Friday, September 15, 2006

When an offer isn't as good as it might seem

I recently received this offer from United via email:

The basics thrust of the offer is that I can pay $.01/mile + a $35 fee to "share" between 5,000 and 15,000 miles in my account with a "friend".

Given the pain in exchanging miles for useful trips and the fact that the common thought as to their value is only on the order of $.02, I just don't get why anyone would take them up on their offer. This just seems like one of those sucker type deals that the unknown user into providing additional funds to the airline -- even with the 10% bonus miles.

Personally, since I already own the miles, I think I should be able to give them to whomever I want without any per-mile fees (perhaps a service charge to cover the operation). I also think that I shouldn't be limited in how many miles I give.

My $.25 is that if you really want to give some "miles" to a friend, it is much easier to just issue a ticket in their name (no additional costs).

Note that I'm not a United critic, I like United, I fly their airline very often (like over 110,000 miles so far this year). I just think this deal is a pretty bad one for their customer who has already paid their dues in earning the miles.

Tags : / / / /

No comments: