Jan 4, 2017, 7:25 am
Last edit by: presario1626
The United gift registry has been discontinued.
Reminder: you must enroll and select UA as your airline BEFORE making a reimbursable purchase. Unless you check your bags or experience change fees, United has the fewest options for reimbursement because of the codes they use for transactions.
United does not sell giftcards. As of December 2016 American Express no longer reimburses MPX transactions.
Airline Taxes on Award Tickets
Reminder: you must enroll and select UA as your airline BEFORE making a reimbursable purchase. Unless you check your bags or experience change fees, United has the fewest options for reimbursement because of the codes they use for transactions.
United does not sell giftcards. As of December 2016 American Express no longer reimburses MPX transactions.
Airline Taxes on Award Tickets
Doesn't seem to work anymore; see post 179 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/25297196-post179.html and #391
Economy Plus and First Class Upgrade FeesAs of December 2016 there were conflicting posts; one stating that an upgrade to E+ coded as an "upgrade fee" and was, therefore, not reimbursed. Others said they were reimbursed as it was coded as "preferred seat upgrade." In February 2019, three separate FTer reported receiving varying amounts of reimbursement (dependent upon which card was used for the purchase) after purchasing an E+ annual subscription. The E+ subscriptions code as "preferred seat upgrade". Upgrading from E to FC will also not be reimbursed because it codes as a passenger ticket even when done after buying the original ticket. There seems to be a distinction between seat upgrades being reimbursed, while ticket upgrades are not.
Award AcceleratorI would not risk this. The last report of being reimbursed for Award Accelerator was for $68 on October 27, 2011. Every post about Award Accelerator since has reported "No reimbursement."
Eligible incidental fees include:- Checked baggage fees (including overweight/oversize)
- Itinerary change fees
- Phone reservation fees
- Pet flight fees
- Seat assignment fees (E+)
- In-flight amenity fees (beverages, food, pillows/blankets, headphones)
- In-flight entertainment fees (excluding wireless internet because it's not charged by the airline)
- Airport lounge day passes & annual memberships
- Onboard WIFI
Airline fee $200/$100 reimbursement reports: UA only (2017-2019)
Oct 25, 2018, 9:05 am
#661
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Welcome to Flyertalk. I moved your post into the established thread discussing UA reimbursements.
Duty Free purchases are unlikely to be reimbursed for two reasons:
1. They are explicitly excluded by rule: "Airline tickets, upgrades, mileage points purchases, mileage points transfer fees, gift cards, duty free purchases, and award tickets are not deemed to be incidental fees."
2. The in-flight duty free shop is often outsourced to another company, and the card transaction will show that company's name, rather than United Airlines.
Duty Free purchases are unlikely to be reimbursed for two reasons:
1. They are explicitly excluded by rule: "Airline tickets, upgrades, mileage points purchases, mileage points transfer fees, gift cards, duty free purchases, and award tickets are not deemed to be incidental fees."
2. The in-flight duty free shop is often outsourced to another company, and the card transaction will show that company's name, rather than United Airlines.
Oct 25, 2018, 10:18 am
#662
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: United Plat
Posts: 499
Oct 26, 2018, 12:24 am
#663
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 42
I apologize guys. I was on board and ready to go but due to available seating had to book and pay for everything today and my wife hasn't designated an airline on her Amex yet (the background here is a long story). I'm using my CSR for E+ and it seems it's now Southwest, American, or Delta gift cards in our future. Oh well. Thanks for everyone's help.
CORRECTION: Good news! My travel agent said that we can pay for the E+ on Monday so I can now get ahold of my wife and get her to make the selection after all. Now I WILL be back to report how this goes. Wish me luck!
CORRECTION: Good news! My travel agent said that we can pay for the E+ on Monday so I can now get ahold of my wife and get her to make the selection after all. Now I WILL be back to report how this goes. Wish me luck!
Last edited by OATS09; Oct 26, 2018 at 6:37 am
Oct 27, 2018, 1:04 pm
#664
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 102
Just did a E+ purchase that sat pending on the card for 3 days and has now posted. I saw some posts about auto posting a credit but that did not happen. Any idea how long before I get the credit?
Oct 27, 2018, 5:58 pm
#666
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 42
So if on Monday when we have United charge us, the E+ credits don't post thereafter, would it be safe to say 1) try calling in to Amex and trying to manually post the credit, and should that fail, 2) call back again and say that we made a mistake and haven't used our credit yet and ask for a one-time grace switch to a different airline, 3) repeat as necessary? Is that a decent plan? My wife has already designated United so we're locked in now.
Last edited by OATS09; Oct 27, 2018 at 6:54 pm
Oct 27, 2018, 6:25 pm
#667
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Truth or Consequences, NM
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, UA Silver, Mobile Passport Unobtanium
Posts: 6,192
So if on Monday the E+ charges don't post (or more exactly within the following days), would it be safe to say 1) try calling in to Amex and trying to manually post the credit, and should that fail, 2) call back again and say that we made a mistake and haven't used our credit yet and ask for a one-time grace switch to a different airline, 3) repeat as necessary? Is that a decent plan? My wife has already designate United so we're locked in now.
The charges will definitely post (not on Monday).....the statement credit should post a few days after the charges post.
If your statement credit hasn't posted a week or so after the charges post then I'd definitely call AMEX, where one of two scenarios is likely to occur:
a. AMEX CSR will tell you that the charges don't qualify for reimbursement, at which point you explain that you paid "seat selection fees" which are reimbursable and negotiate from there to get the credits manually applied.
b. AMEX CSR will tell you that everything looks okay but that AMEX T&Cs state that statement credits can take up to four weeks to post and to call back then if they haven't.
Regarding whether AMEX will allow you to switch airlines this late in the year - it's very much YMMV. It's certainly worth a try. (I wouldn't tell the CSR you've "made a mistake", I'd phrase it as your travel patterns/destinations have changed and you find that you aren't flying United as much anymore.)
Finally - you're going to Sydney!!
Oct 27, 2018, 6:55 pm
#668
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 42
Oats, you never should have split with Daryl Hall....but I digress.
The charges will definitely post (not on Monday).....the statement credit should post a few days after the charges post.
If your statement credit hasn't posted a week or so after the charges post then I'd definitely call AMEX, where one of two scenarios is likely to occur:
a. AMEX CSR will tell you that the charges don't qualify for reimbursement, at which point you explain that you paid "seat selection fees" which are reimbursable and negotiate from there to get the credits manually applied.
b. AMEX CSR will tell you that everything looks okay but that AMEX T&Cs state that statement credits can take up to four weeks to post and to call back then if they haven't.
Regarding whether AMEX will allow you to switch airlines this late in the year - it's very much YMMV. It's certainly worth a try. (I wouldn't tell the CSR you've "made a mistake", I'd phrase it as your travel patterns/destinations have changed and you find that you aren't flying United as much anymore.)
Finally - you're going to Sydney!!
The charges will definitely post (not on Monday).....the statement credit should post a few days after the charges post.
If your statement credit hasn't posted a week or so after the charges post then I'd definitely call AMEX, where one of two scenarios is likely to occur:
a. AMEX CSR will tell you that the charges don't qualify for reimbursement, at which point you explain that you paid "seat selection fees" which are reimbursable and negotiate from there to get the credits manually applied.
b. AMEX CSR will tell you that everything looks okay but that AMEX T&Cs state that statement credits can take up to four weeks to post and to call back then if they haven't.
Regarding whether AMEX will allow you to switch airlines this late in the year - it's very much YMMV. It's certainly worth a try. (I wouldn't tell the CSR you've "made a mistake", I'd phrase it as your travel patterns/destinations have changed and you find that you aren't flying United as much anymore.)
Finally - you're going to Sydney!!
Oct 28, 2018, 7:41 pm
#669
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 81
If the family member hasn't used any of their travel credit on UA this year, tell the family member to call AMEX and ask for a one time "courtesy" to switch airlines now. If the rep asks why, explain that travel patterns have changed and the person now flies Delta, American, whatever, more often and would like to be able to make use of the travel credit this year.
I would not advise canceling the card and then trying to re-open it again on the off-chance that it allows one to re-select the airline of choice.
I would not advise canceling the card and then trying to re-open it again on the off-chance that it allows one to re-select the airline of choice.
Oct 29, 2018, 2:59 pm
#670
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Programs: Milege+, SkyMiles, AAdvantage, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,685
And I just called and had my airline switched from UA to AA on my Aspire card. Might have gone with Delta as I’ve gotten mileage boosters reimbursed in the past, but I can wait until January and choose Delta with either the Aspire or my Plat card. If I only flew enough to get status with one of the big three it would be easier. Believe it or not, my little home airport ABE has numerous AA, DL, and UA flights everyday. However, I prefer UA when I fly to Europe and I fly out of EWR for those flights. Anyway, as earlier posters have stated, “It was very easy to get the CSR to change the airline.”
Oct 31, 2018, 4:59 pm
#671
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: OZ Diamond *A Gold / Delta Gold
Posts: 775
Nov 6, 2018, 11:17 am
#672
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 23
Note that if you cancel the ticket after paying the pet charge, United will generally automatically process the refund for the ticket only. You need to call in to have the pet charge refunded.
Nov 6, 2018, 10:36 pm
#673
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: Air Canada Elite, United Prestige. Woot!
Posts: 30
Nov 8, 2018, 11:53 am
#675
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: LAS - I'm All In!
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott PP
Posts: 3,639
Does anyone know if I get a yearly wifi subscription in December, if I can use the $200 reimbursment on it in Dec and then in Jan? Or can you only use it once per charge?
Thanks
Thanks