HaeMaker

I flew 50K last year, boss is saying 1K is possible this year given new responsibilities (no guarantees, though).

Anyone want me on their team, PM me.

Scone Man

There's got to be a way to get some side bets going with some sort of a Fantasy League.

I scratched and clawed my way from 2p to 1K in 2007, and I can't honestly think I'll earn much over 100,000 this year, but I'm game if anyone wants me--it's certainly sounds like an added layer of fun for the game. PM me if interested.

lucky9876coins

So would there be a gift tax or just income tax for this? I want to know how much this'll cost me!

cepheid

Sweepstakes and contests of this sort always count as income tax, AFAIK, if they count at all (i.e. if an ARV is assigned to the prize). Gift taxes only apply in the case of actually giving gifts; sweepstakes prizes are "earned." Of course, IANACPA... but I come from a culture that is stereotypically good with money.

lucky9876coins

Got it, thanks. Does the fact that they didn't assign an ARV in the T&C's infer that it somehow is exempt from taxes, or what? As you know, I have no experience with this.

mahasamatman

Wishful thinking, eh? No, there will always be an ARV attached to the prize(s). However, you can challenge the value they assign if you can prove that it should be lower. For example, they may value miles at 2.5 cents/mile (which is what they sell them for, I believe), but you can argue that this is not a reasonable value. I suspect that if you search FT for "sweepstakes", you will find more discussion on this.

SportsTech

But not for people who flew 100K+ miles in 07. I second the motion that no one from FT sign up until September, that will minimize the risk of a midyeaer job change or some other travel calamity killing an otherwise stellar team.

Meanwhile, for those of us 1K/GS types who aren't in the game - how about a couple of FT pools to guess the winning differential, and maybe a little handicapping on the FT teams? I'm willing to bet that the winning teams will have more than 400K of incremental eqm given the late signup, and I'll put a couple drink tix or a CS voucher on the line to back up the guess.

cepheid

Doubtful, although it's strange that there is no ARV provided since AFAIK that's a required disclosure in all Official Rules. Perhaps these aren't quite finished yet (as the promo hasn't been officially announced). It may also be that UA intends to pay all the associated taxes for the winners, though not only is that doubtful, I think they'd still have to disclose an ARV.

It's also possible that the ARV they'll advertise is very small, since none of the items they'll be giving away has true material value - they're all service costs. I suspect that's unlikely, though, given that they did declare a (very high) ARV for the "1K Circle" sweepstakes prizes.

So the most likely explanation, IMHO, is an oversight on the part of the rules writers.

pareto

i think this is going to be fun. barely made 1P last year, should do 120k this year...

molasis

I tell you what this competition is likely to do.

The savvy fliers will drag their low eqm significant others along on as many trips as possible, then in september they will put forward their S.O's as very eligible team members. Ie I did about 105k in 2007, my wife did 14k. We are travelling alot together this year and she is likely to hit around 80k or more. Therefore come september I can live through her by proxy, and put her up as a 65k+ (net) team member.

Damn United.. I'm a slave to regaining 1K anyway.. and now I'm planning to pay for as many trips for her as possible.

mechteach

I know you were joking, but that was the first thing I thought of as well!

xxdboixx

^I would like to join a winning team.

I had about 65,000 EQMs in 2007 making 1p. I will definitely make 1K this year with a lot of heavy transcons back and forth this year. I have a couple of mileage runs to FRA and MUC in Feb.

I'm requalifying for 1p by March...

I should hope to top out the year with about 125,000. that's about a 60,000 difference.

PM me if anyone wants to form a team. ^

cgruber

I'll join a team.

100.5 eqs in 2007
78,000 eqm

Any takers?

PVDProf

I'd think it would be in UA's interest to have this information be public. In economics, we call this an all-pay auction, which ends when the loser runs out of money to raise his bid! Suppose you see you're team #51. What do you do? MR! Then the former team #50 sees they've been displaced. MR for them! The prizes here are certainly enough to make you think that if you're only an MR away, it's worth taking that MR (and all your past MRs to get to that point are sunk costs). All the while, UA is selling the tickets.

The only possible reason not to make that information public is that teams that are out of it might MR thinking they've got a shot.

While I'm not a good candidate for a team (travel will be 'bout the same as '07), this is a GREAT promo idea. ^ It'll be fun to watch. Book your New Year's eve eastbound SIN MR for you and your team today!

bseller

The competition looks like it'll be a fun one, and ^^ to UA_flyer for volunteering to keep 'track'.

I'm not likely to be a player, however, since my 128K EQM's is unlikely to be passed in 2008 - altho I'll certainly hit 100+ again. Oh well.
Good luck to everyone!!
Best, Dave