An update on my effort to extend an expiring TravelBank balance-
-Adding $50 did not help--original balance expiry date did not change
-Calling customer service did not help--Agent and supervisor told me adding money was "activity" and should have extended expiration, but there was nothing they could do. Suggested I contact Customer Care by email.
-Customer Care did not help--Never received a reply, or even acknowledgement of receipt.
-Used the full $170 value in my TravelBank account to purchase a $174 ticket, then cancelled within 24 hours. The $4 on a credit card was refunded right away but I got an email saying the balance was subject to audit and could take up to 30 days. In the meantime, TravelBank completely disappeared from my account on united.com.
-After 2 weeks, TravelBank reappeared in my account, the $120 old United.com Club balance showed up with an expiry date 18 months in the future and the recent $50 deposit showed up with expiry in 5 years.
So all good, but as I did not realize at the time, this should not have worked. According to section 12 of the TravelBank T&C: "In cases where TravelBank Cash is for any reason removed from an account, as for example the use of TravelBank Cash for a TravelBank Award, and there is a subsequent cancellation of a transaction and a redeposit of the TravelBank Cash to the Member's account, the cancellation of the transaction and redeposit of the TravelBank Cash to the account shall not qualify as "Account Activity."