United Airlines £350 offer

[Ash]

Does anyone know if it has to be United metal?

I know it has to depart UK.

Can I book European flights from United website departing London?

And the offer is just for one passenger or can I reach £700 spend with 2 passengers?

[SamG]

Amex can see the flight you book so it’ll need to be UA metal out of UK. They wouldn’t sell a European flight anyway.

You can book multiple tickets up to the £700

[Nate1309]

I’m interested to know how others are using this offer? I am a United newbie and have no idea on any sweet spots to use the £350 cashback

[SamG]

To be honest it’s hard to get excited about as with the costs of a US trip at the moment (hotels, food, car hire, the weak £) £350 doesn’t make much of a dent !

United are usually quite competitive on flights to Mexico , Costa Rica, South American etc. So perhaps using it for that would be an idea although transitting the US is a pain in the butt !

[endre]

Wait, why can’t you just book a UA codeshare? Is it really not allowed or possible to book an EU *A flight via the United site?

[Andrew J]

endre wrote:

Wait, why can’t you just book a UA codeshare? Is it really not allowed or possible to book an EU *A flight via the United site?

Give it a go and let us know.

[Andrew J]

SamG wrote:

To be honest it’s hard to get excited about as with the costs of a US trip at the moment (hotels, food, car hire, the weak £) £350 doesn’t make much of a dent !

United are usually quite competitive on flights to Mexico , Costa Rica, South American etc. So perhaps using it for that would be an idea although transitting the US is a pain in the butt !

Indeed – not sure why anyone would want to book a trip to the US at the moment. And that is evidenced by this very generous offer and Virgin’s 25% off redemptions offer.

[SamG]

endre wrote:

Wait, why can’t you just book a UA codeshare? Is it really not allowed or possible to book an EU *A flight via the United site?

UA coded flights in Europe only sold connecting to their long haul flights. Same with BA code shares in the US etc

[lodgepalm]

I’m a BA only flyer but this could be an interesting promo

What’s the score with UA refunds into vouchers? Just book any UK outbound trip, wait until after 24 hours then cancel to get a voucher to be used in US domestic but still triggers that original cash back.

Thoughts?

[can2]

I just booked a transatlantic flight but couldn’t use this offer as United’s rates have spiked… Even with the £350 cashback it was much higer than the competition. And yes, there are no flights to Europe sold on UA website.

[Super Secret Stuff]

can2 wrote:

I just booked a transatlantic flight but couldn’t use this offer as United’s rates have spiked… Even with the £350 cashback it was much higer than the competition. And yes, there are no flights to Europe sold on UA website.

Agreed, rates seem to have spiked, Google flights and sky scanner yesterday where showing significantly lower prices from the United website within the last 24 hours compared to united’s current selling price

[Andrew.]

Super Secret Stuff wrote:

can2 wrote:

I just booked a transatlantic flight but couldn’t use this offer as United’s rates have spiked… Even with the £350 cashback it was much higer than the competition. And yes, there are no flights to Europe sold on UA website.

Agreed, rates seem to have spiked, Google flights and sky scanner yesterday where showing significantly lower prices from the United website within the last 24 hours compared to united’s current selling price

I was finding that across several airlines yesterday. Booking for my boss for next Easter, BA flights were presenting as £380 on Google and ITA matrix, but click through and they were close to double.

[Andrew.]

Andrew J wrote:

SamG wrote:

To be honest it’s hard to get excited about as with the costs of a US trip at the moment (hotels, food, car hire, the weak £) £350 doesn’t make much of a dent !

United are usually quite competitive on flights to Mexico , Costa Rica, South American etc. So perhaps using it for that would be an idea although transitting the US is a pain in the butt !

Indeed – not sure why anyone would want to book a trip to the US at the moment. And that is evidenced by this very generous offer and Virgin’s 25% off redemptions offer.

Go for a day trip?

£350 one way to Scotland is cheaper than BA some weekends.

LHR-EWR, EWR-EDI and book a points night in Newark.

Although, I managed to do it for £250 the last time the promotion was run.

[executiveclubber]

Andrew. wrote:

Andrew J wrote:

SamG wrote:

To be honest it’s hard to get excited about as with the costs of a US trip at the moment (hotels, food, car hire, the weak £) £350 doesn’t make much of a dent !

United are usually quite competitive on flights to Mexico , Costa Rica, South American etc. So perhaps using it for that would be an idea although transitting the US is a pain in the butt !

Indeed – not sure why anyone would want to book a trip to the US at the moment. And that is evidenced by this very generous offer and Virgin’s 25% off redemptions offer.

Go for a day trip?

£350 one way to Scotland is cheaper than BA some weekends.

LHR-EWR, EWR-EDI and book a points night in Newark.

Although, I managed to do it for £250 the last time the promotion was run.

What dates are best for this? That’s pretty good value for plane geeks

[al_wiltshire]

EWR and IAD both seem to have some flights around the £800 mark in PE. After discount, £450 is tempting. Best prices seem to be the back end of this year or start of next … nothing much in the 6-12 month range.

[SamG]

Andrew. wrote:

Andrew J wrote:

SamG wrote:

To be honest it’s hard to get excited about as with the costs of a US trip at the moment (hotels, food, car hire, the weak £) £350 doesn’t make much of a dent !

United are usually quite competitive on flights to Mexico , Costa Rica, South American etc. So perhaps using it for that would be an idea although transitting the US is a pain in the butt !

Indeed – not sure why anyone would want to book a trip to the US at the moment. And that is evidenced by this very generous offer and Virgin’s 25% off redemptions offer.

Go for a day trip?

£350 one way to Scotland is cheaper than BA some weekends.

LHR-EWR, EWR-EDI and book a points night in Newark.

Although, I managed to do it for £250 the last time the promotion was run.

If I was younger then I’d do something like this with someone (or solo in PE). First flight out on the Saturday, a hotel in Jersey city or somewhere (which is actually pretty fun) and you can easily access Manhattan for a busy day on Sunday and then back on the late Sunday night flight.

Sadly I’m old and grumpy and it sounds like the worst way ever to start a week of work and looking after two toddlers 🤣

[Blair Waldorf Salad]

lodgepalm wrote:

I’m a BA only flyer but this could be an interesting promo

What’s the score with UA refunds into vouchers? Just book any UK outbound trip, wait until after 24 hours then cancel to get a voucher to be used in US domestic but still triggers that original cash back.

Thoughts?

No worked evidence but should work in theory. You’re not doing anything dubious as the money remains within United. My experience though is if your voucher currency differs from the currency in which future flights are denominated, you need to call up to get a phone agent to do a currency exchange of your voucher which they can then apply to the future flight.

[01A]

Blair Waldorf Salad wrote:

lodgepalm wrote:

I’m a BA only flyer but this could be an interesting promo

What’s the score with UA refunds into vouchers? Just book any UK outbound trip, wait until after 24 hours then cancel to get a voucher to be used in US domestic but still triggers that original cash back.

Thoughts?

No worked evidence but should work in theory. You’re not doing anything dubious as the money remains within United. My experience though is if your voucher currency differs from the currency in which future flights are denominated, you need to call up to get a phone agent to do a currency exchange of your voucher which they can then apply to the future flight.

I had to cancel my flights booked on United in the previous offer, because I could no longer travel. United refunded the amount back to Amex. I wasn’t presented with an option to choose voucher refund. Not sure if that’s for US customers only?

Amex too clawed back the £250 rebate, so I was left with a no profit no loss situation. I was still happy because United ticket I booked was cancellable without any charges.

[al_wiltshire]

01A wrote:

Not sure if that’s for US customers only?

The website doesn’t seem to mention refunds in the form of vouchers. It seems quite explicit that refunds are to the original form of payment. Perhaps vouchers are no longer an option.

[slidey]

If you book a flight to NYC on uniteds website but the outbound flight is a 1 stop on Air Canada planes with a UA code share, does that trigger the offer? Is the requirement only that its sold on united.com or that the plane is a UA plane?

[01A]

al_wiltshire wrote:

01A wrote:

Not sure if that’s for US customers only?

The website doesn’t seem to mention refunds in the form of vouchers. It seems quite explicit that refunds are to the original form of payment. Perhaps vouchers are no longer an option.

It could be the case that United offered the vouchers during Covid, but stopped offering them since, just like what BA did here in the UK.

[Blair Waldorf Salad]

al_wiltshire wrote:

01A wrote:

Not sure if that’s for US customers only?

The website doesn’t seem to mention refunds in the form of vouchers. It seems quite explicit that refunds are to the original form of payment. Perhaps vouchers are no longer an option.

https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/travel/trip-planning/flexible-booking-options.html#24-hour-booking-policy

Worth checking during the booking process for a UK to US itinerary whether the 24hr cancellation applies. It certainly applies by law for US-origin itineraries. Anytime I have cancelled within 24hrs I have been given a choice of refund to payment card or travel credit. That includes as recently as August.

[01A]

Blair Waldorf Salad wrote:

al_wiltshire wrote:

01A wrote:

Not sure if that’s for US customers only?

The website doesn’t seem to mention refunds in the form of vouchers. It seems quite explicit that refunds are to the original form of payment. Perhaps vouchers are no longer an option.

https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/travel/trip-planning/flexible-booking-options.html#24-hour-booking-policy

Worth checking during the booking process for a UK to US itinerary whether the 24hr cancellation applies. It certainly applies by law for US-origin itineraries. Anytime I have cancelled within 24hrs I have been given a choice of refund to payment card or travel credit. That includes as recently as August.

Thanks for sharing the link. The highlighted point below copied from the link settles the ambiguity.

24-hour booking policy terms and conditions
Applies to tickets booked on our website and app, our individual city ticket offices, airport ticket counters or through the Customer Contact Center.
The 24-hour timeframe begins at the time you book your ticket.
Requests for refunds will be credited back in the original form of payment.
Group tickets are subject to the terms of the group contract.
Tickets purchased using e-certificates are excluded.
Reservations that are being held but have not yet been purchased are excluded.
Any FareLock® fees paid to hold a reservation will not be refunded.

[slidey]

If you find a flight just under 700 is there anything that can be added to the booking that would still trigger the credit?

Also, I assume seat selection charges wont be valid as they seem to be billed in usd?

[Andrew.]

slidey wrote:

If you find a flight just under 700 is there anything that can be added to the booking that would still trigger the credit?

Also, I assume seat selection charges wont be valid as they seem to be billed in usd?

The T&Cs are not well worded. As long as it is billed to your GBP card, you’ll be fine.