Hyatt Has My Loyalty, United Has My Cash

At least Hilton had Diamond desk service that always handled award reservations for high demand nights like New Year’s Eve.

So I tried again this morning and the customer service agent put me on hold and a few minutes later came back with a room confirmation for the Highlands Inn.

A $550 value room for free.  That is why Hyatt still has my loyalty.

United Airlines Has My Cash

I have nearly 600,000 lifetime miles with United Airlines.  I was Premier Executive or 1K with Mileage Plus from 2000 through 2006.  Back in 2004 I thought I would have 1,000,000 lifetime miles by 2010. 

I have flown United once in 2008.  I purchased tickets from San Jose to Denver last February. 

I made a bonehead mistake at the time when I was searching Denver airfares.  The problem with some websites when making computer searches is the search dates can automatically change when using the back button during a search.  I frequently get this with hotel websites.

I saw a fare drop in my searches last February and purchased two SJC-DEN tickets for $219.  Then I realized the dates I had been searching were not the same dates shown on my ticket purchase.

No problem I thought.  This has actually happened to me before and United allows a ticket to be cancelled within 24 hours.  I called up and cancelled the ticket with an agent over the phone.

10 minutes later I purchased two more tickets online for the correct dates.   The new ticket price was $236.99 each.

The next morning I check the Denver fares and the ticket for the same fare code was $183.00.  I called United and asked for a credit refund.  This is the part of the story I told in this Loyalty Traveler post – Nickel and DImed By United.  My United 2008 story ended last February with a promise for a credit voucher worth $53.99 on a future UA ticket.

Or so I thought.

Yesterday I went to book my second United flight of the year.  I called up United and after interminable automated messages, which can be truncated by just pressing ‘0’ for an agent, I found myself talking to a woman, apparently in India by her accent, and she told me I must have the credit card number or a ticket number to locate the credit voucher information. 

After an hour of searching emails and paper files I located the credit card statement, the emails, and my file on United.com.  This was the shocking part.

United never credited my canceled tickets for $438.00.  United never processed my $53.99 credits.

I was actually charged for four tickets to Denver last February at a total cost of $911.98.

I could understand the non-cancelled tickets mistake by itself, but the issue is a little more complicated.  My United.com e- receipt for these flights shows a charge for four tickets – 2 tickets at $236.99 and 2 tickets at $183.00 for a total Denver ticket fee of $839.98.  My e-receipt shows two sets of tickets with the same names for the same flights.

So how will this be resolved?

United says I need to send them my credit card statement and I can receive two more credit vouchers good for one year.

United – as I said back in February,  I would really just like my cash back.

$455.99 was a little excessive on your part for a ticket to Denver. 

A million miles lifetime elite status seems a United flight too far for this loyalty traveler.