breakdown of benefit
My UA receipt actually indicates that Citi's travel agency paid $500.80 for my 2 tickets. The published fare was indeed $250.40, and I was billed $328.42. So my "free" ticket was $78.02. Not sure how you get to that amount -- it's obviously not "free" and it's hard to say I'm "just paying the taxes" -- but it's hard to complain about this "throwaway" benefit (we all got this card for the bonus points) that's saving me some genuine dinero.