Last year I received a DOLLARUA certificate from United in compensation for a serious United error that caused an extended delay. I recently attempted to use this certificate to book a ticket just below the certificate's value, and I was surprised to be charged taxes and fees. (That is, I was told I couldn't use the cert to cover those expenses.)

Reading FT archives, I see it's well-known here that DOLLARUA certs don't cover taxes and fees. OK. But how is a regular customer supposed to know that? I had to surrender my voucher in order to book the ticket, and unfortunately I no longer have a photocopy. But when the agent told me the cert wouldn't cover taxes, I asked him to point out where on the cert that rule is written -- and he quickly admitted that this restriction was written nowhere on the cert. Can that really be right? Despite the hundreds of words of other rules (some of them quite obscure!) written on the cert, this rule (quite relevant to many/most customers!) appears nowhere?

Does anyone have a DOLLARUA cert they could scan and post? (Black out the unique numbers, of course.)

Anyone have insight on whether it is lawful (not to mention ethical) for United to impose conditions nowhere written on the certificate itself?