fare and what portion of the ticket has been used.
Different policies will apply when traveling to and from certain other countries. Learn more about policies specific to the European Union or refer to our Contract of Carriage for more information.
- Refund request for nonrefundable tickets — unplanned event
-
United will refund change fees and tickets in certain cases. All requests must be received before the expiration of your ticket and must be accompanied by proper documentation (see below). Once received, if applicable, a refund will be provided to the original form of payment minus a $50 USD processing fee*. This policy applies to the illness or death of the traveler, traveling companion, or immediate family members, as well as customers actively on jury duty at the time of planned travel.
*Except where DOT 14 CFR Part 382 applies
- Change fee
-
In the event your travel plans need to change as a result of illness or jury duty, you will be required to pay the applicable change fee at the time of the change. Once charged, you may submit a request to have the change fee refunded (minus a $50 USD processing fee).
- Refund
-
Refunds (minus a $50 USD processing fee) will be provided in the event of death and, in some cases, illness and jury duty. This applies to all tickets, including revenue, MileagePlus award tickets, promotional, bulk and net fares.
- Documentation requirement and processing
-
In cases of death, a copy of the death certificate is required. Illness situations require a letter (on letterhead) from a licensed physician confirming that travel was not recommended due to the customer's illness. If the request is due to the death or illness of an immediate family member, the request must contain the name of the family member and their relationship to you. Jury duty refund requests require a copy of the jury summons. All requests must be sent to United Customer Refund Services for consideration. Requests directed through other departments (contact centers, airport staff, etc.) will be referred to Customer Refund Services.
- Surcharges and taxes
-
Surcharges, including fuel and insurance surcharges filed as YQ or YR, will follow the refund rule of the fare. If the fare is non-refundable, the surcharges are also non-refundable.
- Lost paper tickets
-
In the event you have lost your paper ticket, the lost ticket refund form will need to be completed. In order to assist you with your request, please fill out the form and provide at least one of the following supporting documents:
- If paid by check, copies of both sides of the canceled check
- If paid by credit card, a copy of the billing statement
- If lost ticket was purchased from a travel agency, contact the agency for a copy of the lost ticket
You may submit your request by downloading and printing the lost ticket refund form, filling in the required information, and presenting it and the supporting document(s) at any United Airlines ticketing location or by mailing it to the address on the form.
Lost Ticket
Refund Form
(PDF: 31.1KB)
 Documents may require the Adobe Acrobat reader, available for free from Adobe for Windows, Macintosh, UNIX and other platforms.
All refund requests are subject to audit and final approval by the United Airlines Refund Department. All refunds are credited to the form of payment of the original ticket. Please allow 90 days for processing of lost ticket claims.
Other refund policies
To learn about refund eligibility for fee payments, expand a section below for more information:
- Baggage service fees
-
Baggage service fee refunds may be requested if you have paid for one or more checked bags and don't travel as a result of a cancellation, change in schedule or schedule irregularity caused by United.
- Booking service fees
-
The reservation booking service fee is refundable only if you cancel your reservation within 24 hours of purchase. If you have purchased a ticket from United in the last 24 hours, go to Manage Reservations to cancel your reservation or contact United Reservations for assistance.
Award close-in booking fees are nonrefundable.
- Day-of-departure upgrades
-
Day-of-departure upgrade fees are generally nonrefundable, but if a flight for which an upgrade fee has been paid is affected by a cancellation or oversale, and you cannot be accommodated in United First, United Global First℠, United BusinessFirst or United Business on a later flight, we will refund fees you paid for the upgrade refund upon request.
- Economy Plus® seating
-
There are also certain scenarios where you may be reaccommodated in a seat other than the seat you've purchased, such as in instances of irregular operations, a last minute aircraft change or an oversell. In these cases, you will be issued a new boarding pass. If you find you've not been reaccommodated in a seat with similar or greater extra legroom, fees paid for the seat will usually automatically be refunded. In the event a new boarding pass is not issued, however, you may request a refund.
- Fax:
- 1-713-324-1431
- Address:
-
United Airlines
Customer Refund Services
P.O. Box 4607, Dept. HQJRF
Houston, TX 77253-3046
Please be sure to include your United Airlines ticket number, name of the customer on the ticket and/or flight information (customer name, flight number, date of travel and departure city). In addition, please state the nature of your request and contact information.
|
|