Birthday Perk?
Color me surprised. Upon boarding my flight at LGA on my birthday yesterday the gate agent handed me an official looking pre-printed United Airlines Birthday card and wished me Happy Birthday. The card was handed to me during the boarding process after scanning my boarding pass.
My name was handwritten then it said "Congratulations from United and MileagePlus. We appreciate your business and want to recognize you on this special occasion. Thank you for Flying United. From your United Team at LGA" followed by 7 handwritten names. Note that LGA is not my home airport.
The reason I'm surprised is that I have hardly been flying UA this year preferring instead to take my business elsewhere for various reasons which don't seem uncommon to many on FT. It does give me some small hope that UA may actually realize that they need to at least pretend on occasion that they welcome me as a paying customer. It has been a long time since UA gave me a pleasant surprise. It was a nice touch.