Does US Randomly Audit Accounts or did I get flagged?
Jun 5, 2012, 8:37 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Charlotte
Programs: US CP
Posts: 224
Does US Randomly Audit Accounts or did I get flagged?
I just got the below message in my email box. Is this a random audit or is it something like an AMEX Financial Review? I have a good amount of miles and am slightly worried since I “missed” the last 2 connections on separate itineraries this last weekend.
We’re conducting an audit of your account
From time to time, we audit Dividend Miles accounts for ineligible mileage credit. If found, we have the right to deduct ineligible miles and cancel award tickets and upgrades issued on ineligible credit.
We’re currently conducting an audit of your account. During the audit, your account access will be limited and we may suspend mileage accrual until we can verify eligibility of the mileage credit.
As a member, you’re responsible for understanding and complying with all Dividend Miles terms and conditions. If you're unfamiliar with our program rules, please read the membership guide.
Thanks for choosing US Airways.
We’re conducting an audit of your account
From time to time, we audit Dividend Miles accounts for ineligible mileage credit. If found, we have the right to deduct ineligible miles and cancel award tickets and upgrades issued on ineligible credit.
We’re currently conducting an audit of your account. During the audit, your account access will be limited and we may suspend mileage accrual until we can verify eligibility of the mileage credit.
As a member, you’re responsible for understanding and complying with all Dividend Miles terms and conditions. If you're unfamiliar with our program rules, please read the membership guide.
Thanks for choosing US Airways.
Jun 5, 2012, 8:53 am
#2
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,575
Normal misconnects shouldn't trigger any issues...unless it appears that you intentionally abandoned segments as some sort of hidden-city workaround.
Have you (a) redeemed miles for multiple friends recently or (b) had some new and unusually large partner mileage posts? I've never been audited myself...but in years when I was churning UA credit cards I was always watching my account closely. At the time, the churning was allowed by Chase and UA (as long as Chase was willing to open accounts for you), but I always suspected that at some point, it'd get frowned upon.
Have you (a) redeemed miles for multiple friends recently or (b) had some new and unusually large partner mileage posts? I've never been audited myself...but in years when I was churning UA credit cards I was always watching my account closely. At the time, the churning was allowed by Chase and UA (as long as Chase was willing to open accounts for you), but I always suspected that at some point, it'd get frowned upon.
Jun 5, 2012, 9:23 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Charlotte
Programs: US CP
Posts: 224
Normal misconnects shouldn't trigger any issues...unless it appears that you intentionally abandoned segments as some sort of hidden-city workaround.
Have you (a) redeemed miles for multiple friends recently or (b) had some new and unusually large partner mileage posts? I've never been audited myself...but in years when I was churning UA credit cards I was always watching my account closely. At the time, the churning was allowed by Chase and UA (as long as Chase was willing to open accounts for you), but I always suspected that at some point, it'd get frowned upon.
Have you (a) redeemed miles for multiple friends recently or (b) had some new and unusually large partner mileage posts? I've never been audited myself...but in years when I was churning UA credit cards I was always watching my account closely. At the time, the churning was allowed by Chase and UA (as long as Chase was willing to open accounts for you), but I always suspected that at some point, it'd get frowned upon.
I do about 6 hidden-city workarounds a year.
Jun 5, 2012, 9:29 am
#4
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: CHA/TYS
Programs: The Mac Daddy of Heimlich County (and low-ball status)
Posts: 2,868
Jun 5, 2012, 9:34 am
#5
Join Date: Jun 2011
Programs: SPG Plat US G Delta G
Posts: 166
6 is quite a few...
Jun 5, 2012, 9:40 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: BOS, PIT
Programs: US Chairman, Delta Silver, UA Premier, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 719
Jun 5, 2012, 9:40 am
#7
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Florida
Programs: US CP, MR Gold, SPG Gold, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 441
Jun 5, 2012, 10:06 am
#8
Original Member and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Kansas City, MO, USA
Programs: DL PM/MM, AA ExPlat, Hyatt Glob, HH Dia, National ECE, Hertz PC
Posts: 16,579
Jun 5, 2012, 10:19 am
#10
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: MKE
Programs: DL-MM-Diamond HH-Diamond
Posts: 3,218
hope you don't have a lot of miles sitting there, you can loose all of them and they can close your account
Jun 5, 2012, 11:01 am
#11
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: DTW
Programs: DL 0.22 MM, AA 0.34 MM, PC Plat Amb, Hertz #1 GC 5*
Posts: 7,511
Jun 5, 2012, 11:16 am
#12
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,575
Busted.
If you've never had a nastygram from US Airways about hidden-city ticketing before, maybe you'll get one now as a warning and they won't close your account. But I think it's safe to say that your days of doing it on US are over.
I usually think of Delta as the carrier where hidden-city matters these days. I fly a lot of AA and UA and there's enough competition into WAS, CHI, DAL/DFW, Bay Area, and DEN that I never really see the need to do it. My very infrequent hidden-city trips are DTW and CVG. But CLT fits a similar profile, and thus US probably runs queries to find people who "misconnect" there often. I agree with the others who say the audit is nonrandom.
If you've never had a nastygram from US Airways about hidden-city ticketing before, maybe you'll get one now as a warning and they won't close your account. But I think it's safe to say that your days of doing it on US are over.
I usually think of Delta as the carrier where hidden-city matters these days. I fly a lot of AA and UA and there's enough competition into WAS, CHI, DAL/DFW, Bay Area, and DEN that I never really see the need to do it. My very infrequent hidden-city trips are DTW and CVG. But CLT fits a similar profile, and thus US probably runs queries to find people who "misconnect" there often. I agree with the others who say the audit is nonrandom.
Jun 5, 2012, 11:24 am
#13
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Home Airports: CAE/CLT
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, National Executive
Posts: 5,452
Jun 5, 2012, 11:48 am
#14
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: PHL
Posts: 353
This is why whenever someone mentions they plan on doing a hidden city itinerary, they are told to not use their DM number. If you want to do a hidden city itinerary you pretty much have to forego the miles, or risk having this happen to you.
Jun 5, 2012, 12:28 pm
#15
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: CLT
Programs: AA ExPlat, Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 1,551
I don't think they would take the DM miles in every instance of finding hidden city or throw away ticketing. They certainly have the right too, but if a customer nets US Airways $10k a year, and 6 hidden cities "robbed" them of $1.5k in revenue, I don't see them shunning a customer so they lose all $10k in revenue to another airline for $1.5k in lost incidental revenue.