http://www.entertainment.com/save/travel/united
The website above claims that they are available. I haven't seen them yet. They are usually available for fall fundraisers, as the above post shows.
Read the notes on the website. But pay extra attention to the fine print on the back of the certs.
The ambiguity with these things is usually in three areas:
1. Web purchase or not?
The printed certs cannot be used for web purchases. In addition to the six (or sometimes nine) certs in each Entertainment Passbook there are two electronic certs. These, of course, amount to numbers that can be inserted when attempting a purchase on united.com. As is typical of united.com, the discounts only apply to a few select segments which are rarely available. I hope most FTers have done the math on how they value miles so that they are willing to forego the mere 1000 mile bonus for a web purchase in order to save $50 or $75.
2. Agent/counter purchase fee or not?
To the dismay of all (except 1Ks when they purchase for themselves), UA has been charging a fee for telephone or agent purchases. Experiences differ, but many have reported that UA agents waive this fee because customers have no choice but to use an agent to make a reservation and to consumate the purchase. I think there have been some reports of getting stuck with this fee anyway. We should keep a FT watch on this.
3. Conflicting published rules regarding routing.
The rules in UA's computer system state clearly that only round trips on UA/TED/UAX can be discounted with the Entertainment book. But on the back of the 2005 certificates there is a parenthesis in the routing item which says: "(Open jaws and circle trips are allowed too!)" IIRC. I've had a couple of open jaw or circle trip itineraries this past year. Telephone agents refused to budge from what their computer screen was saying. I was forced to go to my home base ticket counter, where they were incredulous, but couldn't argue with the fact that in 6 pt type the certificate clearly allowed open jaw routing. I haven't seen the 2006 certs yet to verify what the wording will be, but watch for this. If you need open jaw tickets, plan on spending some extra time at a ticket counter.
Another fact about this discount:
A flat $25, $50 or $75 is taken off of the total fare/fees/taxes figure. It is not supposed to be figured as a discount of the fare only. At least that's how it's been explained to me.
An obvious tip:
When setting up reservations, watch how things are pricing. In order to maximize the discount, if your total fare is $130-149, or $255-299, or $405-470, ask the CSR to force a higher fare bucket to get your fare over $150, $300, or $475 respectively. I've often asked to pay a higher fare in order to end up paying UA less money.
One other detail:
If you purchase the ticket over the phone, you are allowed to mail in the certificate to a Dearborn, MI post office box. Technically, your reservation is on hold, in a "not ticketed" limbo, until the certificate is received in Dearborn and processed. Only then is your reservation considered ticketed. This has significant ramifications for those who desire to use CR1s to confirm an upgrade in advance. You have to wait until you are ticketed to request an upgrade. (I hope only CR1s are used with these. SWUs would be a waste on the domestic-only itineraries, and 500's wouldn't be applicable with the advance purchase requirements on almost all the allowed fare classes.)