Hello,
I am writing to you about United Airlines and their Carvé Diem promotion, which offers travelers a free lift ticket at Vail Resorts in Vail, Colorado. I feel that United has deceived me and other consumers in their representation of this promotion.
My husband and I are members of United Airlines Mileage Plus frequent flyer program. As a member of that program, I received an e-mail to participate in their Carvé Diem promotion.
The offer and requirements of the Carvé Diem promotion as listed on the registration site are as follows:
Carvé Diem Requirements
Registering is as easy as putting on your skis. Just follow these steps:
1. Register here and book your qualifying flight through www.united.com between October 28, 2005, and February 7, 2006.
2. Fly United® to Colorado between January 3, 2006, and February 10, 2006. Last date to redeem lift ticket coupon: February 15, 2006.
3. Be sure that the Mileage Plus® number you register with on this page is the same Mileage Plus number you use in your flight reservation.
4. Look for your Carvé Diem coupon a minimum of two business days (weekdays that do not fall on holidays) after you register.
5. Fly to Colorado, redeem your coupon at a Vail Resorts® ticket window (at Vail®, Beaver Creek®, Breckenridge® or Keystone® resorts), and carve up the slopes!
Booking your flight through any other travel site will not qualify you for the Carve Diem offer.
Lift ticket coupon blackout dates: January 14-15, 2006.
This information may also be viewed on the United Airlines website at:
http://www.unitedoffers.com/el/dstatial.show?isref=reg.carvediem05.reg
I registered both myself and my husband for the Carvé Diem promotion and then on November 26, 2005 I booked a flight for myself and my husband on www.united.com. The qualifying flight we took was from Chicago OHare to Denver on January 15, 2006. I received the Carvé Diem coupons via e-mail from United on January 19, 2006.
Within the e-mail containing the coupons, the terms and conditions were stated as follows:
To take advantage of this offer, registration and purchase are required. One lift ticket coupon earned per qualifying United ticket purchased. Must purchase airline ticket on united.com. Other websites are not eligible for this promotion. Must be a Mileage Plus® member. Offer valid with purchase of travel on United, United Express®, or Ted(sm) carriers where the point of origin is within the Domestic 50 States with stop-over or final destination in the state of Colorado. Valid for flights purchased between October 28, 2005 and February 7, 2006 and for flights completed between January 3, 2006 and February 10, 2006. Coupon blackout dates: January 14-15, 2006.
Additionally, the following was printed on the coupon itself:
To receive your free lift ticket, you must present your coupon; your government-issued photo identification (minors without the proper identification must be accompanied by a parent or guardian); and forfeit your qualifying inbound United gate-issued boarding-pass stub at a participating Vail Resorts ® ticket office (Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, or Keystone) between January 3, 2006 and February 15, 2006.
I have posted a copy of the exact e-mail and coupons in an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file at this link:
http://www.erinoreilly.com/unitedcarvediem.pdf
On February 2, 2006, my husband and I took our coupons along with our drivers licenses and our boarding pass stubs to the ticket window at Vail to redeem the coupon for our free ticket. When we presented all of our documents we were told by the representatives at Vail that according to United, the coupon is only redeemable with 7 days of the date that the flight was completed and that they would not redeem our coupons.
This requirement of redeeming the coupon within 7 days, this is not stated on the coupon, it is not stated in the e-mail that accompanies the coupon, and it is not stated on the Carvé Diem registration site. The fact that each one of these documents states all the other requirements and applicable dates for this promotion, but does not mention this 7 day redemption requirement is baffling.
In fact, the e-mail that was sent to me after our flight was completed specifically says Remember, the last day to redeem your free lift ticket is February 15, 2006. This e-mail was sent to me only after we completed our flight on January 15, and was only sent to me as a result of completing our flight on January 15. And yet nothing in this e-mail mentions a 7 day redemption requirement.
Of course, we were extremely upset to have just driven 2 hours to ski at Vail only to discover that our coupons were not redeemable. Per our request, a manager at the Vail ticket office contacted United by phone that morning on February 2 and was unable to get permission to redeem our coupons for us. Additionally, we contacted United by phone on that same morning and spoke to a customer service supervisor, Jason. We were unable to get any offer of redemption. Jason simply told us he would pass our complaint along. We asked him for the name and number of a supervisor above him, and he would not provide us with that information. The issue was definitely not resolved to our satisfaction.
Upon returning home, I went to Uniteds website again to try to find where the 7 day redemption requirement was stated.
The 7 day redemption requirement is not stated on the Carvé Diem home page:
http://www.unitedoffers.com/el/dstatial.show?isref=reg.carvediem05.home
It is not stated on the registration page:
http://www.unitedoffers.com/el/dstatial.show?isref=reg.carvediem05.reg
It is not even stated on the FAQs page:
http://www.unitedoffers.com/el/dstatial.show?isref=reg.carvediem05.FAQ
I finally found it listed in one place:
http://www.unitedoffers.com/el/dstatial.show?isref=reg.carvediem05.terms
I specifically chose United over other airlines because of this promotion. However, had I realized that I only had 7 days from the completion of my flight, I would have chosen another airline. And since I didnt even receive the coupon from United until 2:50 AM on January 19, I was actually only given 4 days to redeem my coupon.
I am astonished that United chose to state the terms and conditions of this promotion in so many different places and they omitted this very important redemption requirement in all but one place. Its deceptive and its unethical. The manager at Vail resorts and along with 2 of the ticket window representatives told us that many people have come to them to redeem their Carvé Diem coupons not realizing that there was a 7 day redemption requirement. So it seems that we were not the only ones tricked into booking our flight with United thinking that we were getting a free lift ticket.
Although this promotion is nearly over, I would like to see other consumers made aware of the misleading manner in which United has represented the Carvé Diem promotion. Anything you can do to publicize this issue would be very much appreciated.
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