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
Got the letter signed by Loretta Cape – they spelled our town name wrong. Suspicious from the start. We live near Pittsburgh, PA. I hate this waste of my time, but sad to say some people will fall prey to these scum bags.
I’m in Western Michigan. I’ve been out of town so I’m not sure what day it arrived. It’s from Loretta Cape at 1-866-341-6530 and I knew it was when I saw the hand written address on the envelope with no return address, and no address or phone number on the letterhead. The date on the letter says
“February 21st,2011”. No professional office would put the “21st” . . . dumb asses!
Mine was received today, envelope did not have return address. It was signed by Loretta Cape. Wish these were true.
I say we all call the number in our spare time and after 5 seconds say, “Theres someone at the door can you hang on for a second?” and then set the phone down until they hang up. Or pretend to speak another language. Or try to sell them something
Received mine today. Detroit metro area. I am also on the do not mail list.
Apparently I too received the same letter, read it and noticed right away there is no suck airline called US Airlines. However, I have a new name for you all. The so called “Vice President” is now Ann Roy. The number on my letter is 1-866-918-6519. My wife thought it looked suspicious when she received it while I was away on a business trip. No return address and the letter is a fake letterhead. I too Googled this so called airline and found this site. Thanks for the heads up, time to tear throw it away.
received one today signed Ann Roy, thanks for putting this info on line.
recieved mine today thanks to all for posting remember if its to good to be true investigate!!! i got a new # 1-866-921-7390 signed Ann Roy
My husband got his free US Airlines offer today signed by Ann Roy, hand written address, otherwise blank envelope,postmarked Phoenix AZ and with real stamp….no boarding pass.
No. used is 866-995-7519. I’m in the west MI area. Good to see this site is keeping track …thanks.
I received the award notice with exactly the same words but the toll-free phone number given is 1-866-740-3111. They change to new toll-free phone numbers whenever their older phone numbers become posted on blogs by the public to warn people about this scheme.
Anonymous,
I think they actually buy dozens of phone numbers upfront (or more) and only use one phone on a handful..
Received mine today in Columbus, OH. Same exact # and name as above. Thanks for the post!
Got mine today, in Tampa, from Ann Roy. Phone number is now 866-740-6252
Same as David, signed VP Ann Roy, 866 918-6519 sent to Phoenix from Phoenix.
I received one today, it was actually sent via a forward from my old address. Mine is signed by the Vice President “Loretta Cape” and the number is 1-866-995-7192. All I did was type in “loretta cape, us airlines spam” in google and I found this site. I feel bad for elderly people that may get tricked by this type of scheming!
Ann Roy signed mine.. but seriously, don’t most people know there is no US Airlines?
Recieved March 6/11 in LARGO FL, just outside of TAMPA. The job of government is to protect the people but I guess some lawyer found away around the laws to allow these companies to survive unhindered. Its time for the government(mostly lawyers) to be held accountable for their greed, i,e LIBYA. I’m tired of getting screwed over by MY ELECTED OFFICIALS.
Got mine today in Pittsburgh Pa. signed by the honorable Ann Roy. Just updating to show they are still going strong. I work for the gov’t and have the ability to get the word out pretty easily to masses of people and intend to do so. I can’t imagine that anyone would fall for this but I’d at least like for these scammers to throw in the towel.
Got one today, in Jacksonville FL, phone on letter is 1-866-921-7390 and sent from Arizona… Thing is, I work in air traffic so not knowing the airline I looked it up and found this site… I’m bringing this in to work today to see if they can give me any advice on who to contact… This is horrible especially since most are in economical hardships at this time!
My boyfriend received the same letter everyone else on here did…Columbus….Loretta Cape….you know the one. Anyway, I knew immediately it was a scame of some sort, and now i feel validated thanks to all the posts on here and other sites. We decided to have some fun with them..so…we called and made the appointment (Frantz Road, Dublin OH) and NO SHOWED/NO CALLED. I am still messing with them, as today I called and told them to hang on and left the phone. Anyway, I wish companies like this would quit doing these types of things.
LOL!
Got the letter from Ann ROY today, I’m real happy to see all the responses, now only if other people can pass on the 419, nigeria and the other scams out there
I was wondering- can I pay with make believe money for these make believe tickets on this make believe airline?
I fear it would be as in Harry Potter – I would get to the “station” and there would not be a platform 9 3/4 – at least not for the people in the Real world. Good luck finding the gate for US Airlines at CMH – Columbus !
Got mine today (March 7), stamped envelope, hand addressed with no return address. Letter dated February 28 … expiration date of March 9 from Ann Roy, Vice President, 1-866-437-8134. Unfortuantely, must still be profitable or they would discontinue spending money on the stamps.
Letter came in March 8th signed Ann Roy. First instinct is no return address, US Airlines not company we are familiar with. Letter states “you have qualified” for an award. If you won a ticket it would say that.
Got mine today in Charleston SC. Signed by Ann Roy. I guess I’ll give her a call at 866-281-8138. See ya’ll suckers later! I’m flyin’ first class with all the free drinks I can chug and all the cocktail weenies I can eat.
Got one todayfrom US airlines advising me of my 2 roundtrip tickets. Tx of 1-866-995-7519. Signed by Ann Roy – Vice President.
I will not be calling.
I recieved the same exact letter as you all but mine was signed by a different vice president named Ann Roy. The letter was post marked from phoenix arizona.
How in the world did they get my name and address?
Oily
Oh wait, mine was the same lady with a different phone number! Ann Roy with (866)918-8060
Oily
Got a letter today (March 9). I’m in southeast Georgia. I’m also a law enforcement officer (18 years), so I was immediately curious about the letter. I don’t know anyone in Phoenix, AZ (the post stamp on the envelope), so it was suspicious to me with the hand-written address line. I actually considered submitting it to the crime lab for a chemical/bio weapons test, but after using the old desklamp shadow technique, I decided against it. However, for future reference, always be suspicious of ANY envelope or package that doesn’t have a return address. Any professional business organization will put a return address on a letter, usually with their company logo and a prepaid postage mark made by a Pitney-Bowes machine or similar. The sad part of this is there are some people out there that have probably fallen for this and lost some money. Oh well, this scam will catch up with these crooks sooner or later. It always does.
James,
“there are some people out there that have probably fallen”
No, there are hundreds of people if not thousands… Skim through some of this: http://69.6.215.248/?p=520 especially the lawsuits.
Got the same letter today. Phone number was 866-995-7195. VP: Ann Roy. Supposedly US Airlines, which naturally doesn’t exist.
I got the same letter today (March 10, 2011) in Florida. Signed by Ann Roy with a phone number to call 1-866-348-8931
I live in Mississippi. Ours came the first week of March. We got a Reservation Notification from US Airlines for the round trip tickets plus 7 days car rental from Thrifty Car Rental if we called within 48 hours (48 hours from when?). The number to call was 1-877-717-5992, and the letter was not even signed by anyone. I called and the man told me they were with Perfect Marketing in Phoenix AZ, and that a travel agency, “Affordable Vacations” was opening an office in our area and this was to give them publicity. BUT the letter said “In celebration of our anniversary” we’re offering this. We made an appointment for tomorrow, and a man even called today to confirm it. I had my doubts, especially when they needed a picture id and one other id, such as a major credit card. Needless to say, we won’t keep this appointment.
I just got one today. First clue: no bulk mailing stamp. The header looked photocopied, I’ve never heard of the airline, and address and phone number are missing from the letterhead.
Got mine today in Dublin, Ohio. Signed by Ann Roy. Number is 1-866-918-8060. No return address but postmarked in Phoenix, AZ.
got letter today, signed by Ann Roy. phone nunmber is 1-866-437-8134. post marked in Phoenix, now in my trash.
I Received the same letter today also. It was personally signed by Ann Roy also.
Thanks for all the helpful warnings.
yep got one too, geez! i tore it up
“A Roy” signature, Ann Roy, Vice president must be getting a lot of fish to bite cause now she has spent $$$$ for another toll-free # 866-271-1163. code: CH-xxxxx (zip code related?)
Fran,
I removed your code because it identifies who you are. I bet the toll free numbers aren’t very expensive..
Got mine today, signed by Ann Roy, to call 1-866-740-6252. It might be a good idea for all to post the phone number, since people frequently look up just the number. Then they would be directed here. Have fun tearin’ it up!
They must be working the Tampa Florida area now- Got mine today- Ann Roy 1-866-740=6252
got letter yesterday (12 Mar 11) (SE Georgia, USA), signed by Ann Roy. phone number is 1-866-921-7390. post marked in Phoenix, now in my trash!
I’m not too old yet to be fooled by these evildoers. Thanks Ann Roy for the letter. What a waste of postage, letter and envelope. Make it more real next time. And what’s your next step Ann Roy? Send out letters again that we won a million Euro Dollars from a lottery drawn from nowhere? Of Course Ann Roy is a fake name but I know you are enjoying reading these letters from your “supposed to be” victims. My suggestion to you Ann Roy, GO TO HELL. Make sure to tell your clients your phone number there (1-866-740-6252).
I received this letter on Saturday. Very impressive that the address is handwritten and a real stamp was used. Thanks for the tip!
Received in Florida…signed by Ann Roy & # 1-866-740-6252.
With this many people knowing it’s a scam, isn’t there some government agency that can do SOMETHING?
The government has stepped in many times over the past 5 years with similar businesses. They just create a new business name and go to a new state — there are 50 of them.
mom got one expires 3-16-11 i told her i would look up. ann roy-866-995-7519 good for today and tomorrow. i will not let her call
Yep received my notification today personally signed by VP Ann Roy. Yeah right a VP of a company isn’t going to sign mass letters! My reply phone number is 866-740-6252.
Darn, would’ve like a couple of free tickets.