Nov 28, 2016, 8:35 am
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
UA Gift Certificates Usage
Gift certificates as described here are extremely difficult if not impossible to use on UA.com. UA has discontinued this product and is now routing people to the new UA Travel Registry.
UA states (Nov 2016)
In order to use your existing gift certs, you will need to call in for ticketing.
Credit to 1KChinito
Gift certificates as described here are extremely difficult if not impossible to use on UA.com. UA has discontinued this product and is now routing people to the new UA Travel Registry.
UA states (Nov 2016)
Give loved ones the world
We've decided to discontinue the United gift certificate program, so gift certificates are no longer available for purchase. You can redeem any existing gift certificates and check your balance on the Check Gift Certificate Balance page. You can still help your family and friends get to where they want to go by purchasing gift miles. On the Buy Miles page, simply select “Give Miles” and log in to your MileagePlus account to get started.
We also invite you to check out united.com gift registry to see if your favorite traveler is registered to receive the gift of United flights.
We've decided to discontinue the United gift certificate program, so gift certificates are no longer available for purchase. You can redeem any existing gift certificates and check your balance on the Check Gift Certificate Balance page. You can still help your family and friends get to where they want to go by purchasing gift miles. On the Buy Miles page, simply select “Give Miles” and log in to your MileagePlus account to get started.
We also invite you to check out united.com gift registry to see if your favorite traveler is registered to receive the gift of United flights.
In order to use your existing gift certs, you will need to call in for ticketing.
Credit to 1KChinito
You can make a reservation online and select:
1. Other forms of payment in payment information
2. Cash in drop down menu if available --- "Pay in Person" is the name for the option now
3. Click purchase
A record locator will be created. You can then call UA with your record locator and your gift card information. This way, your airfare is locked and CSR has a much easier time to retrieve your itinerary instead of creating a new one, saving a lot of time and possible fare increase as you have experienced.
An UA CSR taught me this trick because I was in the middle of making a reservation and was unable to use my gift card. She walked me through the above 3 steps. My reservation was complete in a few minutes.
You may have to babysit your reservation until it is ticketed because it may take several weeks for UA to issue your ticket.
1. Other forms of payment in payment information
2. Cash in drop down menu if available --- "Pay in Person" is the name for the option now
3. Click purchase
A record locator will be created. You can then call UA with your record locator and your gift card information. This way, your airfare is locked and CSR has a much easier time to retrieve your itinerary instead of creating a new one, saving a lot of time and possible fare increase as you have experienced.
An UA CSR taught me this trick because I was in the middle of making a reservation and was unable to use my gift card. She walked me through the above 3 steps. My reservation was complete in a few minutes.
You may have to babysit your reservation until it is ticketed because it may take several weeks for UA to issue your ticket.
Issues using UA Gift Certificates - [discontinued]
Dec 8, 2013, 8:54 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: LGA
Programs: DL DM, UA Gold, Marriott Plat Prem., Hilton Gold, National Exec Elite.
Posts: 2,533
Issues using UA Gift Certificates - [discontinued]
I bought a $200 UA gift certificate about 10 days ago so I could [hopefully] get the $200 back from Amex, since I have Platinum card. I purchase it, and never get a confirmation e-mail. I see a "pending" $200 charge on my Amex for four days, then it goes away, turns out UA didn't issue it? So I try again, and this one gets e-mailed, but this time, I can't use it when I try a few days later!!! So yesterday, I spend 45 min on the phone with web support, and they need to do it manually, for a $25 fee (
). Finally they agree to waive the fee, and all is allegedly done. The flight was booked yesterday, through web support, for a flight tomorrow. Of course, I don't get confirmation e-mail, and the UA website says my ticket hasn't been paid for. So, after 45 min on the phone, I get transferred to the 1K desk, because apparently they are the only ones that can fix the problem. But of course, they can't fix it themselves, they need to put me on hold while some other desk fixes it.
Total time wasted on purchasing and redeeming gift certificate - almost 3 hours of aggravation.
Also, how much comp. should I be entitled to for this debacle? This was a very straightforward process - booking flight from IAH to LGA, and using gift certificate. no fancy itinerary, nothing!
). Finally they agree to waive the fee, and all is allegedly done. The flight was booked yesterday, through web support, for a flight tomorrow. Of course, I don't get confirmation e-mail, and the UA website says my ticket hasn't been paid for. So, after 45 min on the phone, I get transferred to the 1K desk, because apparently they are the only ones that can fix the problem. But of course, they can't fix it themselves, they need to put me on hold while some other desk fixes it. Total time wasted on purchasing and redeeming gift certificate - almost 3 hours of aggravation.
Also, how much comp. should I be entitled to for this debacle? This was a very straightforward process - booking flight from IAH to LGA, and using gift certificate. no fancy itinerary, nothing!
Dec 9, 2013, 6:15 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: LGA
Programs: DL DM, UA Gold, Marriott Plat Prem., Hilton Gold, National Exec Elite.
Posts: 2,533
I would think UA would recognize the importance of giving comp in situations like these, otherwise a customer will think "why the hell fly with these guys, if it takes 3 hours and much frustration to book a direct one way flight?"
Dec 9, 2013, 7:55 am
#7
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: UA GS, SPG Plat, National EC Executive (Replaced Hertz), Hertz PC (Retired)
Posts: 724
Oh, well, thank god you didn't offend SHARES! She might've hung up and reported you to the FB.. FA... CI.... what was the relevance of this again? None.
Dec 11, 2013, 6:31 am
#8
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 4
United Gft Certificates - worthless for most international flights?
Hi,
I tried to book an international roundtrip flight on United.com using their Gift Certificate. I found a good itinerary via Orbitz flight search, but United search engine could not find it for some reason, so I called and booked this itinerary over the phone. Everything looked good, until I mentioned that I wanted to use $200 Gift Certificate and then pay the rest with credit card. The lady put me on hold, talked to her colleagues and then said I could not use GC because this flight was partially operated by another airline (part United, part Lufthansa). So I had to pay the full price (>$2k) with credit card.
My question is - Did anybody have the same trouble with them? Is it possible, for instance, to make them accept their GC and get a $200 refund to credit card? Or some other good suggestions?
To me this looks wrong - they already got money for the GC, and they don't let me pay with it? Makes it worthless in most cases for international travel.
---
P.S. I read Terms & Conditions - Valid for use on flights operated by United Airlines and United Express only - this does not say anything about booking, just using "on flights".
I tried to book an international roundtrip flight on United.com using their Gift Certificate. I found a good itinerary via Orbitz flight search, but United search engine could not find it for some reason, so I called and booked this itinerary over the phone. Everything looked good, until I mentioned that I wanted to use $200 Gift Certificate and then pay the rest with credit card. The lady put me on hold, talked to her colleagues and then said I could not use GC because this flight was partially operated by another airline (part United, part Lufthansa). So I had to pay the full price (>$2k) with credit card.
My question is - Did anybody have the same trouble with them? Is it possible, for instance, to make them accept their GC and get a $200 refund to credit card? Or some other good suggestions?
To me this looks wrong - they already got money for the GC, and they don't let me pay with it? Makes it worthless in most cases for international travel.
---
P.S. I read Terms & Conditions - Valid for use on flights operated by United Airlines and United Express only - this does not say anything about booking, just using "on flights".
Dec 11, 2013, 9:06 am
#9
Join Date: Jul 2012
Programs: Delta Gold, Alaska Gold 75K, LATAM Black
Posts: 3,393
Hi,
I tried to book an international roundtrip flight on United.com using their Gift Certificate. I found a good itinerary via Orbitz flight search, but United search engine could not find it for some reason, so I called and booked this itinerary over the phone. Everything looked good, until I mentioned that I wanted to use $200 Gift Certificate and then pay the rest with credit card. The lady put me on hold, talked to her colleagues and then said I could not use GC because this flight was partially operated by another airline (part United, part Lufthansa). So I had to pay the full price (>$2k) with credit card.
My question is - Did anybody have the same trouble with them? Is it possible, for instance, to make them accept their GC and get a $200 refund to credit card? Or some other good suggestions?
To me this looks wrong - they already got money for the GC, and they don't let me pay with it? Makes it worthless in most cases for international travel.
---
P.S. I read Terms & Conditions - Valid for use on flights operated by United Airlines and United Express only - this does not say anything about booking, just using "on flights".
I tried to book an international roundtrip flight on United.com using their Gift Certificate. I found a good itinerary via Orbitz flight search, but United search engine could not find it for some reason, so I called and booked this itinerary over the phone. Everything looked good, until I mentioned that I wanted to use $200 Gift Certificate and then pay the rest with credit card. The lady put me on hold, talked to her colleagues and then said I could not use GC because this flight was partially operated by another airline (part United, part Lufthansa). So I had to pay the full price (>$2k) with credit card.
My question is - Did anybody have the same trouble with them? Is it possible, for instance, to make them accept their GC and get a $200 refund to credit card? Or some other good suggestions?
To me this looks wrong - they already got money for the GC, and they don't let me pay with it? Makes it worthless in most cases for international travel.
---
P.S. I read Terms & Conditions - Valid for use on flights operated by United Airlines and United Express only - this does not say anything about booking, just using "on flights".
Now you know
Dec 11, 2013, 9:31 am
#10
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 4
Well ... I booked a United flight on United.com. Some segments are operated by Lufthansa, their partner. IMHO, they must accept their gift certificates for this kind of purcahses.
I am asking people if they were successful paying with GC for multi-carrier flights, where United was the primary airline?
I am asking people if they were successful paying with GC for multi-carrier flights, where United was the primary airline?
Dec 11, 2013, 9:36 am
#11
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: YVR SFO
Programs: UA G
Posts: 4,866
Well ... I booked a United flight on United.com. Some segments are operated by Lufthansa, their partner. IMHO, they must accept their gift certificates for this kind of purcahses.
I am asking people if they were successful paying with GC for multi-carrier flights, where United was the primary airline?
I am asking people if they were successful paying with GC for multi-carrier flights, where United was the primary airline?
Dec 11, 2013, 10:35 am
#12
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: DCA
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 1,653
Except the T&Cs don't say that it has to be on a purely-UA operated itinerary. It says its only valid for UA flights. So presumably, the GC could be used to pay for the portion of the itinerary that was on UA.
Dec 11, 2013, 10:37 am
#13
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: YVR SFO
Programs: UA G
Posts: 4,866
"Valid for use on flights operated by United Airlines and United Express® only."
Shrug.
Dec 11, 2013, 10:41 am
#14
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: DCA
Programs: UA Gold
Posts: 1,653
https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/pro...tificates.aspx
"Valid for use on flights operated by United Airlines and United Express® only."
Shrug.
"Valid for use on flights operated by United Airlines and United Express® only."
Shrug.
Dec 11, 2013, 10:45 am
#15
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
Sometimes I've been able to split an itinerary so that a code share segment is on one part, while the other part is straight UA/UX. Then, I can use the e-cert on the pure UA/UX segment.
I've done this in North America with AC and US code shares and in Asia with NH, but never TATL . It might not price out to your advantage in this case.
I've done this in North America with AC and US code shares and in Asia with NH, but never TATL . It might not price out to your advantage in this case.