Long time lurker first time posting. Sorry if this isn't the right place.
I frequently (a few times per month) travel SFO-LAX. I buy tickets pretty far in advance, and it is _very_ common for me to change travel plans. Since the ticket change is outside of 24 hours, I typically just buy a new one-way ticket because it is cheaper.
The problem, of course, is since I don't get on the original segment to LA, my return segment would get cancelled. Unfortunately, the "24 hour change fee" waiver doesn't apply to cancellations, so I still have to pay $200 to CANCEL my flight (madness, if you ask me).
Sometimes I bite the bullet and eat the change fee, sometimes I actually fly quickly up to LA just before my original flight and fly back down on the original time because it is cheaper that way to keep my return.
It is all just crazy to avoid losing my return segment.
At this point I'm just booking a ton of one-way flights so I can freely just "miss" them. I just don't show up. I've done this about 5 times this year. But seeing ~$600 just disappear for no good reason other than United won't cancel my flights is really annoying me.
Is there any good way to cancel flight segments without a fee?
I frequently (a few times per month) travel SFO-LAX. I buy tickets pretty far in advance, and it is _very_ common for me to change travel plans. Since the ticket change is outside of 24 hours, I typically just buy a new one-way ticket because it is cheaper.
The problem, of course, is since I don't get on the original segment to LA, my return segment would get cancelled. Unfortunately, the "24 hour change fee" waiver doesn't apply to cancellations, so I still have to pay $200 to CANCEL my flight (madness, if you ask me).
Sometimes I bite the bullet and eat the change fee, sometimes I actually fly quickly up to LA just before my original flight and fly back down on the original time because it is cheaper that way to keep my return.
It is all just crazy to avoid losing my return segment.
At this point I'm just booking a ton of one-way flights so I can freely just "miss" them. I just don't show up. I've done this about 5 times this year. But seeing ~$600 just disappear for no good reason other than United won't cancel my flights is really annoying me.
Is there any good way to cancel flight segments without a fee?