United to expand China flying per agreement by the governments of the U.S. and China to increase flights between the two countries

CHICAGO, Aug. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — United today announces it will resume daily flying between San Francisco and Beijing this November and will increase flying to Shanghai with daily flights from San Francisco, starting October 1, 2023. These enhancements to United’s Asia Pacific schedule are enabled by agreement between the governments of the U.S. and China to increase flights between the two countries.

“We are grateful for this positive step forward in U.S. – China passenger air services, and we thank the many officials from both countries who partnered to make this reinstatement of air service possible,” said Patrick Quayle, Senior Vice President of Global Network Planning and Alliances. “This announcement is good news for United customers because we believe that a daily flight to Beijing and a daily flight to Shanghai from San Francisco is consistent with the demand we see in the market right now – especially since our ability to serve China nonstop from our mid-continent hubs or the East Coast is severely limited by Russian overflight restrictions.”

Shanghai flights are currently available on United.com and on the United app, while the Beijing schedule will be updated in the next week.*

About United

At United, Good Leads The Way. With U.S. hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., United operates the most comprehensive global route network among North American carriers, and is now the largest airline in the world as measured by available seat miles. For more about how to join the United team, please visit www.united.com/careers and more information about the company is at www.united.com. United Airlines Holdings, Inc., the parent company of United Airlines, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol “UAL”.

* Flights pending government approval.

Reminder – Tickets with Dec. 31, 2023 expiration

Wholly unused tickets originally issued between May 1, 2019 – Dec. 31, 2022 expire on Dec. 31, 2023 and tickets must be exchanged and travel must begin by that date. We are not extending ticket validity or making exceptions for these tickets.

Tickets can no longer be converted to ETC. Additionally, and effective immediately, refunds to the original form-of-payment or ETC are not allowed for tickets expiring on Dec. 31, 2023.

Options for tickets that expire on Dec.31, 2023

• Use for the person named
• U.S. point-of-origin refund with cancel fee, if eligible
• Tickets must be exchanged and the travel must begin by Dec. 31, 2023

This applies to all tickets, regardless of point-of-sale.

Booking and Ticketing

Ticket Validity and Unused Tickets

Unless the ticket indicates otherwise, tickets are valid for transportation as outlined in the ticketed fare rules. Fare rules are subject to change; always check the ticket and travel validity and permitted changes outlined in the ticketed fare rules and the United Contract of Carriage which supersede other resources.
Global travel waivers: The charts below include the travel waiver dates and code (if needed).

How long are tickets valid?

The original ticket-issue date always determines the validity/expiration of a wholly unused ticket. Even on exchanges, the original ticket-issue date still determines the ticket validity.

Announced April 14, 2022
Wholly unused tickets originally issued May 1, 2019 – December 31, 2022:

• Ticket must be reissued by December 31, 2023
• Valid for travel that begins by December 31, 2023

Wholly unused tickets originally issued on/after January 1, 2023, will be valid for 12 months from the original ticket-issue date. The ticket must be reissued and the travel must begin by 12 months from the original ticket-issue date.

This extended validity does not apply to free travel authorization certificates or tickets (i.e., Jetstream fund travel certificates and tickets, etc.), miscellaneous charge orders (MCO), electronic miscellaneous documents (EMC), and other travel certificates. For validity of United-issued Travel Certificates (a.k.a. Electronic Travel Certificates/ETC), see the united.com Using travel credits page.

                     What types of 016 tickets are eligible for extended travel validity?

Accessing Tickets
Tickets will remain active in our systems and ARC, BSP, and each GDS will recognize the ticket validity, making tickets accessible for you. GDSs can interact with United’s version of the eTicket using messaging as they do today.

• The eTicket can be retrieved via the GDS as long as the ticket is in United’s system.
• GDSs allow agencies to retrieve a ticket by the ticket number without a live PNR.
• You do not need to use the original PNR, but you can if it’s active.

For instructions on how to retrieve eTickets via your GDS, please contact your GDS Help Desk.

Refunds
Refunds for refundable tickets, or non-refundable tickets eligible for a refund as outlined on the Agency Rebooking Parameters must be submitted via ARC/BSP/GDS by the agency that issued the ticket. NDC-enabled agency: Eligible tickets with cash/check as form-of-payment must be refunded via NDC. Eligible tickets issued with credit card form-of-payment can be refunded via NDC or united.com/refunds.

For refunds of a non-refundable ticket due to unplanned events outlined on united.com, agencies (including NDC-enabled)  must submit a refund application and supporting documents as outlined on the page.

Changes

• If customers want to make a voluntary change to a flight, they must cancel the flight reservation prior to the departure time. If the reservation is not canceled, the ticket has no value. If a customer does not cancel a flight before departure and does not show up for the flight (no show), the value of the remaining coupons is lost, and the ticket has no value.
• Wholly unused ticket: Customers may apply a valid wholly unused ticket toward a ticket with a different date or city pair. The new ticket is subject to new fare rules and applicable add-collect.
  • Tickets issued May 1, 2019 – Dec. 31, 2022: Ticket must be changed by Dec. 31, 2023, and travel must begin by Dec. 31, 2023.
  • Tickets issued on/after Jan. 1, 2023: Travel must begin by one year from date of original ticket issue.
  • Non-refundable tickets issued/reissued on/after March 3, 2020: If the new fare is lower, no residual is permitted. See fare rules Category 16. NDC-enabled agency: A residual flight credit in the passenger’s name may be issued if the exchange is completed via united.com or the United Contact Centers.
• Partially used ticket: Travel must be complete by 12 months from the outbound travel date
• Reminder: The original ticket-issue date always determines the validity/expiration of a wholly unused ticket – even on further exchanges.
• Expired tickets have no value.
• See charts below for more details and to determine if a change fee waiver applies to a ticket.

For Basic Economy-specific policies, click here. 

Waivers