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Rules for the Mileage Plus Program
Important:The following provisions form the basis of the Mileage
Plus Program. These provisions are intended to protect you, the members of
Mileage Plus, and United Airlines. Your participation in the Program will be
governed by these provisions, and it is your responsibility to read and
understand all of them. For more information, contact the Mileage Plus
Service Center or visit the Mileage Plus Web site at united.com. These
Program Rules cannot be superseded or changed, except in writing from United
Airlines.
General Conditions
- Mileage Plus membership and its benefits are offered at the
discretion of United Airlines and its affiliated companies (collectively,
"United"), and United has the right to terminate the Program or to change
the Program Rules, regulations, benefits, conditions of participation or
mileage levels, in whole or in part, at any time, with or without notice,
even though changes may affect the value of the mileage or certificates
already accumulated. United may, among other things, withdraw, limit, modify
or cancel any award; increase the mileage or number of certificates required
for any award; modify or regulate the transferability of awards or benefits;
add an unlimited number of blackout dates; or limit the number of award
seats available to any or all destinations. Members, in accumulating mileage
or certificates, may not rely upon the continued availability of an award or
award level, and members may not be able to obtain all offered awards or use
awards to all destinations or on all flights.
- Participation in the Mileage Plus Program (the "Program") is subject to
any terms and conditions, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures
("Program Rules") that United may, at its discretion, adopt from time to
time. United has the sole right to interpret and apply the Program Rules.
Any failure to follow Program Rules, any abuse of Program privileges, any
conduct detrimental to the interests of United, or any misrepresentation of
any information furnished to United or its affiliates by any member, or
anyone else acting on the member's behalf, may result in the termination of
his or her membership, the cancellation of accrued mileage, certificates,
awards or benefits, or both.
- United reserves the right to audit any and
all Mileage Plus accounts at any time for compliance with the Program Rules,
without notice to the Program member. In the event that an audit reveals
discrepancies or possible violations, the processing of award redemption
requests may be delayed pending completion of the audit.
- Each member
shall be responsible for remaining knowledgeable as to the Program Rules and
the amount of mileage in his or her account. United shall attempt to advise
active members of various matters of interest through such means as may be
appropriate, such as account summaries, newsletters and its Web site, but
United shall have no liability for any failure to do so. United will not be
responsible for correspondence lost or delayed in the mail. Each member
shall be responsible for advising United of any change of address, and
United shall have no liability for misdirected mail or any consequences
thereof.
- The accumulation of mileage or certificates and the
redemption of awards are subject to specific Program Rules enacted by United
Airlines. Each member is responsible for reading those materials in order to
understand his or her rights and responsibilities under the Program. No
mileage, benefits, certificates or awards earned or granted under the
Program may be transferred or assigned except as expressly permitted by
United in writing.
- The Mileage Plus Program is maintained for the
benefit and participation of individual members only. Only individuals are
eligible for Mileage Plus membership, and each member may maintain only one
account. Duplicate accounts will be subject to cancellation. Only the member
named on the account will be entitled access to personal account
information.
- Accrued mileage and certificates do not constitute
property of the member. Neither accrued mileage nor certificates are
transferable (i) upon death, (ii) as part of a domestic relations matter, or
(iii) otherwise by operation of law.
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Prohibition of sale or barter
- The sale or barter of any such mileage, certificates, awards or benefits
other than by United is expressly prohibited. Any mileage, certificates,
awards or benefits transferred, assigned or sold in violation of the Program
Rules, in addition to exposing the member to the penalties otherwise
associated with violations, may be confiscated or cancelled. The use of
award tickets that have been acquired by purchase, barter, or other conduct
in violation of Program Rules may result in the confiscation of the tickets,
denial of boarding with respect to the ticket holder, and, at United's
discretion, completion of the travel only upon payment of an applicable
fare.
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Account activity
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Any member who has failed to earn mileage for a calendar quarter may, at
United's option, be excluded from receiving newsletters, statements,
correspondence or other materials, including notifications of Program
changes or special promotions, until the next quarter in which he or she
earns mileage. Any member who fails to earn mileage during the first twelve
months after enrollment in the Program may be removed from the Program.
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Until 31 December 2007, any member who fails at any time to engage in account activity for a period of thirty-six (36) consecutive months, the miles in their account will expire on the last day of the 36th month. Effective 31 December 2007, miles will expire if there is no current activity for 18 consecutive months. Therefore, if the expiration date on your Mileage Plus summary is 31 December 2007, or after, your new expiration date will be 18 months after your last activity. Activity includes flying, using your Mileage Plus Visa and more, for example:
-Fly United or a Star Alliance partner
-Use your Mileage Plus credit card
-Do business with a Mileage Plus partner
-Redeem miles for award travel
-Buy miles or transfer miles
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"Account activity",
for purposes of these Rules, shall be deemed to occur when a member accrues
mileage in his or her account in any manner set forth in these Rules, or as
otherwise approved by United, or when the member redeems any Mileage Plus or
partner award by the use of mileage in the member's account.
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Partners
- The Mileage Plus Program "partners" are airlines, rental car companies,
hotels, or other entities who offer services as awards in the Program and
who, in some instances, permit the accrual of mileage to members who utilize
their services. The partners are independent entities, and United is not
responsible for the nature or quality of products or services provided by
those partners, nor for any solicitation efforts by those partners.
- United
shall have no liability for partner withdrawals from the Program or for
award cancellations caused by partner withdrawals, discontinued United or
partner service, or award or mileage accrual cancellations for any other
reason. Partners may, in their discretion, change the amount of mileage
required for their awards or impose other restrictions upon the use of their
awards.
- Routing and destinations for award travel on airline partners
are determined by our individual travel partners.
- By participating in
the Mileage Plus Program, members understand and acknowledge that their
names and addresses may be shared with some or all Mileage Plus partners and
that they may receive promotional materials, mailings and e-mails from
United and its partners. A member may, however, preclude receipt of any such
materials by advising United (c/o the Mileage Plus Service Center) in
writing of his or her desire to be excluded from any such partner mailings
or communications.
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Mileage accrual
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Only members of Mileage Plus are eligible to accrue mileage in the
Program by availing themselves of the means of accrual recognized under the
Program. Except to the extent that mileage may be earned for purchases made
through authorized debit or credit cards, a member may not accrue mileage
for the utilization of services, whether air transportation or otherwise, by
any other person, animal, object, or entity.
16a. United, in its sole
discretion, may permit Mileage Plus members to credit mileage earned for
flights on other airlines to their Mileage Plus accounts, and other airlines
or entities may, by agreement with United, permit their program members to
credit to their accounts mileage earned for flights on United. In such
cases, unless otherwise expressly provided, such mileage may be credited in
only one frequent flyer or loyalty program.
- Currently, mileage can be accrued by taking a flight on United
Airlines and/or United Express; by using an authorized debit or credit card
to purchase goods or services; or by utilizing the services of an airline,
hotel, rental car company, telecommunications company, or other Program
partner identified in the Member's Guide as an entity on which mileage may
be accrued. United expressly reserves the right to establish additional
means of accruing mileage, to delete any or all of the means currently
recognized, or to exclude specific types of transactions or tickets from the
accumulation of mileage.
- Mileage can be accrued only for flights,
hotel stays, car rentals or transactions actually taken or performed by the
member after the member's official enrollment date, and can be applied only
to the member's account. Mileage will be credited only for flights actually
flown by the member. Mileage credit will not be awarded for flight
cancellations, except that United may, at its discretion, give credit for
flights cancelled due to mechanical reasons or schedule reduction.
- Mileage may be accrued only
for paid travel on regularly scheduled flights.
- If United or any
Mileage Plus partner improperly denies a member an accrual or benefit,
liability will be limited to the equivalent of that accrual or benefit.
- Class-of-service bonus miles, if any, will be credited according to
the fare paid, not the cabin flown, and will not be credited on any upgrade.
- Air mileage will not be credited for travel on free tickets,
including tickets issued as Mileage Plus awards; on travel industry, free or
reduced tickets; consolidation tickets; or on tickets which are issued
subject to any accumulation of Mileage Plus credit. In addition, some fares
or tickets, including those sold over the Internet, may at United's
discretion be excluded from eligibility for mileage accrual.
- Car and
hotel mileage will be credited only for qualifying published rates, and not
for free accommodations, rentals or tickets, industry discounts, group rates
or special promotional rates.
- Only the person contracting for hotel or
rental car services may receive mileage credit for those services.
- For
hotel and car rental mileage accrual, consecutive night stays or consecutive
car rentals at the same hotel/car rental agency will be considered as one
stay/rental, regardless of the number of check-ins or rentals.
- United
reserves the right to make bonus miles and promotional offers selectively
available to certain members at any time, based on flight activity,
geographic locations, Program participation, or other factors determined at
United's sole discretion.
- United will, in most cases, credit its
members' accounts with accrued mileage. However, each member shall have the
responsibility to ensure that his or her mileage is properly credited. Where
a member contends that mileage has been earned but not credited, or in cases
where United deems verification is required, United reserves the right to
require proof of accrual from the member, including but not limited to
copies of ticket coupons for flights claimed to have been flown or copies of
receipts or similar documentation verifying any transactions claimed to have
been performed. Any claims for mileage by the member and proof of accrual
must be received by United within twelve months after the date such mileage
was claimed to be earned.
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Mileage expiration
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Mileage accrued in a member's account shall be maintained in the account
until it is redeemed for an award or until it expires, whichever occurs
first.
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Until 31 December 2007, mileage accrued shall be subject to expiration on the last day of the thirty-six (36)* month, after the last account activity in the member's account. Effective 31 December 2007, miles will expire in 18 months. Therefore, if the expiration date on your Mileage Plus summary is after 31 December 2007, your new expiration date will be 18 months after your last activity. Activity includes flying, using your Mileage Plus Visa and more (see rule #10). In cases where mileage is for any reason removed from an account, as for the redemption of awards, and later returned, the return of the mileage to the account shall not count as account activity.
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Award redemption
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The awards available to be redeemed and the
amount of mileage necessary to redeem each award will be set by United and
published to the members. United shall establish the process for award
redemption, but redemption shall basically mean the exchange of mileage in a
member's account for a specified award.
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Awards may, at the request of
the member, be issued by Mileage Plus in the name of the member or in the
name and for the use of any other person. If an award ticket is to be issued
in the name of someone other than the member, United may require the member
to execute the request for the award transfer in person at a United
ticketing location, by endorsing each certificate redeemed in favor of the
specified designee and providing official photographic identification.
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Mileage
earned in two or more different accounts may not be combined to redeem any
award.
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Travel on Mileage Plus award tickets will be subject to the
tariff, contract of carriage, ticket terms, and re-accommodation policies of
the carrier on which travel is scheduled.
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After an award ticket is
issued, a service charge may be imposed for each change requested by the
member which necessitates the re-issuance of the ticket. A change in date or
flight time will not result in the imposition of a service charge. If there is any flight in the itinerary other than United, no changes are allowed
after travel begins.
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Award
tickets, awards, and certificates may be subject to applicable departure
taxes, federal inspection fees, passenger facility charges, and other fees,
charges or taxes, and the person utilizing the award is responsible for the
payment of any such items that may apply.
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Any valid unused award ticket or certificate may be returned to the Mileage Plus Service Centre for a service charge. The mileage used to redeem the award will be credited to the member's account and be subject to expiration (see Rules 10 & 29). Awards for which travel is reserved but which are subsequently cancelled due to an expired ticketing time limit will be subject to service charges for the recrediting of miles.
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The
award structure is subject to modification, cancellation or limitation at
United's discretion, with or without notice. The amount of mileage required
to redeem any award may be substantially increased, any award may be
withdrawn, and restrictions on any award or its redemption may be imposed at
any time. The accumulation of mileage does not entitle Program members to
any vested rights with respect to any awards or the Program. Awards shall be
valid only to destinations served both at the time of the issuance of the
award ticket and at the time of departure, and neither United nor its
partners shall be liable for schedule changes that result in the
cancellation of service to any destination.
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Upgrades will not be
allowed on free accommodations, rentals or tickets; industry discounts;
consolidation tickets; group rates or special promotional rates.
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International membership
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Participation in the Mileage Plus Program may be prohibited or
restricted in some countries. Nothing in these Rules should be read to
override or circumvent any such foreign laws.
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