Mike FriedmanWe’ve got a little of everything in the TWIT (This Week In Travel) notes this week. For example, you’ll find out how to get United Airlines status on your flight to the Taco Bell luxury hotel. Oh, and if you’re from Massachusetts, you have a unique benefit when you choose to cancel the card that you use.
United Airlines Getting Generous With Status Matches
United Airlines has long struggled with customer service perception. Even before the David Dao incident, the airline was considered the least customer-friendly of the Big 3 airlines, but its reputation nose dived afterward.
Slowly, though, it has begun to work its way back up, improving operations and at least making overtures toward customer service.
Now, United is taking direct aim at its major competitors, promoting its formal status match offer. Based on your elite level at a competitor, United will be willing to match you in its own program, with the exception of Premier 1K, its top tier. Upon approval, they’ll match your status for a 90-day period. Want to go longer than that? You’ll actually need to take a few fights on the airline. During those 90 days you’ll need to do the following:
- To keep your Premier Silver status, you’ll need to fly 4 premier qualifying flights (PFQ) and earn 1,000 Premier Qualifying Points (One dollar of spending equals one PQP) on flights operated by United or United Express.
- Want to keep Premier Gold? Fly 6 PQF and earn 2,000 PQP on flights operated by United or United Express
- Platinum is even tougher. You’ll need to fly 10 PQF and earn 3,000 PQP on flights operated by United or United Express
Hint: If you complete the challenge to maintain your elite level before July 1, your status will last through January, 2021. Complete it afterward, though, and your status will last through January, 2022.
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Did You Get To Stay At Hotel Taco Bell?
“Wow, I’ve always wanted to sleep in a taco,” said nobody ever. Well, this wasn’t quite that experience, but it was too close for comfort.
For consumers who are just a little too close to the brand, Taco Bell recently offered four nights at its luxury pop-up hotel. The Palm Springs hotel gave guests an opportunity to sample all of TB’s finest foods and drinks, not to mention a gift shop that sold branded merchandise. And while you couldn’t get T-Bell tattoos (I think.), guests could get a manicure with the company logo painted on their nails.
If you missed it the first time, I wouldn’t worry. I’m guessing that they’ll offer it again at some point, given the strong demand: All 70 rooms sold out in two minutes.
The Credit Card Annual Fee Refund Law That Only Benefits Residents In One State…
What happens if you cancel a credit card mid-year? Do you get a pro-rata refund of the annual fee? The answer depends on the policies of the issuer in question. That is, unless you live in Massachusetts, where residents benefit from a state law.
Last week, I decided to cancel one of my American Express cards. The company had raised the annual fee to $595 and taken away one of the most important benefits (10 Gogo inflight internet passes). The annual fee had just come due, so I could cancel without paying it, but I ended up getting into a discussion with the representative about what would happen if I had cancelled mid-year.
The representative told me something that I had never heard before: American Express’s policy is to offer a 30-day grace period to get your entire fee refunded, but there’s no pro-rata refund after that period. And that’s the policy for 49 states.
But if you live in Massachusetts, it’s a little different: Massachusetts has a law requiring a refund of at least part of your fee. The law, which can be found here, says:
A card issuer as defined in section one of chapter one hundred and forty D, whether located within or without the commonwealth, may assess an annual fee provided that the cardholder as defined by said section one, is notified of the amount of any such fee on or with the billing statement for the billing period prior to that in which the annual fee is billed to the cardholder’s account. A cardholder may cancel his credit card agreement at any time during this period without penalty. If the cardholder cancels the agreement at any other time during the year, he shall receive a refund on a pro-rata basis of two-thirds of the annual fee.
The representative that I spoke with told me that I would be entitled to the greater of 2/3 of the annual fee or the pro-rata amount for the remaining period, although that seems to be slightly different from the law above, which implies that you’ll get a refund based on two-thirds of the pro-rata fee.
I don’t know the exact interpretation, but it’s a very consumer-friendly law. Now, if it only applied to the other 49 states…
