skylane

Purchased a sandwich in-flight on a generic gift card only to discover a few days later that I had used up all of the balance. Anyone know how I can true up the $4 I owe United? Or will United simply let it slide?

denuaflier

I don't think it's enough money for UA to pursue it.

MatthewLAX

How do you know it declined? I thought with onboard wifi UA could immediately verify...?

skylane

From what I understand, they batch the transactions and then clear them when the airplane lands.

I did try to check on https://inflightreceipts.ual.com with no luck.

I learned that transaction was declined when I checked online myself a week or so later. I wanted to make sure I had used up all of the gift card balance and saw that the United transaction had failed. My usual MO is to keep using a gift card until a merchant declines the purchase at the point of sale. Then I know I'm out of money.

sbm12

Nope. The BoB transactions are not real-time yet.

STS-134

I don't get how this helps you. I was under the impression that the transaction gets declined, but it doesn't tell you how much money you have left, which means you still have to track it.

I'd never, ever use a gift card to purchase stuff on UA though. UA is a travel company, and as such, I'd get 2X points for purchases from UA through my Chase Sapphire Preferred. I only ever use gift cards to purchase stuff that's not in a special bonus category on my regular credit cards (travel, dining, gasoline, etc), and I'll generally find a single large purchase to use them on, so that I can use the balance all at once and don't have to keep track of how much money is left on the darn thing.

kettle1

If you feel guilty about it you could send them a check.

denuaflier

I am not sure they are setup to accept checks from people without accounting for it in a specific transaction.

Often1

My guess is that their fraud % is so low that they just writeoff the small stuff. Not worth pursuing and it will cost them more than $4 to process the check.

TomMM

Maybe they will add it back to the next ticket you purchase.

WineCountryUA

Realize this was probably in jest but how would they know who made the inflight purchase. A simple name check is a weak method.

skylane

I believe they jotted down my seat number when entering in the order. I did see the FA check up to look at the row number when she processed my order.

The gift card isn't in my name though - just a generic "Gift Card Recipient".

WineCountryUA

given the amount of seat changes / shuffling that occurs, that is a weak crosscheck.

kettle1

If you want to drop of the payment in person take the cash to:
Physical Address:

United Airlines, Inc.
233 S. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
United States

Be sure to get a receipt for proof of payment.

If you want to mail a check/money order/cashiers check:
Postal Address:

United Airlines, Inc.
PO Box 06649
Chicago, IL 60606-0649
United States

Be sure to provide the date, flt, seat number, etc on the check. I would send it certified mail, return receipt requested.

If you want to get the payment there ASAP, send it Fed Ex overnight.

Good luck OP. I am sure it will work out in the end. You are the most honest person I have seen in a long time. This is about a sandwich, correct?

eng3

How about just writing in to customer service and asking them. If they say to forget about it, at least you have a written record.