Who knows what the policy was when I bought the ticket back in Jan/Feb. I can't even find where the current 6-hour policy is on their website NOW. All the website says now about refunds is the following:
"Depending on the severity of the schedule disruption, you may also be eligible for a refund. Fill out the
refund form and we’ll contact you shortly to let you know whether your ticket qualifies for a refund."
The "six-hour rule" mentioned in my previous post was in the email I was sent denying my refund request.
United has changed their policy about six times since Mid-March. At one point, the policy was, you weren't entitled to a refund unless your flight changed by MORE than 25 HOURS, and even then, you had to wait a YEAR to request a refund.
It's ridiculous, but United knows exactly what they are doing, and they can get away with it (for now) because they have the upper hand.
Here is an interesting article explaining how United is interpreting the DOT rules:
https://viewfromthewing.com/united-is-still-flouting-dot-refund-rules-for-cancelled-flights/
An excerpt from the article:
"United is effectively saying that they will not provide refunds for cancelled flights, only for significant delays, because cancelled flights do not exist. They are treating DOT rules – which specifically provide for two separate reasons for a refund – as though they only provide for one.
If an airline used to fly 8 times a day between two cities, and now flies just 3 times a day, that airline has cancelled 5 flights
even though the airline can still accommodate the customer. United disagrees, but that is absurd on its face."
This is effectively what happened to me. United is NOT flying from IAH to Seattle right now. All of those flights have been cancelled. But because they can accommodate me on an IAH-SFO-SEA itinerary, and the arrival time is only three hours later, they are saying I'm not entitled to a refund.