Related topic: Change Fees "Gone For Good"(WW ex-USA,non-BE), credit for lower fare!, BE waiver
United;s web page: https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...ng-policy.html
Uniteds 24-hour flexible booking policy
and Ticket refund policies - Booking service fees
April 2020
We know that life happens, and you may need to change your travel plans unexpectedly. United's 24-hour flexible booking policy gives you the freedom to make changes to select reservations within 24 hours of booking and ticketing, without being charged change fees if you made your purchase one week or more before the flight was scheduled to depart. This includes canceling your reservation and requesting a full refund of the ticket price. Although Basic Economy reservations arent eligible for changes within 24 hours, theyre still eligible for a full refund if you cancel within 24 hours and you made your purchase one week or more before the flight was scheduled to depart. Please view the terms and conditions below for more details.Terms and conditions
- Applies to tickets booked at united.com, United City Ticket Offices, airport ticket counters or with the United Customer Contact Center.
- The 24-hour timeframe begins at the time you book and ticket your reservation.
- Requests for refunds will be credited back in the original form of payment, except for purchases made with a United Gift Certificate, which will be credited back in the form of electronic travel certificates.
- Group tickets are subject to the terms of the group contract.
- Tickets purchased using e-certificates are excluded. (New April 2020)
- Reservations that are being held but have not yet been purchased are excluded.
- Any FareLock® fees paid to hold a reservation will not be refunded.
Previous wording - Dec 2019
United's 24-hour flexible booking policy allows the flexibility to make changes to select reservations within 24 hours of purchasing your ticket, without incurring change fees if you made your purchase one week or more prior to the original scheduled departure flight. This includes canceling your reservation and requesting a 100% refund of the ticket price. Although Basic Economy reservations are not eligible for changes within 24 hours, they are still eligible for a full refund if you cancel within 24 hours and you made your purchase one week or more prior to the original scheduled departure flight. Please view the terms and conditions below.
Terms and conditions
1. Applies to tickets booked at united.com or with the United Customer Contact Center.
2. The 24-hour timeframe begins at the time your ticket is purchased.
3. Requests for refunds will be credited back in the original form of payment, with the exception of purchases made with a United Gift Certificate, which will be credited back in the form of electronic travel certificates.
4. Group tickets and tickets purchased using Western Union, cash or e-certificates are excluded.
5. Reservations that are being held but have not yet been purchased are excluded.
6. Any FareLockSM fees paid to hold a reservation will not be refunded.
Note: United refers to this as "Uniteds 24-hour flexible booking policy", not just cancellations. UA includes routing changes, pricing changes, fare class changes, ..... as well as simple cancellations. But the timeframe is based on the original purchases and not reset by a change. Only a cancellation and then separate rebooking would achieve that.
Reservation booking service fees and close-in booking fees for award tickets are refundable only if you cancel your reservation within 24 hours of purchase. These sometimes may take an extra request.
Starting 2016Q4 ticket receipts state
Refunds Within 24 Hours
When you book and ticket a reservation through united.com, the United mobile app, the United Customer Contact Center, at our ticket counters or city ticket offices, or if you use MileagePlus® miles to book an award ticket, we will allow you to cancel the ticketed reservation without penalty and receive a 100 percent refund of the ticket price to the original form of payment if you cancel the reservation within 24 hours of purchase and if the reservation is made one week or more prior to scheduled flight departure.
The website link does now mention the 7 day restriction (new 2017Q2) and the CoCs has contained the 7 day restriction for awhile. This is allowed by the DoT rules. However, no reports yet of UA enforcing the 7 day restriction.
DOT 24 refund rule, announcement
DOT requires airlines to either hold a reservation for 24 hours without payment or refund a paid ticket even a non-refundable one if you cancel within 24 hours of purchase and you purchased your ticket more than 7 days before your flight.
Airlines are free to choose between holding a reservation without payment in these circ*mstances or refunding after payment; they dont have to offer both options. ...
76 Fed. Reg. 23110, 23166, Apr. 25, 2011
Further DOT Guidance on 24 hour rule
Note the present UA implementation in practice is more generous -- no 7 day limitation enforcement as of yet.
UA's 24 hour rule was in place long before the DOT requirement .
Note -- a changed ticket does not get a new 24-hour free cancel period -- that benefit only applies to the original purchase.
Does the 24 hour rule apply to award tickets?
Yes
Does the 24 hour rule apply to close in bookings?
Yes but cancellation must be done before scheduled departure.
While the policy revision in 2018 add the DOT allowed 7-day exemption, UA has generally allowed this and not enforced the 7-day exemption. There has been just one FT reported situation where the 7-day was enforced and it had other factors.
In the case of credit card purchases, on a cancellation, the credit charge may be left pending and never finalized. So in the end it is as if it never happen.
Basic Economy tickets -- are they projected by the 24 hour rule?
Yes, UA is allowing cancellation of BE tickets in the first 24 hour (consistent with DOT requirements. But as UA allows changes also of other fares in the first 24 hours, it will not allow that of BE . The distinction is minor but
Book a reservation with ETC but cancelled with 24 hours, will the ETC be refunded?
Yes it should but UA can be rather slow on this and occasionally will drop the ball. You may need to followup. Note the refunded ETC will have the same expiration as the original ETC. (So, not a way to extend the ETC 
) -- Note in late 2020, UA's practice does seem to have changed to issuing NEW ETCs
Archive thread: Uniteds 24-hour cancellation / flexible booking policy ... {Archive}
