The United Gift Registry has been down for maintenance for well over a year, despite promises that it would be running again in early 2018 that never materialized it continued to say it was under maintenance. That message has now been replaced with one that states the gift registry has been discontinued entirely. The message reads:
As we keep evolving the digital experience for our travelers, we’ve decided to discontinue the united.com gift registry program. Although you’ll no longer be able to create a new registry or add to your existing one, you can still book travel using the TravelBank balance linked to your current registry until your balance expires.
The United gift registry used to be a popular option for using airline credits. RIP.
Hat tip to -tomfoolery-
Anyone used it to purchase ticket recently? If so, would you check your UA Registry account to see if the expiration date of your account is automatically extended by 5 years from the date you purchased ticket?
Thanks.
And it looks like the united.com Club has also been put out to pasture:
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/products/travelclub/default.html
You have to wonder if the TravelBank card can be far behind.
Sure seems like they’d get rid of the Travel Bank card. I was surprised when I downgraded my MPE earlier this year, they tried to get me to switch to Travel Bank rather than the no-fee MP.
Well, that’s United,what can you say? A bunch of blood suckers
Anyone knows the fund expiration policy ? Is it 5 years since your last activity in your account?
Thanks.
5 years since last travelbank activity. i booked a cheap flight, cancelled it within 24 hrs, and that reset the clock
I never understood why they wouldn’t want to continue this program. Unless there was some sort of fraud (unlikely, I think), it was all upside. Heck, they probably got a couple million from gamers taking advantage of the AMEX Plat credit.
I still have $200 in my gift registry from airline credits on my first biz plat. You can’t use it to pay award ticket fees, (or any fees for to my knowledge) you can’t use it in conjunction with vouchers. It was easy to use for airline credits, and obviously it was nice that the money would pool together, but still kind of an annoying form of payment that is somewhat inflexible. I won’t miss it personally. MPX (when it worked) was better for credits. I wish one of the other big domestic carriers would build a competitor app so that we might get some sweet airline credit use out of it…
You can use it for EconomyPlus seating, upgrade copays, WiFi…
I don’t know what you’re talking about…
https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/products/travelproducts/Pages/CashGiftRegistry.aspx
“Gift registry terms and conditions
The following terms and conditions apply to the purchase and usage of a united.com gift registry:
Valid for use on flights operated by United and United Express® only.
Redeemable only on united.com and through the United Customer Contact Center.
Only one gift registry is allowed per MileagePlus® member.
Only one owner per Gift Registry is allowed and that owner must be a MileagePlus member.
A minimum $25 USD deposit is required.
If the full amount in the TravelBank is not used for a transaction, you can use the balance toward the purchase of another ticket within the original validity period.
Registries will expire after 5 years of inactivity.
Valid only for air travel purchases, including ticket price, taxes and surcharges.
Deposits made to the TravelBank are nonrefundable.
Accounts are non-transferable.
TravelBank funds cannot be used as a form of payment in
combination with PayPal Credit, online check by TeleCheck®, cash, gift certificates, or United Airlines travel certificates.
Not valid in conjunction with any other programs (such as MileagePlus award travel).
Valid with any fare types.
Mileage accrual is allowed in conjunction with applicable fare rules for the ticket being purchased. MileagePlus mileage credit is allowed.
Each ticket purchased is eligible for any MileagePlus online booking bonus applicable to the ticket at the time of purchase.
The amount in the TravelBank will be applied to the total price of the airline ticket(s) in any one transaction.
All rules and travel restrictions of the purchased fare apply.
Not combinable with MileagePlus award travel.
Passenger is responsible for all taxes/fees/surcharges, including passenger facility charges, international departure tax, customs users immigration fees, agricultural tax and airport security charges and must pay them at time of ticketing.
United’s Contract of Carriage applies to all travel. In the event of flight disruptions, alternate travel will be provided only on United Airlines or the applicable codeshare partner.
United has the right to terminate the Gift Registry program or to change the Gift Registry program’s terms and conditions, rules, regulations, policies and procedures, benefits, and/or conditions of participation, in whole or in part, at any time, with or without notice.”
They added an expiration date on the funds. Is that legal? I thought some states did not allow gift card expiration.
I’m guessing they will argue this isn’t a gift card
What’s the expiration date and where can I see it? Thanks.
Go to the gift registry webpage. Look for the message that the blog post included a screenshot of. Click the link at the end of that message to check your expiration date.
Couple years ago when UA still had gift certificate with expiration date, they argued that airlines only need to follow federal law, they dont care about state law.