Letter from US Airlines about free airline tickets

Here’s another mailing about free airline tickets, only instead of coming from a fake incentive company, it is from a fake airline called US Airlines – “Fly the US skies”! (See other posts here.) Please comment if you received one.

They have a variation that includes an award notification and boarding pass.  See below for pictures.

It tells you that you have qualified for an award of 2 roundtrip airline tickets. It looks like it was actually signed by Barbara Dion or Alexia Pitt or Kate White or Loretta Cape or Ann Roy or Charlene James or Angela King or Marcia O’Neal or Janelle Kelly or Candice Bray or Phyllis Neal or Melanie Car or Jessica Clay or Katherine Cota or Christina Jud or Shauna West or Jane Austin or Hillary Baio or Jessica Nish or C.  Ray or Dorothy Wade or Linda Ford or Jade Beal or Nicole Clay or Valerie Fay or Erica Bale or K. Mane or Loretta Pine or Alexis Doug or Kristina Bar or Brittany Hunt or Doris Jack, the “Vice President.” They hand write the address on the envelope and use a real stamp (sometimes!).

Here is the cheesy website for this letter. Once you go to the sales pitch and sign up, you book through a fulfillment company. I’ve seen two lately: Universal Travel Vacations (website, BBB report) or the The Vacation Station (website, BBB report TN, BBB report SC)

I have found the answers to this mystery thanks to the great work of the folks at BBB in Tucson, AZ:

http://www.bbb.org/tucson/business-reviews/travel-clubs/southwest-travel-club-in-tucson-az-20007983

http://www.bbb.org/tucson/business-reviews/prize-promotions/patterson-bell-in-tucson-az-20027549

An actual story: http://www.kgun9.com/features/investigations/122887609.html

NEW video from INSIDE THE SALES PRESENTATION: http://www.9news.com/news/article/362984/339/Companies-behind-free-airline-ticket-letters-

Great reporting from WKMG: http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Free-travel-offer-mystifies-consumers/-/1637132/15701330/-/8s7gus/-/index.html

Video from inside the first ever video encounter I’ve seen: http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/Travel-service-vacation-smart-international-us-airlines-vacationanddeals-com-175915611.html?tab=video&c=y

If you would like to read more about these folks, visit this post. You can read all about the sales presentation, the free offer and the what you get for your vacation membership club cash outlay.

LETTER:


I am pleased to inform you that you have qualified for an award of 2 roundtrip airline tickets. Congratulations. These tickets are valid for travel anywhere in the Continental U.S. The retail value of this award is up to $1,400.00. Certain restrictions apply.

We have attempted contacting you several times without success. This is our last attempt. If we do not hear from you soon, we may need to issue the ticket vouchers to the alternate.

Please call me today at 1-866-995-7151 (numbers always changing).

Regards,

VP du jour (see above)

Vice President

AWARD NOTIFICATION/BOARDING PASS:

Here is what would happen if you did call:

ADVICE:

When I read this, it was just too good not to post.  It’s from the Nebraska Attorney General (page 13 printed/page 15 PDF).

Look for the warning signs that may indicate a scam:

  • Benefits sound too good to be true.
  • The company has no permanent address and all presentations are held in rented conference rooms.
  • They can’t, or won’t, provide you with references.
  • They don’t want to give you an itemized list of what’s included in your trip until you have already signed the contract.

What you should do if you suspect a scam:

  • Don’t sign any contract during the travel presentation. They are high-pressure events intended to stir the emotions of an exotic vacation.
  • Contact a respected travel agent in town, give them the specifics of the trip, and ask if that seems  consistent with industry pricing.
  • Shop around. Compare your trip with other travel packages being offered to seniors.

Here is Michigan’s Attorney General’s advice:
http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,1607,7-164-34739_20942-44762–,00.html

1228 replies
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  1. Tom S says:

    You cannot tell a book by it’s cover. Before I allowed my wife to call the number I checked the web page on the letter which bingo got me here. Don’t know who these people are but thanks for posting the answer to my questions about them.

  2. Val says:

    Spouse received one today–Columbus Oh. Addressed by hand. No return address on envelope. Letterhead very amateur. Personally signed by the vice president of “US Airways”–Barbara Dion. Important stuff for an airline exec. Now how about checking on all your delayed flights. Barb.
    Other than that, no red flags on this letter!

  3. Brian Stevens says:

    Everything in my letter was the same except the phone number was 1-866-995-7045, which is in TN. I am in Pittsburgh, PA.

  4. John says:

    Yes, I also received the letter from US Airlines.

    I wonder if they realize that there is no such airline called US Airlines…..the closest is US Airways.

    They gave me a phone # 1-866-995-7145 to call for my free reward.

    I called and beat them up a little about their bogus offer and asked the agent if she was going to harvest my credit card during our phone call…..you guessed it…..she was silent and instructed me to see the 20/20 report on youtube. She claimed that the BBB was a corrupt organization. I told her that I did not trust her and hung up the phone. If everyone would have some fun with this, there agents would get frustrated, quit and ultimately put them out of business.

    Call them and tell them you are NOT A SUCKER!

  5. Demetria says:

    I received one today, I’m in TN. The phone number is 1-866-995-9308 I think I’ll call and have a little fun with them. I’ll keep you posted

  6. Enola says:

    My husband got one today and wanted to call. I looked at the very unprofessional looking letterhead and immediately saw that it was not from US Airways but US Airlines. I said there’s no such airlines and told my husband that it’s a …. so he tore it up. I didn’t want to risk even calling to tell them how bogus they are. I then Googled and found this blog. Thanks for sharing!

  7. Mark says:

    I got the same letter today in Pittsburgh Pa and looked a little odd, so I called them and reliezed it was a scam and had some fun with them. They don’t like when you start asking all kinds of question like this web site.

  8. NHLB44 says:

    I also received one today, and I went online to check if this letter was legit. It is not. My letter came from Phoenix, AZ with a hand written addresses envelope. The number I had on mine was 1-866-995-7048 signed by Barbara Dion. I’m from Grove City, Ohio.

  9. Kimberly says:

    I received the same letter today here in TN the number on my letter is 866.995.9308 and the bottom portion of the letter has a code: BT – 54266 (not sure what this is tied to).

    Thank you for all the postings. I will not waste my time to call.

  10. Willene says:

    We received one a week ago. It wasn’t handwritten and it did not have a real stamp. It looked like something from IRS like having the year up at the top and “Official Documents Enclosed” written on top and also said FINAL NOTICE, First one we got. It had an attached “Flight Coupon” that expired a few days after we received it. We won’t be calling the number cause I dont’ want them having any more of our info. Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

  11. Scott says:

    Looks like I can add to the TN contingent that has received a letter, postmarked Dec. 9 from the Phoenix area – if they’re ‘out for the season’ (see above articles/news coverage), they’re awfully diligent.

    I wonder if Barbara Dion is a real person?

    If Demetria in TN (above) is who I think she is, she will indeed have a good time with them… with all the resources of a TV newsroom!

  12. Bill says:

    Got my letter today, and need to respond by 12/15, what a joke. Mine came with the 866.995.7045 and a code BS (how appropriate)-49210

  13. lesley says:

    Yep, I’m in TN, too. Knew it was bogus right from the start (I’m a marketer and the only clever thing about this is the first class stamp). My code says BT-55576. Would love to know what those codes mean! But I have no intention of calling.

    Also, I’m wondering what list they bought because it’s outdated. They used my maiden name and I’ve been married for two years.

  14. Josh says:

    I received one of the letters today. I am located in OH. The phone number this time was 1-866-995-7048. Kind of fishy that the number keeps changing. Anyways, I talked to a gentleman and he gave me the run around about them trying to get their name out. I then asked them about their F score on the BBB website and they told me that the BBB does that to get money from people. My wife then gets on the phone and tells them that she works for the government and that she would be looking into them, it was at that moment that the gentleman hung up the phone.

  15. Heather says:

    I got the same letter as Jani did. Must reply by the 15th letter from Phoenix, Az. The only difference is I live in Michigan. I didn’t think there was such a thing as US Airlines & I was positive I haven’t entered any kind of a contest that would send such a letter. Glad that gooogle could confirm my thoughts that it was a scam. Oh & the phone number on mine was 1-866-995-7145.

  16. Mandy says:

    I received one today in Middle TN also. This letter came addressed to my husband who has never lived here. The only mail I’ve received for him in the past came from the IRS who then (conveniently) sold their address list to a number of tax prep organizations. Now it would seem one of those has sold the list to these scam artists. Nice.

  17. Samantha says:

    Received this letter, Pinckney, MI. Same standard as listed above. I did not call, although I want to, just to yell at these people.

  18. Tera says:

    I received one yesterday and I’m located in the Pittsburgh area. Same letter, no boarding pass though. We just moved at the end of this past July and it was addressed to our new address.

  19. Trish says:

    My US SkyMile are about to expire. so I called after I received my letter today in the mail and Darryl extension number 54, he doesn’t have a last name and of course Barbara Dion is out of the office for the remainder of the holiday. (Clue)… He wanted me to go to an Ann Arbor travel angency to pick up my tickets and only pay the taxes and fees (humm fees?) I asked what the cost of the luggage or timeshare that they are going to try to sell me? He doesn’t have information on that. (another clue)
    I fit the market some one 25-70 female.
    Someone that is married or single.
    Someone that works or unemployed.
    Someone that has flown, or has traveled in the past.
    Dur! I asked him if he thought if I was new to the rodeo? He said no but do I want to schedule a time to go to Ann Arbor to pick up my free tickets.
    Obviously hes new!

  20. Sioux says:

    I received this same letter in the mail yesterday. My first thought was “no such airline”. The fact that the envelope was handwritten with no return address was a tip, too. I may call just to jerk someone around. Or…may call the news crew and give them something to do. Oh, and I’m in Columbus, OH, too.

  21. Jen says:

    We live in Columbus, Ohio and just received one of these letters. Needless to say before acting on anything I ended up here. Same letter but with this number 1-866-995-7048. Unfortunately things like this will continue, it’s just too bad you can’t rely on honesty any more.

  22. Ronnie says:

    Mine came to me today, although it was addressed to my first name and my wife’s maiden name. Our phone is listed under her maiden name (for professional reasons) so it is pretty clear that they are pulling names from phone listings. What a bunch of worms. I love these idiots.

  23. George says:

    Just got off the phone and Barbara was out but I talked to
    one of her assistants who said she was allowed to help me. I was
    given great information and this company is located in Phoenix
    Arizona and they are marketing for Universal Travel Vacations…an
    Award Redemption Company. This phone call was shaping up to be real
    informative and I could not wait to get my airline tickets. I was
    told that I just needed to attend a 90 minute presentation between
    now and January 8th here in Nashville at 624 Grassmere Park Drive
    and if I confirmed at 866-995-7147 I could also get a two night
    stay at a hotel. Oh did I mention about the free airline tickets, I
    was to only have to pay around 50 bucks which are the taxes. I set
    my appointment, that I do not intend to keep, and will lose my
    hotel stay and will not get my airline tickets but at least I
    confirmed that Barbara is not real and all the information received
    from my sales person is now out for everyone to see.

  24. George says:

    Oh and I forgot the numbers at the bottom are whay “they”
    use to track these letters and who they are addressed to!

  25. Victor says:

    I am in Nashville, Tn and I hate to miss out on these amazing tickets. I am not gonna respond by 12-29-10. I guess the ” alternate” will have to get them. Merry Christmas ” Mr/Ms Alternate”

  26. K says:

    Got one in Pittsburgh with the phone 1-866-995-7045. Didn’t bother calling, had already missed the expiration date by the time I opened it.

  27. D says:

    Got this letter today. Thought it sounded fishy so looked it up and found this blog. I live in Columbus, Oh. The phone was 1-866-740-1448.

  28. David says:

    I received one of these in Nashville, TN, sent from Phoenix, AZ on December 20, 2010 in a hand-addressed envelope with a 44cent stamp.

    My letter is identical to the image above with these exceptions:

    * the Date given is December 20, 2010 (same day it was sent)
    * the address block is (reasonably) correct for me
    * the “respond by” date is December 29, 2010
    * the salutation is correct for me
    * the response telephone number is 1-866-918-3304 (which I’ve not yet seen in this thread – how many numbers are these people using???)
    * my letter also has a mystery code at the bottom (BU-xxxxx) [Edited so commenter cannot be identified]

    Perhaps of most interest to the investigation, the “B. Dion” signature is not even close to the one in the image.

    I do not plan to pursue this. I mostly wanted to tie the telephone number I got to this web thread to make the thread easier to find.

  29. brmorris says:

    David,

    The signature being different is common along all the different letters they’ve done. Barbara is a fake person and the same person that is putting the stamps on and addressing the envelopes probably signs it, too.

  30. Juli says:

    Husband recieved letter today. I knew it was a fake thing due to there is no such airline as US Airlines! The real airline is US Airways!

  31. Tammy says:

    My husband rec’d the letter today. He was very excited as I am leaving for Vegas on a business trip and he is flying out later. Thought he had a free one! First thing I thought of was US Airways; then looked a little closer and realized it was bad marketing.

  32. NV says:

    We just received a letter in Wisconsin, for a presentation in Gurnee, IL. Looks to be the same, except the name of the travel agency they gave me on the phone was Universal Travel. As they say, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

  33. SF says:

    Thanks for sharing this info. I got similar letter today. I then searched and came to your blog and it confirmed my thoughts. I am in Michigan.

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