Ask HN: I don't want to fly united. Cancel tickets?

4 points by shubhamgoel 9 years ago | 3 comments

I have a non-refundable international ticket with United. After today's incident I don't want to fly with them. Any advice on how to cancel my ticket and get my money back?

smt88 9 years ago |

My girlfriend just had Chase refund a ticket for her because she had a health emergency. She offered to give them a doctor's note, but all they did was ask the name of the doctor she went to.

Of course, they can't actually call the doctor to confirm what she said because of HIPAA laws. So I guess that's that -- she could easily have lied if she wanted to.

RoyTyrell 9 years ago |

Short of a customer service agent taking pity on you, or your bank/credit-card company letting you off the hook, I don't think it's really possible.

If you really feel that strongly about the incident where you don't even want to be on their planes, then likely the only option you have is to spend more money on a second ticket for a different airline.

pedalpete 9 years ago |

It may not be refundable, but if it can be changed, you may be able to change the flight for a codeshare where the flight is operated by another airline and not united.

I think your chance of doing this is better on an international ticket, though I'm not sure how you find out if a flight is a codeshare or not.