New Automated IRROPS Hotel and Meal Voucher Process?
 

Anyone experience the new automated voucher process? Flight got canceled today and got an automated text and email that I am eligible to receive a hotel and meal vouchers. Upon clicking the link, it displayed a couple of local hotels in the area (Hyatt/Marriotts) or the option to decline and only receive meal vouchers. I rerouted myself to a nearby airport so I didn't need a hotel so I accepted the vouchers and was given a link to two mobile meal vouchers for $20 each with a QRC code to scan (as well as the credit card info).

Problem is, none of the vendors at the airport had ever seen it before so they were not sure how to accept it. I had to go to customer service to get a print out version, and even they had never seen it before and printed out new ones vs printing out the ones that were distributed to me. I didn't realize it at the time but, the vendors just input the CC number and expiration date on the print out voucher which the mobile voucher also had, but seems like United hasn't informed their staff about the new process. Not sure what would've happened if I accepted a hotel and showed up there.

Anyone else experience this new process?
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...76eca74c20.png

Wow looks promising.

They generate a different card number for each voucher, as for where you can use it airport vendors are told to restrict it to food. Most online shops require a billing address not just a zipcode, some places are able charge a credit card with just a zipcode.

If this is developed right, this will put UA miles ahead of the competition. Also many front line employees will benefit from this.

As in over time the ap's AI will eventually figure out the perfect way to classify every delay as WX or ATC related? :D

Vouchers are freely transferable, but they expire at midnight the day after they're issued, and they can only be charged once; if you ring up a $4 purchase using the voucher, any remaining value is forfeit.

Also, as an aside, it's not possible to charge a tip on the vouchers, so if you're planning to use them at a sit-down restaurant, any gratuity would need to be paid separately.

The value is capped. UA doesn't care how you spend it.

For someone that doesn't care, they sure have done a lot in recent years to lock down their use to legitimate uses (which, apparently, no longer includes ordering stuff from Amazon with them...)

You should read the text that was quoted. It's clear that Kacee was referencing the use of funds to buy other people food at an airport location.

I agree that it's actually something positive United has implemented. I think I got the automated text approximately 15-20 minutes after the flight cancellation. It seems though they have left their staff in the dark about the whole thing, so a few kinks to work out.

I think I could've easily used both the mobile vouchers and the printed out ones as my reservation had no record of me being assigned the two mobile vouchers.

how do they prevent that? if it's just a credit card number on a piece of paper, couldn't it be used for anything?

Right. Talking about food and beverage at the airport.

It is, in fact, just a credit card number on a piece of paper.

However, credit card issuers have the ability to select which type of merchants can charge to the cards. If you enter that number at Amazon, the issuer will decline it. (I remember an email, years back, about how they were limiting the merchant categories you could use with our corporate cards. Among the list of now-denied categories was... podiatrists. Which made me wonder who, exactly, had pulled out their corporate card at the podiatrist in the first place. :D)