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MileagePlus Program Rules

Rules for the MileagePlus Program

General conditions

1. MileagePlus membership and benefits, including the Premier Program, are offered at the discretion of United Airlines and its affiliates, and United has the right to terminate the Program and/or the Premier Program or to change the Program Rules, regulations, benefits, conditions of participation or mileage levels, in whole or in part, at any time, with or without notice, even though changes may affect the value of the mileage or certificates already accumulated.

   1a United may, among other things, withdraw, limit, modify or cancel any award; increase the mileage, cash required, applicable co-pays or number of certificates required for any award; modify or regulate the transferability of awards or benefits; add an unlimited number of blackout dates; or limit the number of award seats available to any or all destinations. Members, in accumulating mileage or certificates, may not rely upon the continued availability of an award or award level, and members may not be able to obtain all offered awards or use awards to all destinations or on all flights.

2. Participation in the MileagePlus Program (the "Program") is subject to any terms and conditions, rules, regulations, policies and procedures ("Program Rules") that United may, at its discretion, adopt from time to time. United has the sole right to interpret and apply the Program Rules. Any failure to follow Program Rules, any abuse of Program privileges, any conduct detrimental to the interests of United, or any misrepresentation of any information furnished to United or its affiliates by any member, or anyone else acting on the member's behalf, may result in the termination of his or her membership, the cancellation of accrued mileage, certificates, awards or benefits, or both.
3. United reserves the right to audit any and all MileagePlus accounts at any time for compliance with the Program Rules, without notice to the Program member. In the event that an audit reveals discrepancies or possible violations, the processing of award redemption requests may be delayed pending completion of the audit.
4. Each member shall be responsible for remaining knowledgeable as to the Program Rules and the amount of mileage in his or her account. United shall attempt to advise active members of various matters of interest through such means as may be appropriate, such as account summaries, emails, newsletters and its website, but United shall have no liability for any failure to do so. United will not be responsible for correspondence lost or delayed in the mail. Each member shall be responsible for advising United of any change of address, and United shall have no liability for misdirected mail or any consequences thereof. The most current Program Rules may be found on mileageplus.com and this is the final authority on the Program Rules.
5. The accumulation of mileage or certificates and the redemption of awards are subject to specific Program Rules enacted by United Airlines. Each member is responsible for reading those materials in order to understand his or her rights and responsibilities under the Program. No mileage, benefits, certificates or awards earned or granted under the Program may be transferred or assigned except as expressly permitted by United in writing or under programs fully authorized and/or sponsored by United.
6. The MileagePlus Program is maintained for the benefit and participation of individual members only. Only individuals are eligible for MileagePlus membership, and each member may maintain only one account. Duplicate accounts will be subject to cancellation. Only the member named on the account will be entitled access to personal account information. Account information is United's proprietary information and members may access information only for the purpose of obtaining information about their account. Access may not be delegated or granted (via power of attorney or other) to a third party. Personal account information may be reproduced for personal use but must contain copyright and proprietary notices and redistribution in any way requires United's written permission.
7. Accrued mileage and certificates do not constitute property of the member. Neither accrued mileage nor certificates are transferable (i) upon death, (ii) as part of a domestic relations matter, or (iii) otherwise by operation of law.

Prohibition of sale or barter

8. The sale or barter of any such mileage, certificates, awards or benefits other than as authorized and/or sponsored by United is expressly prohibited. Any mileage, certificates, awards or benefits transferred, assigned or sold in violation of the Program Rules, in addition to exposing the member to the penalties otherwise associated with violations, may be confiscated or canceled. The use of award tickets that have been acquired by purchase, barter or other conduct in violation of Program Rules may result in termination of membership, cancellation of accrued mileage, certificates, awards or benefits, confiscation of the tickets, denial of boarding with respect to the ticket holder, and, at United's discretion, completion of the travel only upon payment of an applicable fare.

Account activity

9. Any member who has failed to earn mileage for a calendar month may, at United's option, be excluded from receiving newsletters, statements, correspondence or other materials, including notifications of Program changes or special promotions, until the next quarter in which he or she earns mileage. Any member who fails to earn mileage during the first twelve months after enrollment in the Program may be removed from the Program.
10. Any member who fails at any time to engage in account activity for a period of eighteen (18) consecutive months is subject to termination of his or her membership and forfeiture of all accrued mileage as of the last day of the 18th month. Activity includes (without limitation) earning flight miles on United or Continental or earning or redeeming miles with a MileagePlus partner (as defined in Rule 12), redeeming miles for award travel, buying miles or transferring miles.
11. "Account Activity", for purposes of these rules, shall be deemed to occur when a member accrues mileage in his or her account in any manner as outlined and set forth in these Rules, or as otherwise approved by United, or when the member redeems any MileagePlus or partner award by the use of mileage in the member's account. In cases where mileage is for any reason removed from an account, as for example the redemption of an award, and there is a subsequent cancellation of the award or removal of miles and a return of the miles to the member's account, the cancellation of the award or removal and return of the mileage to the account shall not qualify as "Account Activity."

Partners

12. The MileagePlus Program "partners" are airlines, rental car companies, hotels or other entities who offer products or services as awards in the Program and who, in some instances, permit the accrual of mileage to members who utilize their products or services. The partners are independent entities, and United is not responsible for the nature or quality of products or services provided by those partners, nor for any solicitation efforts by those partners.
13. United shall have no liability for partner withdrawals from the Program or for award changes or cancellations caused by partner withdrawals, discontinued United or partner service, or award or mileage accrual cancellations for any other reason. United may change the amount of mileage required for partner offers or awards or impose other restrictions upon the use of partner offers or awards.
14. Routing and destinations for award travel on airline partners are determined by our individual travel partners.
15. By participating in the MileagePlus Program, members understand and acknowledge that their names and addresses may be shared with some or all MileagePlus partners and that they may receive promotional materials, mailings and emails from United and its partners. A member may, however, preclude receipt of any such materials by advising United (via the MileagePlus Service Center in writing or by accessing account information at mileageplus.com of his or her desire to be excluded from any such partner mailings or communications.

Mileage accrual

16. Only members of MileagePlus are eligible to accrue mileage in the Program by availing themselves of the means of accrual recognized under the Program. Except to the extent that mileage may be earned for purchases made through authorized debit or credit cards, a member may not accrue mileage for the utilization of services, whether air transportation or otherwise, by any other person, animal, object or entity.

    16a United, in its sole discretion, may permit MileagePlus members to credit mileage earned for flights on other airlines to their MileagePlus accounts, and other airlines or entities may, by agreement with United, permit their program members to credit to their accounts mileage earned for flights on United. In such cases, unless otherwise expressly provided, such mileage may be credited in only one frequent flyer or loyalty program.

17. Members must supply a PIN when conducting certain transactions in writing, by phone or on the Internet to protect confidentiality. A PIN may be required to make reservations, redeem miles, change address and other services. United is not responsible for stolen PINs and will not re-credit miles for redemptions using the member's PIN.
18. Mileage can be accrued only for flights, hotel stays, car rentals or transactions actually taken or performed by the member after the member's official enrollment date, and can be applied only to the member's account. Mileage will be credited only for flights actually flown by the member. Mileage credit will not be awarded for flight cancellations, except that United may, at its discretion, give credit for flights canceled due to mechanical reasons or schedule reduction. United expressly reserves the right to establish additional means of accruing mileage, to delete any or all of the means currently recognized or to exclude specific types of transactions or tickets from the accumulation of mileage.
19. Mileage may be accrued only for paid travel on regularly scheduled flights.
20. If United or any MileagePlus partner improperly denies a member an accrual or benefit, liability will be limited to the equivalent of that accrual or benefit.
21. Class-of-service bonus miles, if any, will be credited according to the fare paid, not the cabin flown, and will not be credited on any upgrade.
22. Air mileage will not be credited for travel on free tickets, including tickets issued as MileagePlus awards and tickets purchased using a combination of miles and money; on travel industry, free or reduced tickets; consolidation tickets; or on tickets which are issued subject to any accumulation of MileagePlus credit. In addition, some fares or tickets, including those sold over the Internet, may at United's discretion be excluded from eligibility for mileage accrual.
23. Car and hotel mileage will be credited only for qualifying published rates, and not for free accommodations, rentals or tickets, industry discounts, group rates or special promotional rates. For hotel and car rental mileage accrual, consecutive night stays or consecutive car rentals at the same hotel/car rental agency will be considered as one stay/rental, regardless of the number of check-ins or rentals.
24. Only the person contracting for hotel or rental car services from a MileagePlus partner may receive mileage credit for those services.
25. United reserves the right to make bonus miles and promotional offers by United or MileagePlus partners selectively available to certain members at any time, based on flight activity, geographic locations, Program participation, or other factors determined at United's sole discretion.
26. United will, in most cases, credit its members' accounts with accrued mileage. However, each member shall have the responsibility to ensure that his or her mileage is properly credited. Where a member contends that mileage has been earned but not credited, or in cases where United deems verification is required, United reserves the right to require proof of accrual from the member, including but not limited to copies of ticket coupons for flights claimed to have been flown or copies of receipts or similar documentation verifying any transactions claimed to have been performed. Any claims for mileage by the member and proof of accrual must be received by United within twelve months after the date such mileage was claimed to be earned. Certain air partners may have valid retro-credit claim periods that differ. Please check mileageplus.com for details.

Mileage expiration

27. Mileage accrued in a member's account shall be maintained in the account until it is redeemed for an award or until it expires, whichever occurs first.
28. Mileage accrued shall only be subject to expiration on the last day of the eighteen (18) months after the last account activity in the member's account. Activity includes flying, using your MileagePlus credit card and more (see rule 10). In cases where mileage is for any reason removed from an account, as for the redemption of awards, and later returned, the return of the mileage to the account shall not count as account activity.

Award redemption

29. The awards available to be redeemed and the amount of mileage necessary to redeem each award will be set by United and published to the members. United shall establish the process for award redemption, but redemption shall basically mean the exchange of mileage in a member's account for a specified award.
30. Awards may, at the request of the member, be issued by MileagePlus in the name of the member or in the name and for the use of any other person. If an award ticket is to be issued in the name of someone other than the member, United may require the member to execute the request for the award issuance in person at a United ticketing location, by endorsing each certificate redeemed in favor of the specified designee and providing official photographic identification.
31. Mileage earned in two or more different accounts may not be combined to redeem any award.
32. Travel on MileagePlus award tickets will be subject to the tariff, contract of carriage, ticket terms, and re-accommodation policies of the carrier on which travel is scheduled.
33. After an award ticket is issued, a service charge may be imposed for each change requested by the member that necessitates the reissuance of the ticket. See award ticket fee chart for applicable fees.

    33aAfter any award, other than an air award, is issued, a service charge may be imposed for each change requested by the member, which necessitates the reissuance or adjustment of the award.

34. Award tickets, awards and certificates may be subject to applicable departure taxes, federal inspection fees, passenger facility charges and other fees, charges or taxes, and the person utilizing the award is responsible for the payment of any such items that may apply.
35. Any valid unused award ticket or certificate may be returned to the MileagePlus Service Center for a service charge. The mileage used to redeem the award will be credited to the member's account and be subject to expiration (see rules 10 and 28). Awards for which travel is reserved, but which are subsequently canceled due to an expired ticketing time limit will be subject to service charges for the recrediting of miles. Any return of mileage to the account shall not constitute account activity. For purposes of clarification, some award tickets may not be eligible for recredit of miles and will so state.
36. The award structure is subject to modification, cancellation or limitation at United's discretion, with or without notice. The amount of mileage required to redeem any award may be substantially increased, any award may be withdrawn, and restrictions on any award or its redemption may be imposed at any time. 36a.The accumulation of mileage does not entitle Program members to any vested rights with respect to any awards or the Program. Awards shall be valid only to destinations served both at the time of the issuance of the award ticket and at the time of departure, and neither United nor its partners shall be liable for schedule changes that result in the cancellation of service to any destination. If you fail to comply with any published award rules, at United's sole discretion, you may be accommodated on a different flight than originally selected, seated in a lower class of service, denied ticketing or boarding, or be subject to other action as provided herein.
37. Upgrades will not be allowed on free accommodations, rentals or tickets; industry discounts; consolidation tickets; group rates or special promotional rates.

International membership

38. Participation in the MileagePlus Program may be prohibited or restricted in some countries. Nothing in these Rules should be read to override or circumvent any such foreign laws.