Originally Posted by
BangkokTraveler
For the Mileage Plus Select card (
http://www.mpfamilyofcards.com/7000011/IndexSelect.aspx) that earns 1 EQM (up to 5K) and 3 RDMs for each $1 spent on UA.COM, it appears the terms say the EQMs will appear 6-8 weeks after purchase (not after flying) and the RDMs appear at the next statement. What would happen in this hypothetical scenario?
Oct 2010: $5000 UA full-fare ticket is purchased
Oct 2010: 15,000 RDMs are awarded
Dec 2010: 5000 EQMs awarded
Jan 2011: member becomes 1K with a total of 101K EQMs
Mar 2011: $5000 ticket is refunded to credit card
I reallize that in this scenario, UA has the use of $5000 for a few months. And also, I'm certain that the 15K RDMs will be removed from the MP account on the statement where the ticket is refunded. But what happens in the case of the EQMs? Status revoked? EQMs removed from 2011?
Has anyone experienced anything like this?
I do not have the Select, but the old Plat. I wound up doing something like this unintentionally (i.e., purchased a refundable ticket with sufficient value to push me to 1P in 2008, but at the time intended to use the ticket as booked). I wound up refunding the ticket due to a slightly lower fare in a higher cabin. Just to give context, I purchased the refundable ticket in Dec '08, contacted Chase support through the web interface to have the EQMs pushed through early (they showed up on MP within 2 days), then refunded the ticket in June '09.
The RDMs were "removed" just as they are usually added - as per usual two months after the due date of the statement on which they were refunded (in this case, in Sep '09). The RDM removal was less clear on my MP account as since I re-ticketed immediately and I had purchased other tickets during that statement period, I simply received the appropriate (positive) balance of my RDMs. It was not a separate entry in my log.
I did not lose status, although my situation may differ from yours in that, at the time I refunded the ticket, I had already crossed 50k EQMs in 2009 so would have 1P anyway (and actually by the time they "removed" the RDMs, I had already crossed 100k EQMs and advanced to 1K). Still, note that in my case, UA would have had an incentive in retroactively downgrading my status (since I gained an extra 75% RDMs on all flights prior to actually making 1P in 2009). However, I do not think UA makes a habit of going back and adjusting EQMs well after the fact, so I think EQMs credited in the prior year are pretty much safe.