The Points Guy: We never accept free flights [merged TPG discussions]
Jan 11, 2015, 3:39 pm
#17
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Berlin
Programs: BA Gold; Accor Plat; IHG Diamond-Amb; Meliá & HH & Marriott Gold
Posts: 5,450
Not quite.
On this page Mr Steele commented: 'Common knowledge. Brian has been on TV for years where the screen shows "The Points Guy presented by Bankrate"'. That only confirmed ownership of the trademark (which is a matter of public record and didn't require confirmation).
On this page Mr Steele commented: 'Common knowledge. Brian has been on TV for years where the screen shows "The Points Guy presented by Bankrate"'. That only confirmed ownership of the trademark (which is a matter of public record and didn't require confirmation).
Feb 11, 2015, 8:26 pm
#19
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,737
TPG: United should take one for the team, it's karma
Do Airlines Have to Honor Mistake Fares?
YouTube Link
I am curious what the potential is for bloggers to get sued for claiming price mistakes are actually flight "deals"?
Promoting the mistakes as deals and then saying that airline companies make billions of dollars... and personally they have been screwed by the airline (even though they give them my business to maintain top loyalty status...), so it is okay for them to screw them in return. Then attempting (poorly) to read legal jargon as if they are one to be giving legal advice.
"I'm not going to sue, but..."
I get the impression that TPG is trying to persuade his readers to get passionate about this "cause" and sue an airline over a "deal". Pretty pathetic!
YouTube Link
I am curious what the potential is for bloggers to get sued for claiming price mistakes are actually flight "deals"?
Promoting the mistakes as deals and then saying that airline companies make billions of dollars... and personally they have been screwed by the airline (even though they give them my business to maintain top loyalty status...), so it is okay for them to screw them in return. Then attempting (poorly) to read legal jargon as if they are one to be giving legal advice.
"I'm not going to sue, but..."
I get the impression that TPG is trying to persuade his readers to get passionate about this "cause" and sue an airline over a "deal". Pretty pathetic!
Feb 12, 2015, 7:15 am
#21
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: DFW
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold, Admirals Club, Global Entry
Posts: 1,141
On that score, the most intelligent post I've seen on this topic was the one yesterday by Mommy Points.
And though I haven't researched the issue specifically, yes, lying to obtain services most definitely and assuredly raises a fraud issue both under federal and under most state laws, at least the ones I've looked at. Given the context, my very offhand guess would be that state-law civil (rather than criminal) fraud would be the practical concern. I'm frankly shocked at all those folks -- other than Mommy Points -- who glossed over all that in their posts yesterday.
And though I haven't researched the issue specifically, yes, lying to obtain services most definitely and assuredly raises a fraud issue both under federal and under most state laws, at least the ones I've looked at. Given the context, my very offhand guess would be that state-law civil (rather than criminal) fraud would be the practical concern. I'm frankly shocked at all those folks -- other than Mommy Points -- who glossed over all that in their posts yesterday.
Feb 12, 2015, 9:32 am
#22
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,678
I've taken part in mistake fares before and will again. I look at it as a fun gamble and if it ends up being honored, cool...if not, oh well - on to the next deal.
I wouldn't partake if it meant I had to enter false information in order to book the ticket. Even if it wasn't something that would expose me to legal action, I just don't think it's right...and is bad karma.
Feb 13, 2015, 10:41 am
#24
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SJO/MGA
Programs: bits of shiny plastic w/ varied utility
Posts: 383
Seth/Wandering Aramean had a thoughtful post on this as well. ^^
I didn't partake -- was off-line until well after it had been pulled but reading the need to "fudge" the billing address gave immediate thought to: "what a great way for UA to shut down accounts".
I didn't partake -- was off-line until well after it had been pulled but reading the need to "fudge" the billing address gave immediate thought to: "what a great way for UA to shut down accounts".
Feb 13, 2015, 2:26 pm
#25
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,737
He said in his video that he's not going to sue and not lose sleep over this and states to his readers that they should do the same, but then the following day he writes:
"It may be some time before this all gets sorted out, but in the meantime, there’s action you can take now that will help inform the DOT and add weight to the complaints against United. It took me just 4 minutes to file a DOT complaint thanks to the info in this FlyerTalk thread, which offers the following tips:"
http://thepointsguy.com/2015/02/unit...ations-update/
"It may be some time before this all gets sorted out, but in the meantime, there’s action you can take now that will help inform the DOT and add weight to the complaints against United. It took me just 4 minutes to file a DOT complaint thanks to the info in this FlyerTalk thread, which offers the following tips:"
http://thepointsguy.com/2015/02/unit...ations-update/
Feb 13, 2015, 3:29 pm
#26
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Somewhere above the Mason-Dixon
Programs: DL Ham Samich
Posts: 1,661
He said in his video that he's not going to sue and not lose sleep over this and states to his readers that they should do the same, but then the following day he writes:
"It may be some time before this all gets sorted out, but in the meantime, there’s action you can take now that will help inform the DOT and add weight to the complaints against United. It took me just 4 minutes to file a DOT complaint thanks to the info in this FlyerTalk thread, which offers the following tips:"
http://thepointsguy.com/2015/02/unit...ations-update/
"It may be some time before this all gets sorted out, but in the meantime, there’s action you can take now that will help inform the DOT and add weight to the complaints against United. It took me just 4 minutes to file a DOT complaint thanks to the info in this FlyerTalk thread, which offers the following tips:"
http://thepointsguy.com/2015/02/unit...ations-update/
Wow... What a [redacted]
Last edited by oliver2002; Feb 16, 2015 at 3:59 am Reason: abbreviations of expletives are still expletives
Feb 15, 2015, 12:29 pm
#27
Join Date: May 2001
Location: IAD
Posts: 6,148
We'll just turn this thread into Discussion on the UA currency conversion ticketing issue and subsequent blogger reaction.
TPG was interviewed on Fox:
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/40492...#sp=show-clips
The initial question was essentially "They posted tickets, London to Australia in First Class, tickets that usually go for thousands of dollars, and it was up there for 50 bucks? Is that right?"
TPG: Exactly. (and then continued in to currency issue)
No mention of how it had to bet set up (Danish currency) in order to get the fare. And United most certainly did not just post tickets (or fares) for $50. A specific scenario screwed up the final ticket price calculation.
Which was detailed by:
http://blog.wandr.me/2015/02/methinks-i-am-a-hypocrite/
Agree, this is a good post and different than the "They better honor it, I have a ticket! Write the DOT!" echo chamber.
But let's try and make a good blog better:
This is an incorrect interpretation of the Fare Construction. There are clearly 2 fares here:
LON-FRA J77 for 981.90 NUC
FRA-DFW F77OW for 10517.68 NUC
LON-FRA J77 LH is filed at 627 GBP
FRA-DFW F77OW UA is filed at 8526 EUR
Converting the GBP to NUC is 627 / 0.638555 = 981.90
Converting the EUR to NUC is 8526 / EURtoNUC rate = 10517.68, which puts the EUR to NUC rate around .81, which seems a bit low but was the rate back in December.
Either way, the conclusion is correct that the fare construction supports properly filed fares.
This is not true and I am not sure where it came from. The fares are filed in real currency (mentioned above) and then converted to NUCs during the fare construction process.
TPG was interviewed on Fox:
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/40492...#sp=show-clips
The initial question was essentially "They posted tickets, London to Australia in First Class, tickets that usually go for thousands of dollars, and it was up there for 50 bucks? Is that right?"
TPG: Exactly. (and then continued in to currency issue)
No mention of how it had to bet set up (Danish currency) in order to get the fare. And United most certainly did not just post tickets (or fares) for $50. A specific scenario screwed up the final ticket price calculation.
Which was detailed by:
http://blog.wandr.me/2015/02/methinks-i-am-a-hypocrite/
Agree, this is a good post and different than the "They better honor it, I have a ticket! Write the DOT!" echo chamber.
But let's try and make a good blog better:
How it happened
The early reports of this mistake fare showed up with screenshots of ITA search results. Those results had the mispriced fares across multiple airlines and multiple routes. Once I got a ticket issued I reviewed the receipt online and checked the fare construction. The details there look to be correct for the filed fare.
/FC LON LH X/FRA M 981.90J77 UA X/DEN UA DFW M 10517.68F77OW NUC 11499.58 END ROE 0.638555
Combine that with United blaming a vendor and my guess is that ITA is at least part of the cause of the issues.
The early reports of this mistake fare showed up with screenshots of ITA search results. Those results had the mispriced fares across multiple airlines and multiple routes. Once I got a ticket issued I reviewed the receipt online and checked the fare construction. The details there look to be correct for the filed fare.
/FC LON LH X/FRA M 981.90J77 UA X/DEN UA DFW M 10517.68F77OW NUC 11499.58 END ROE 0.638555
Combine that with United blaming a vendor and my guess is that ITA is at least part of the cause of the issues.
LON-FRA J77 for 981.90 NUC
FRA-DFW F77OW for 10517.68 NUC
LON-FRA J77 LH is filed at 627 GBP
FRA-DFW F77OW UA is filed at 8526 EUR
Converting the GBP to NUC is 627 / 0.638555 = 981.90
Converting the EUR to NUC is 8526 / EURtoNUC rate = 10517.68, which puts the EUR to NUC rate around .81, which seems a bit low but was the rate back in December.
Either way, the conclusion is correct that the fare construction supports properly filed fares.
http://blog.wandr.me/2015/02/methink...#comment-48941
But, through all of this, it is important to remember that the fare was filed in NUCs so that’s where the conversion starts, not in GBP or DKK.
But, through all of this, it is important to remember that the fare was filed in NUCs so that’s where the conversion starts, not in GBP or DKK.
Feb 15, 2015, 2:20 pm
#28
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,737
We'll just turn this thread into Discussion on the UA currency conversion ticketing issue and subsequent blogger reaction.
TPG was interviewed on Fox:
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/40492...#sp=show-clips
TPG was interviewed on Fox:
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/40492...#sp=show-clips
He glossed over the fact that he filed a DOT complaint. I know that there has been a lawsuit who writes about hidden city ticketing and things of that nature.. any chance TPG could get sued for detailing how to book mistake fares and then complain to the DOT when they get canceled? Seems like he has a bigger audience than the other blogger that got sued.
Last edited by oliver2002; Feb 16, 2015 at 3:58 am Reason: redacted personal comments
Feb 15, 2015, 3:08 pm
#29
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
And I never claimed there was only a single fare in my booked itinerary. Clearly there are two and the combined total price is 11499.
Feb 15, 2015, 6:57 pm
#30
Join Date: May 2001
Location: IAD
Posts: 6,148
Whoever explained it to you was wrong, or at a minimum have a different interpretation of what "filed fare" means.
Last edited by whlinder; Feb 15, 2015 at 7:27 pm