Originally Posted by
EMan
Agreed. However, newspapers are primarily interested in selling paper and, hopefully, informing the public at the same time.
Here's a thought: Contact Scott McCartney (
[email protected]) at The Wall Street Journal (He specializes in airline stories.):
http://topics.wsj.com/person/M/scott-mccartney/1432
If he prints your story, at least other 1K/GS flyers will be publicly warned not to sell/barter their GPUs. (And, for example, inform them that giving away a GPU as part of a "Consulting Agreement" will not deter UA from closing their MP account.)
No lawyer is going to touch this on a contingency basis. One might find a lawyer on retainer (ie cash up front) basis. Such a lawyer (if ethical/competent) will let one know the case is lost from the outset. Contacting a newspaper is an interesting thought - you won't get sympathy from writer or readers - selling "advice w/ free GPUs" would be presented as an amusing story of a cheater who got caught. As others have pointed out, the OP didn't need to be informed by a newspaper story that selling GPUs was illegal - the method by which he was trying to obtain money for them suggests he already knew it was wrong.
United might just want to the GS to go public with his case. The OP cheated and got caught. There is no grey area here and UA doesn't need to hide from what it is doing. The OP broke the rules of the program. He is paying the price. I don't think there's much sympathy from anyone other than other 1Ks/GSs who think they think they need to risk everything for a few bucks. Greed hardly ever generates sympathy.