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United and Nepal Relief -- contribute and recieve up to 1,000 RDMs

Old Apr 27, 2015, 11:40 pm
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Last edit by: WineCountryUA
From United, Help us support earthquake relief efforts in Nepal
Dear xxxx,

Our thoughts go out to all those who were affected by the devastating earthquake in Nepal. Please join us in helping to support Airlink, AmeriCares, The American Red Cross and Operation USA in providing aid to those affected by the earthquake. Donate to one of these organizations, and we will reward your generosity with MileagePlus miles.

■ Receive 250 miles when you donate $50-$99 USD

■ Receive 500 miles when you donate $100-$249 USD

■ Receive 1,000 miles when you donate $250 USD or more

We have committed to awarding up to 5 million miles to members for contributions made before May 15, 2015, to support this initiative. In addition, United will provide up to $50,000 total in matching donations to these partner organizations.

Donate now

We appreciate your support of these relief efforts, and our thoughts remain with those affected by the earthquake.
Terms and conditions
1. You must be a MileagePlus member to participate. To join MileagePlus, go to united.com.
2. To receive award miles, MileagePlus members must donate via the CrowdRise website at crowdrise.com/UnitedNepalRelief. Donations will be collected via this tool. Members who donate $50-$99 USD will receive 250 MileagePlus award miles, members who donate $100- $249 USD will receive 500 award miles and members who donate $250 USD or more will receive 1,000 award miles. Your contribution may be tax-deductible.
3. Donation must be made between April 27, 2015, and 11:59 p.m. (CT) on May 15, 2015.
4. Donations are nonrefundable.
5. The award miles relating to this offer can be earned a maximum of one time per MileagePlus account.
6. An aggregate of 5 million total MileagePlus award miles are available for this program and will be given in connection with donations on a first-come, first-served basis.
7. This offer is not combinable with other offers.
8. This is a limited time offer and is subject to change or cancellation without notice.
Miles accrued, awards, and benefits issued are subject to change and are subject to the rules of the United MileagePlus program, including without limitation the Premier program (the "MileagePlus Program"), which are expressly incorporated herein. Please allow 6-8 weeks after completed qualifying activity for miles to post to your account. United may change the MileagePlus Program including, but not limited to, rules, regulations, travel awards and special offers or terminate the MileagePlus Program at any time and without notice. United and its subsidiaries, affiliates and agents are not responsible for any products or services of other participating companies and partners. Taxes and fees related to award travel are the responsibility of the member. Bonus award miles, award miles and any other miles earned through non-flight activity do not count toward qualification for Premier status unless expressly stated otherwise. The accumulation of mileage or Premier status or any other status does not entitle members to any vested rights with respect to the MileagePlus Program. All calculations made in connection with the MileagePlus Program, including without limitation with respect to the accumulation of mileage and the satisfaction of the qualification requirements for Premier status, will be made by United Airlines and MileagePlus in their discretion and such calculations will be considered final. Information in this communication that relates to the MileagePlus Program does not purport to be complete or comprehensive and may not include all of the information that a member may believe is important, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to all of the information on the united.com website and the MileagePlus Program rules. United and MileagePlus are registered service marks. For complete details about the MileagePlus Program, go to united.com.

See additional MileagePlus terms and conditions.

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United and Nepal Relief -- contribute and recieve up to 1,000 RDMs

Old Apr 27, 2015, 2:44 pm
  #1  
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Maryland
Programs: United, Turkish
Posts: 640
United and Nepal Relief -- contribute and recieve up to 1,000 RDMs

I just saw that United has started some kind of Nepal relief effort through the website. I am happy to contribute I just wonder if anyone had had any negative or positive experiences with similar in the past. I give them credit for at least making the effort

My academic work is in disasters. This one is real nasty.

Followup

I sent in the contribution I put it under my flyertalk screen name. I think we should never miss a chance to remind United we are here.

Last edited by morelegroom; Apr 27, 2015 at 2:58 pm
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Old Apr 27, 2015, 3:46 pm
  #2  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,574
Direct link for Nepal earthquake relief

some other examples
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...-mp-miles.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...arn-miles.html

Last edited by WineCountryUA; Apr 27, 2015 at 3:53 pm
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Old Apr 27, 2015, 4:31 pm
  #3  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: BDL/NYC/BOS
Programs: UA/*A Gold, Global Entry, Marriott Plat, Hilton+IHG Gold, Hertz PC, DL
Posts: 1,751
good on united, and thanks for bringing it to our attention!

something i saw on my twitter feed that i also thought was generous of a corporation: should anyone here have friends/relatives in nepal, tmobile (US) won't charge for calls/sms to nepal through may 16.
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Old Apr 27, 2015, 5:51 pm
  #4  
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: IAD...and loving it?!
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Posts: 858
or donate directly to the NGO...

while United's effort is commendable, the fundraising site they are managing this through takes a 9% processing fee. You'll see this if you go through the donation process (as I did) and are told that 100% of your stated amount ($250 was my plan) will go to the charity if you donate an additional $22.xx, i.e., donate $272 and $250 goes to the charity.

I will donate instead directly to the relief organization.

Last edited by Portolan; Apr 27, 2015 at 5:56 pm
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Old Apr 27, 2015, 5:55 pm
  #5  
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
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It is nice for United to do this, although the amount of matching funds seems quite small, $50K.

Note that the company they are using (Crowdrise) charges about a 9% tax on donations, which is pretty hefty IMO. I suggest donating directly to the charities, my favorite one being http://americares.com.
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Old Apr 27, 2015, 6:00 pm
  #6  
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I gave them miles for the tsunami. Never got so much as a thank you much less a report on how/if my miles were used. I'll give through other avenues.
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Old Apr 27, 2015, 6:21 pm
  #7  
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
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Originally Posted by FlytheTail
I
Note that the company they are using (Crowdrise) charges about a 9% tax on donations, which is pretty hefty IMO. I suggest donating directly to the charities, my favorite one being http://americares.com.
I fired off a note to UA commending them for being so responsive - and also to let them know that a whopping 9% of our donations don't get to the victims so I was donating directly. I'll let you know what they say - if anything. I honestly wonder if they know it's so high so I'm not ready to convict them just yet...
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Old Apr 27, 2015, 6:38 pm
  #8  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
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I think this is a good thing UA is doing. They should match over $50,000. That is chump change for a company the size of UA, and they can write it off.
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Old Apr 27, 2015, 7:00 pm
  #9  
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Southwest Desert, under a rock, watch out! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<" You can get there, but it's gonna cost you!
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Where does the 9% processing fee come from? (Or go to?)

According to the https://www.crowdrise.com/#why website:

Best Pricing Guarantee
3% guaranteed pricing and fastest access to your funds. Nearly every other site charges 8%.
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Old Apr 27, 2015, 7:01 pm
  #10  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
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Originally Posted by FlytheTail
It is nice for United to do this, although the amount of matching funds seems quite small, $50K.

Note that the company they are using (Crowdrise) charges about a 9% tax on donations, which is pretty hefty IMO. I suggest donating directly to the charities, my favorite one being http://americares.com.
Precisely. I strongly recommend looking at charitynavigator.com, which rates charities according to overhead and other key metrics. There are plenty that aren't that wasteful. For example, the one you mention -- Americares -- is very highly rated:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...9#.VT7bCSHnu5M

Although this one might be even better:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...0#.VT7cCCHnu5M

I would also be curious to know the tax deductability of the United offer. Clearly you are receiving something of value for your donation. I wonder what value they are placing on the miles.
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Old Apr 27, 2015, 7:33 pm
  #11  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Thumbs up Donated

Having been to Nepal numerous times I donated and wish all the people there well and a through recovery. Props to UA for doing this and hope the decide to double their offer if it is a huge success.^

That being said $9 to cover the fees is awful.
UnitedFFinAsia is offline  
Old Apr 27, 2015, 8:07 pm
  #12  
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As a US born Nepali I'm just happy the more press anyone gives my parents' motherland.
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Old Apr 27, 2015, 8:52 pm
  #13  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
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Originally Posted by aacharya
As a US born Nepali I'm just happy the more press anyone gives my parents' motherland.
No kidding. The press in the USA is horrible with this tragic event. Bruce Jenner is the lead story. Sad.

The USA needs to step it up and send $$$ and relief ASAP!
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Old Apr 28, 2015, 9:57 am
  #14  
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Originally Posted by UnitedFFinAsia
That being said $9 to cover the fees is awful.
It's ridiculous. Will likely send a note to UA and the American Red Cross, and steer clear of using CrowdRise in the future. As others have noted, there are less costly avenues.
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Old May 1, 2015, 4:08 pm
  #15  
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
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Originally Posted by kettle1
I think this is a good thing UA is doing. They should match over $50,000. That is chump change for a company the size of UA, and they can write it off.
And what are you seeing from AA and DL?

Before blasting UA for not doing more, I think I'll credit UA with doing something.

FTF
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