According to TPG and OMAAT, a UA spokesperson confirmed that the changed flight schedule-change refund policy has been restored to its former version: refunds are available as free full refunds for changes over 2 hours, instead of being refunded as credit or only getting a free refund after more than 25 hours.
We are continually looking at ways to better support our customers, and as part of that effort, we’ve updated our guidelines for handling refunds when our flight schedule changes. We have always provided refunds for refundable tickets, and these updated guidelines will offer additional flexibility to our customers requesting refunds for non-refundable tickets when flight changes occur. If our customers would like to check on their refund eligibility, they can go to united.com/refunds to submit a request.
It looks like this probably followed a lawsuit, and then the DoT also received too many complaints about the prior refund-policy change, which put pressure on the regulators. I don’t think public opinion affects UA much—after all, which of the Big 3 U.S. airlines has any concern for appearances?
It’s a good thing to correct a mistake; sometimes you need to show a bit of conscience or salvage a bit of face.