United Airlines Frequent Flyer Program - Mileage Plus

United Airlines Frequent Flyer Program - Mileage Plus

August 15, 2005

April 2005

My husband, son and I have been members of the United's Mileage Plus program for many years and my husband flies United all the time for business travel and holds Premier status. We have never had any problems with being credited frequent flyer miles from our travels but we have just had a situation that might help others who try to redeem frequent flyer miles for travel on United Airlines.

Both my husband and I had accumulated over 50,000 miles which, according to United's Mileage Plus rules, entitles us to a free international ticket to Europe. We had been planning a trip to Manchester, England summer 2005 to see my family and were really excited to at have at last accumulated enough miles for 2 free tickets as we have paid a lot of money in the past on flights.

When we called the Mileage Plus number to redeem our points, the lady customer service rep informed us that there was nothing available for the dates we wanted and when we proceeded to ask for other dates during the months of June and July, she actually laughed (at our ignorance) and said there was nothing available and we really should have called a year ago to book flights using our earned miles! A year ago! We then asked that if we had to book a year ago, how come it is impossible to book that far ahead as the airlines will tell you they do not have schedules out that far ahead? She then amended the time factor to 9 months or so - interesting. My husband asked her why did United offer this program if they were not willing to stand by it? We had completed our side of the contract, so why wouldn't United stand by their Mileage Plus program? The rep explained that there were only very few seats allocated for frequent flyer miles on each flight and they get snapped up quickly. She then stated that if we had accrued 80,000 miles then she could book us on our desired flight, no problem. Well yes, there was a problem, we didn't have 80,000 miles.

My husband then asked why didn't United state this instead of misleading the general public with the lie that 50,000 miles will get you a free ticket to Europe. The rep's whole demeanor throughout this conversation was one of condescension and amazement at our ignorance! She actually made us feel stupid. How were we supposed to know the above? Meanwhile, while my husband was on the phone with the United customer service rep, I had logged onto United's website and tried booking a flight to Manchester, UK for next January (the airlines' most slow time of the year) redeeming my frequent flyer miles. What a surprise - "nothing available". My husband explained what I had just done to the United customer sales rep and she really didn't want to hear it. However, for once she didn't have a lot to say. It really just blew apart her argument that we should have redeemed our frequent flyer miles to Europe 9 months ago!! I've since then tried numerous times to book flights redeeming frequent flyer miles to various European destinations on United to no avail. "Nothing Available" ought to be United's motto for their Mileage Plus program. Better still, United need to come clean and stop misleading Mileage Plus customers. If you really need 80,000 miles to receive a ticket to Europe then their literature should state that when you apply to become a Mileage Plus customer.

It would be interesting to find out if anyone actually has ever redeemed 50,000 miles for a ticket to Europe.

We ended up paying 3 full fares to Europe on Air Canada (they were the cheapest at the time of booking and part of Star Alliance so we will accrue miles). I am very close to 80,000 miles on my Mileage Plus account so it'll be interesting to see what happens when I try to redeem them!

Liz Click this link to e-mail the message author: Email User