Pass Travel UPDATE September 12, 2018
1) Better Boarding launches Sept 18th
2) New flights on United announced
3) New Discounts on Flying Together & Perkspot
4) Pay imputed taxes! “Your Document is available”
5) Retirees’ Open Enrollment for 2019 Healthcare preview
6) Travel with Friends on Other Airlines (again)
7) More Other Airlines for us to try out!
8) UA stations in Central/South America are cashless
9) RAFA’s website
1) Better Boarding launches Sept 18th
New boarding procedures launch systemwide Sept 18th. Say goodbye to five different lines in the boarding area; there will only be two: One blue line, one green line.
Boarding group 1 will use the blue line; groups 2-5 will use the green line. Digital signage and instant updates on the UA app will keep customers apprised of when to board. Keep in mind, there is no change to how pass riders are boarded - we still board in group 3.
Read more info: https://ft.ual.com/our-airline/better-boarding and read the United News article (9/7/18).
2) New Flights on United announced
Have fun exploring these new trips on standby or with myUAdiscount:
SFO-PPT (Tahiti) begins Oct 31, 2018
SFO-AMS (Amsterdam) begins Mar 30, 2019
EWR-NAP (Naples) begins May 22, 2019
EWR-PRG (Prague) begins June 6, 2019
https://ft.ual.com/news/2018/08/29/new-routes-to-europe
Note: Some summer 2018 seasonal flights will end in October; read this:
https://ft.ual.com/news/2018/04/26/summer-schedule
3) New Discounts on Flying Together & Perkspot
“Welcome” emails retirees received in late August from United Airlines (cs@Perkspot.com) are legitimate. United has reworked rewards/discounts for employees/retirees and has partnered with Perkspot. Read the story on Flying Together: https://ft.ual.com/news/2018/08/24/myrewards-page
To access all the discounts, use this page on Flying Together:
FT> Employee Services > My Rewards > Employee Discounts
https://ft.ual.com/employee-services/mydiscounts
REGISTER and then scroll down the page (or use Search) to see all offerings.
Once you arrive at the MyDiscounts page powered by Perkspot, read the FAQs by clicking on “Your Profile” in upper right side of page. Note: Retirees may not be eligible for discounts on some cell phone or automotive services, Microsoft Home Use program and the United Explorer card. Read the small print on every offer.
4) Pay imputed taxes! “Your Document is available”
If your taxable pass riders flew last quarter (May 1st- July 31st) you should have recently received an email from “United Airlines Benefits Center” with the subject line: “Your Document is available”.
You should also receive your Travel Liability Statement via U.S. Mail.
Do NOT ignore it! Withholding taxes are due by Oct 15, 2018.
To access “Your Document” visit the mailbox on Your Benefits Resources (YBR):
A) Visit ft.ual.com > EmployeeServices > Health&Insurance (YBR). OR….
B) Log in directly to YBR with this link: www.ybr.com/united. Using the direct link requires a user ID and password…this is NOT your Flying Together file number and password. Create a new user ID and password by clicking “Are you a new user?”
Once you arrive on the YBR homepage, open your mail (upper right side of page) to retrieve “Your Document”, which is a “Travel Liability Statement”. Print the PDF and send a check or money order to the address provided.
If you receive the email first you may pay before the letter comes via US Mail. If you do not receive both the email and the letter, make sure your contact information is correct at United Airlines! How? Read item #1 in RAFA’s July Pass Travel UPDATE.
Travel Liability invoices and History may also be accessed on the YBR homepage by clicking the tile “Pass Travel Tax Withholdings” (scroll down find it).
Explanations for RETIREES about pass travel taxes and W-2 tax reporting, FAQs and several user guides are on the Flying Together website here:
https://ft.ual.com/travel/w2passtraveltaxreporting
5) Retirees’ Open Enrollment for 2019 Healthcare preview
Retirees’ Open Enrollment for 2019 Healthcare will be October 29th-Nov 9th. Read the preview now and then check out all your options after Sept 26th online.
Go to YBR (Your Benefits Resources) on Flying Together > Employee Services > Health & Insurance (YBR)… then click on the tile that says “2019 Benefits Preview Guide”.
Retirees are eligible for FREE FLU SHOTS at CVS/Caremark clinics by downloading a form from the YBR tiles titled “LEARN about pre-65 annual enrollment” or “LEARN about post-65 annual enrollment”.
6) Travel with Friends on Other Airlines (again)
This is additional information to item #3 in RAFA’s JULY Pass Travel UPDATE.
1) When buying “Star Companion” tickets for your friends on myIDTravel you must purchase them at the same timeyou are buying your own tickets (Remember, the retiree must accompany Star Companions on all segments).
2) A single Star Companion ticket can be valid for stop-overs (A>B>C) and for round-trip flights. There is no time-limit for staying at stop-overs. However, if you buy the return trip separately then another pass is used from your 8 pass-per-year allotment.
Read item #3 in RAFA’s July Pass Travel UPDATE.
For a step-by-step guide for buying tickets, visit RAFA’s Other Airline travel page.
7) More Other Airlines for us to try out!
United recently signed agreements with six Other Airlines for ZED travel; employees/retirees can now fly standby on these carriers:
Air Malta (ZED Medium) flies from European cities to the island of Malta
Air Tahiti (ZED Low) flies within French Polynesia
Air Tahiti Nui (ZED Medium) flying long haul international from Papeete, Tahiti
Mandarin Airlines (ZED Medium) flies domestic & international from Taiwan
Vueling Airways (ZED Low) a low-cost carrier in Spain
XL Airways (ZED Medium) flies internationally from CDG in France
Read each airline’s agreement with United for more information! Visit the interline agreements page on FT > Travel > Other Airlines > In this section > Other Airlines. Note: None of these six airlines are Star Alliance carriers so they will not accept Star Companions mentioned in #4 above.
How do Interline Travel Agreements work? Good question!
Read Capt Pat Palazzolo’s excellent article from the September RUPANEWS Thanks, Pat!
What is ZED travel and how do I standby on Other Airlines? READ this RAFA step-by-step webpage: Other Airline travel
8) UA Stations in Central/South America are cashless
Posted on employeeRES
Cashless Stations in Central and South America Aug. 13, 2018
Effective August 13, the following stations will no longer accept cash as a form of payment. Only credit and debit cards will be accepted as forms of payment for departure taxes and other applicable fees: BZE (Belize City), BOG (Bogota), EZE (Buenos Aires), GUA (Guatemala City), LIM (Lima), MGA (Managua), UIO (Quito), SJO (San Jose), SAP (San Pedro Sula), SAL (San Salvador), SCL (Santiago), TGU (Tegucigalpa). LIR (Liberia), PTY (Panama City) and RTB (Roatan) transitioned to cashless stations earlier this year. Due to local government regulations we are still required to accept cash in GIG (Rio de Janeiro) and GRU (Sao Paulo).
9) Have you seen our RAFA website?
Check out the Travel Benefits tab here: http://www.rafa-cwa.org
Read the Pass Travel Program Summary, helpful links, phone numbers & more.
For other Pass Travel Topics: Previous Travel UPDATES
Compiled by Kirk Moore, RAFA Travel Benefits Committee September 12, 2018