16 November 2010

Simple lesson

Dear Ken,

I almost got got, yesterday!

United Airlines contacted me about setting up an account with their dividend mileage program. The agent over the phone sounded really convincing. She had me thinking "why the hell haven't I heard about this program?" You know - sorta like the frequent flyer miles with the other airlines.

I spoke with a colleague about how the program sounded too good to be true. She and I began researching on their website, but we couldn't find the information online. So I called United Airlines again. This time, the agent explained that one domestic roundtrip ticket would be roughly 25,000 miles, at minimum. At that point, I pulled out the calculator and started putting figures together. Bank of America gives 1 mile for every 2 dollars spent. So at that rate, I would need to spend $50,000 before I could ever redeem the miles. Being naive, I originally thought that the previous agent told me it would be mile-for-mile (ex. if from my place to ATL is 1,500 miles roundtrip, then I would need 1,500 miles in order to travel).

I couldn't believe I had fallen for something so crazy. I made a huge mistake. I signed up for the program without reading up on the rules, first!

#DearUnitedAirlines, y'all almost got me! Thanks for teaching me a lesson. I'll read the fine print next time. #That'sAll

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