United, US Airways don't wait for war to waive fees NEW YORK (Reuters) =97 United Airlines and US Airways on Tuesday became the= =20 first major U.S. carriers to waive ticket change fees even in advance of a= =20 possible war with Iraq. Most large U.S. airlines have announced plans to=20 waive ticket change fees, but only after a U.S.-Iraq war begins, or if the= =20 U.S. government issues a "Code Red" alert, indicating the highest level of= =20 potential security threat. United was first to adopt a new fee policy ahead= =20 of a potential war. It said that effective immediately, "due to the=20 potential start of military conflict with Iraq," customers with tickets for= =20 travel on or before May 18 may rebook once without penalty, so long as=20 their travel is completed by Dec. 31. Customers already en route may rebook= =20 now, so long as they finish travel by May 18, United said. The policy will= =20 apply to all tickets issued on or before March 31, and customers wishing to= =20 rebook must tell United or their travel agents by the earlier of their=20 scheduled departure or April 19. US Airways said that effective on Wednesday, customers may rebook travel=20 within the United States or between the United States and Canada, so long=20 as the rebooked travel begins no later than June 17. Travel scheduled to=20 begin by that date to or from Europe, the Caribbean and Mexico may be=20 rebooked, so long as the travel begins by Dec. 15. Both United and US=20 Airways sought bankruptcy protection from creditors last year. A Virginia=20 bankruptcy court approved US Airways' reorganization plan on Tuesday.=20 Earlier on Tuesday, Midwest Airlines, a Milwaukee-based unit of Midwest=20 Express Holdings, became the latest airline to waive change fees in case of= =20 a war or Code Red alert. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.thehummingbirdonline.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************