[Ex-UAFrequentFlyer]

With no notice or warning, I lost over 100,000 = miles in January 2009 with United. After trying to rectify the blatant theft of miles with various CSA personnel from India, I was told I could buy into the Mileage Plus program again for $199 and pay full price for a round trip ticket. Now add extortion on top of theft by UA. My point was that I was never notified nor given a choice to redeem miles for merchandise. The CSA(s) did not understand that the 100,000 + miles had a financial value. I have been flying with UA since the 1980s. What a way to treat a customer. Is there a governmental agency(US based) that I can voice my complaint?
Thanks.

[Corbel]

if your account is inactive for 18 months your points expire. did you earn or redeem points at least once in the last 18months since january 09?? this could be the reason

[jimworcs]

Yeah, that is how it works. The airlines induced people to buy flights by promising more than they could deliver. Over the years they have introduced more and more restrictions (but after the inducements were offered). In other areas this is known as fraud

[The_Judge]

Pretty strong legal terms you're throwing around there. Mind if I use one? Defamation. Whether or not you agree with it, the old terms and conditions are there. Nothing illegal about it. Not agreeing with it, just saying it's not illegal. But what you are doing is. I'm sure UA has no interest in persuing it though. They wouldn't want to lose a customer who has been so faithful over the last 18 months.

[The_Judge]

Tried to edit but I was too late......I wanted to take out my last sentence of my previous post, a little over the top.

I also wanted to add that you mention there was no notice or warning of losing the miles. That is not true. Did you forget this after you read it..........???

"The accrual of miles and the redemption of awards are subject to the rules of the United Mileage Plus program. Program rules are subject to change without notice. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks after completed qualifying activity for miles to be posted to your Mileage Plus account. Miles may not expire as long as you earn or redeem miles at least once within 18 months. Activity includes flying, using your Mileage Plus Visa and more."

This is taken directly from UA's website. Please don't accuse them of lying, stealing and extortion. They have done none of those.

[PHXFlyer]

Airline frequent flier programs are not regulated or governed at all. Any complaint sent to the DOT or BBB will not be acted upon as it is a loyalty program and nothing more. Miles do not have any real value, to the consumer, until they are redeemed for travel or other awards/merchandise offered by the airline.

If you have a large mileage balance it is important to stay informed of all of the terms and conditions of the program especially when it comes to expiration of those miles. Here are some relevant T&Cs from United's website:

General Conditions

1. Mileage Plus membership and its benefits are offered at the discretion of United Airlines and its affiliated companies (collectively, "United"), and United has the right to terminate the Program or to change the Program Rules, regulations, benefits, conditions of participation or mileage levels, in whole or in part, at any time, with or without notice, even though changes may affect the value of the mileage or certificates already accumulated. United may, among other things, withdraw, limit, modify or cancel any award; increase the mileage or number of certificates required for any award; modify or regulate the transferability of awards or benefits; add an unlimited number of blackout dates; or limit the number of award seats available to any or all destinations. Members, in accumulating mileage or certificates, may not rely upon the continued availability of an award or award level, and members may not be able to obtain all offered awards or use awards to all destinations or on all flights.

Account activity
Any member who has failed to earn mileage for a calendar quarter may, at United's option, be excluded from receiving newsletters, statements, correspondence or other materials, including notifications of Program changes or special promotions, until the next quarter in which he or she earns mileage. Any member who fails to earn mileage during the first twelve months after enrollment in the Program may be removed from the Program.
Effective December 31, 2007 miles will expire if there is no current activity for 18 months consecutive. Therefore if the expiration date on your Mileage Plus summary is December 31, 2007 or after, your new expiration date will be 18 months after your last activity. Activity includes flying, using your Mileage Plus Visa and more, for example:
- Fly UA or a Star Alliance partner
- Use your Mileage Plus credit card
- Do business with a Mileage Plus partner
-Redeem miles for award travel
-Buy miles or transfer miles

I'm guessing the $199 is a fee to re-instate the account. I do not think it is necessary to "pay full price for a round trip ticket" as you stated. All you need to do is have some sort of miles earning activity once in an 18 month period to keep your account active. That could be simply purchasing miles, a purchase from a Mileage Plus partner, a hotel stay with a partner hotel chain, or taking a cheap flight on UA or one of it's partners.

[jimworcs]

My only point is this... these miles were offered as an inducement to purchase services... subsequent to the purchase, the terms and conditions are changed to include "fees" and "expirations" which did not exist when the inducement was given. Whilst the T&C's allow this, I still think it is deceptive. If Target advertises a free voucher for a Tivo with every flat screen TV, and then tells the customer that you have to spend $199 to redeem the voucher, or the voucher expired, although when it was offered there was no expiry date, people would have something to say about it. For some reason, the airlines seem to be exempt from this... and we give them a free ride to change the terms upon which the ticket was bought in a random and highly one sided manner.

[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by jimworcs

My only point is this... these miles were offered as an inducement to purchase services... subsequent to the purchase, the terms and conditions are changed to include "fees" and "expirations" which did not exist when the inducement was given. Whilst the T&C's allow this, I still think it is deceptive. If Target advertises a free voucher for a Tivo with every flat screen TV, and then tells the customer that you have to spend $199 to redeem the voucher, or the voucher expired, although when it was offered there was no expiry date, people would have something to say about it. For some reason, the airlines seem to be exempt from this... and we give them a free ride to change the terms upon which the ticket was bought in a random and highly one sided manner.

I get you but in all honesty you have to take frequent flier miles at face value. You can accumulate and use as long as you meet their T&C's. A loyalty program is meant to reward loyalty. After all, if one doesn't fly an airline for 18 months how loyal is that person?

[UnUnited]

Last spring I went to book a ticket online with United and found out I had no more frequent flyer miles because they had expired. I have been flying United, almost exclusively, since the late 1980s. I had a United Visa card all through the 1990s. I considered myself a good customer, got rewarded for it, but something changed with the recent downturn in the economy. Clearly, United decided to change course with regard to business and I think they have become quite unethical. I found out when I inquired as to what had happened that United had sent me an email notification in advance of deleting my miles. It turns out that the email they had on file for me was 7 years old. I did not understand why they had that email address for me when I always had communicated to them with another email that has been active the entire time. My complaint to them with regard to this communication attempt to inform me of my expiring miles was simply that they should have contacted me by mail. Most likely, they would have received a defunct email notification back when they tried to contact me via my old email address, but clearly they were not concerned with doing the right thing and getting in touch with me in advance of taking my miles. I don't feel like I have any responsibility in this at all. We had a simple agreement that worked for decades, but United burned the bridge. I will simply fly other airlines and I will make sure all my colleagues at work do as well.