How I Just Got Back 88K United Miles

So this is all a bit too complicated so let me break it down into simpler steps that occurred.

Originally I was supposed to be booked with my mother to fly from Newark-Delhi for 245K United Miles each.

However, I decided I wanted to head straight from LA to Asia and split the itinerary while I booked a flight to Manila for 170K Miles. More on that in a future post of how to split it up.

The differential was re-funded and put to good use 😅 (SQ BIZ)

However, while I was in Cambodia I thought I would take a quick look at the same flight and how much it costs now. I came across the United page that showed the Polaris cabin only 2/3 full 4 days before departure on a high-yield route. The price had dropped to 158K miles from 245K miles.

So how did I go about re-pricing this flight?

I decided that instead of going through the call center and getting the run around I would cancel the original ticket straight up. Once I cancelled that flight the miles were re-deposited instantly to the account where I went in and booked the same flight. Since originally 1A (it's a household seat) was booked by me it was cleared up and I selected that seat again. The only thing I had to do was pre-select meals and re-input KTR. Other than that the whole process took a maximum of 3 minutes.

So how does this have to do with you, you might ask? Well even if a fare is booked with cash (not basic economy) keep an eye out around a week before departure to see if the fare/miles price decreases. This has happened many times to me and could save you some hard-earned points or cash.