Fare Lock

Your fare was locked because you made a reservation at a locked price although apparently you waited to purchase your tickets.  No matter what the new ticket price if you purchase the tickets in the prescribed lock time, you should be charged that locked fare.

FareLock allows you to reserve your flights and fare for up to 72 hours or seven days, for a fee, and is available on select flights. FareLock fees begin at $5 for a 72-hour hold and $9 for a seven-day hold.  If offered, you can purchase FareLock after you have selected your flights Prices vary based on a number of factors such as the itinerary, number of days to departure and the length of the hold.

Customers may select to have their reservation automatically purchased at the end of the FareLock hold period. If this option is selected, our system will automatically process your ticket purchase with the same credit card used to pay the FareLock service fee. You may choose this service when making your FareLock reservation.

If your plans change after the automated purchase, you have an additional 24- hours from the time of ticketing to receive a full ticket refund. However, the FareLock service fee is non-refundable

It all depends upon the length of time you Fare-locked. 72 hours or 7 days. It could have been problematic if this was done during the transition. Did you receive an email 24 hours before the FareLock expired?  If you did and did not purchase the ticket in the next 24 hours, your reservation was automatically cancelled.

Go to the Manage Reservations page, enter your confirmation number and last name to have a look at your account.

If indeed there was a snafu, you can request a refund from that page although you might have to go through more lengthy discussion MileagePlus through the online email form or through United Customer Service -Reservations 1-800-589-5582

If you didn't book the reservation before you 72 hours or 7 days expired, you lost the FareLock reservation and you will have to pay the new price.