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
We received the one that looks like a w-4 form today in North Carolina..from the ‘awards dept’, 2 free tickets, no date stamp (must be local)
the phone is 1-866-45-5573
Got one today, ‘Jade Beal’ VP phone is 1-866-259-2672… don’t touch it…great blog on this stuff
Just got one, chicagoland, illinois,
Jade Beal.
phone number is 866-263-2070
“Universal Travel…”… I told the lady on the phone to stop trolling around my mailbox sending me this crap.
Great website, gotta run these useless people out of employment — I love it that people resort to this — “I can’t find work, I have no real skills or talents, I’ll just work for a company that scams others.. that’s how I’ll sleep at night.”
Lovely.
Jade Beal, who is the Vice President of US Airlines, sent me a letter today informing me that I qualified for an award of 2 roundtrip airline tickets! The retail value is up to $1400!! I must respond within the next 2 days or else they may need to issue the ticket vouchers to the alternate. Jade’s # is 1-866-263-1640.
I’m in the Chicago burbs.
Just got my letter today for 2 roundtrip airline tickets to anywhere USA…signed by Jade Beal. I am in Darien, IL. Knew that US Airlines does not exist but there is a US Airways so I had to check it out. When anything is too good to be true…it IS too good to be true. It was a poorly constructed letter, the heading looked too plain to be from a VP, a US Airlines logo that looked like one arrow on top of another or something to that effect. The phone number to call is 1-866-263-1640. There was no return address on a rather plain envelope. My name and address was hand-written, and the letter was postmarked from Phoenix, AZ. The code at the bottom read: ED-4xxxx, for what it’s worth. What Turkeys!!!!
I got one today. At first glance I thought it was something from the IRS, which is a different scam, but anyway…the number on mine was 1-866-258-3907, they also said they tried to contact me several times and this is my last chance, oh man! what should I do? lol
I just received the postcard, not letter, today. It is from US Air which doesn’t exist, tells you to call 855-414-5053 within 48 hours and as a bonus you’ll received a 3 day 2 night hotel stay. I thought they shut these scammers down a few years ago, but they’re still going strong.
Be smart and throw it away! 🙂
Postcard for me also. Same #, I wonder should we forward these to congress so that they can start scamming us to. Never mind they already are.
I got mine today, in Fla. Vice Pres. was Jade Beal
Also the number was….1-866-247-3802
We live in Rockford, Il. Our Award Notic
fication is a Travel Check for US Airlines for $1400. Same old scenario call 1-866-258-8103. What a scam. do not respond!
Received mine today, Kentwood MI..from US Airlines; looks like a check for $1,400 call 866-258-6272
Why do the authorities NOT try to find out who is obtaining these 800#s. Get a search warrant and find out who owns these #s…
I received one today… just like most of these described above. Very basic looking letter that says “US Airlines” along the top. Signed by a Jade Beal with number 866-314-4875. I live in Aurora, CO
Also received the letter today from the lovely non existing US Airlines.
From Nicole Clay 866 314 2734.
I called to advise “James” at the number that their lovel;y scam has already been brought to light on the internet so they really should give up. He was not happy but I was.
I got mine today, in Denver(10-27-2011). Vice Pres. was Jade Beal Phone# 1-866-314-4875 The envelope was addressed by hand and a regular postage stamp was attached.
–
The letter was dated October 18th,2011 and stated I needed to respond by October 26th,2011
I will report this scam to the consumer protection agency in my state.
fardallas
I got mine yesterday, in Waukesha, WI (10-28-2011)
Postmarked from Phoenix, handwritten envelope.
Typed letter inside with handwritten signature.
Must respond by November 2nd. 2011. Nicole Clay
Vice President. Award for 2 round trip tickets anywhere in the US. $1400.00 retail value. Call 1-866-311-9878 for details.
Got my second one today within a two week period (FL) so looks like they have been attempting to get a hold of me. I hope kids that are just starting to get credit/debit cards dont fall for these type of crooks!
Just got mine in the mail. What took them so long? i feel left out of the party.
I received one of these letters and it is now in a pile by my desk waiting to be enjoyed by a hungry shredder…lol The contact number on my letter was 1-866-306-2112 and was signed by a Nicole Clay. All other information on this letter from the envelope to the content of the letter it self was as detailed on this site. Again thank you Brian Morris Tech. and the other numerous posters for sharing your info. Hopefully my addition will help someone the same way.
Got mine today. No return address and oddly enough, no postmark. Cheesy letterhead. Signed by “Nicole Clay”1-866-306-2145.No check or travel voucher. Reported to US Postal Mail Fraud division and Phoenix police department. Anybody else? It steams me that this has been going on as long as it has.
Wow, this is awesome. Great string here. The letter I received was so unprofessional, addressing me by my first name. It was easy to see through it. Interesting I am not the only one who received the letter from Nicole Clay @ 1-866-306-2271.
Is US airlines interested in these imposters, inferring they are the Vice president of US Airlines
Just got a letter in Indianapolis from these folks on 03 Nov 2011. Apparently they’ve stopped signing it by hand. It came without an envelope in one of those “tear off the perforated sides” to open things. Definitely formatted to look “official”, with words like “Notice Urgency: Extreme” and “Final Notice”. Their number to call is 1-866-246-9137, but I’m not going to call. I don’t want them linking my name and address (which they already have, apparently) to my phone number.
Thanks very much for this post. Nice to have a place to check my “Is this a scam?” itch.
Received mine today. Nicole Clay V.P. 1-866-306-2271 IDIOTS!!
my husband Just got his letter today for 2 roundtrip airline tickets to anywhere in the continental U.S…signed by Nicole Clay. I am in Marco Island, Fl. I think When anything is too good to be true…it IS too good to be true. The phone number to call is 1-866-306-3686. There was no return address on a rather plain envelope. My husband name and address was hand-written.
Conrad,
I think this is more likely a variation rather than a replacement of the other letters.
I received a “boarding pass” with a time (7:40 a.m.) to be at the gate–with no destination, and a phone number to call (866-305-94300) to “claim my two round trip airline tickets worth up to $1,400 today!”
I called the number–English accented lady said the office was “not open at this time but to leave a message.” I left a long, rambling message about being at the airport and couldn’t get on the US Airlines plane because my boarding pass wasn’t valid and pleaded with them for help…and kept talking for about five minutes until the phone hung up. Called several times more, just left the phone on and played music. Each time you call, they get billed for their toll number. Do it enough, cost them dough. What a fraud–how can people be roped in by such criminals?
Received my letter today
Valerie Fay Vice President
1-866-300-5636
EM-6xxxx
These people are always praying on anyone they think will fall for their scam
Well I also along with all the people above received a letter from US Airlines, The first thing you notice is the cheap letterhead, which should tip you off right away, Most letterhead letters has a address and phone number, ( Just look at any of your utility bills)second, the cheap penmenship, and yes I also got a fake signature from Vice President
Valerie Fay,and the phone number, well heres the clincher, I investigated the number threw yahoo and Intelius.com, Oh yeah its a toll free number, but there data base has no further information on it. So I typed in US Airlines which is where I found all theselucky people who received the same letter. Also just a Note to all, Look to see where your letter was mailed from. Mine came from Phoenix Az 650 and was mailed on Nov 10 2011 at 11 PM
I’m the lucky qualifier for an award of 2 round-trip airline tickets!!!!!!!
Please call 1-866-302-0099
Regards,
VALERIE FAY
Vice President
Think I’ll call and Rick-roll them!!!
Yeah, I got one this week. The new VP is Valerie Fay.
I get this kind of nonsense all the time but decided to look this one up and was surprised at all the information about it. Thanks!
i got mine today and im just wondering how do they get all this info and our adresses and all the diffrent phone number and i have an unlisted number. you would think they would be smart enough to create a website or at least make it somewhat believe able. who knows stupid people these days!
the number was: 1-866-300-0793
and the vp was: Valerie Fay
I received one today, too. Post-marked from Pheonix, AZ and signed V. Fay The new phone number is 866-351-2044.
We got ours yesterday from Valerie Fay. Ph# 1-866-351-3463. It was sent from Phoenix November 15, 2011. I suspected the airlines didn’t exist. Thanks for providing confirmation to all about the scam!!
We got the letter today from Valerie Fay @ 1-866-352-7154. My hubsand said look this scam up so I googled it an got here.
Got the letter…so has anybody gone to the meeting? Kind of hard to call it a scam when none of you went haha I will go on friday and report my findings.
In the mail box 🙂 My AWARD NOTIFICATION was to have been claimed two weeks ago! I sure hope they send me one that is not expired next time. My Awards Department phone number is 1-866-307-4528 and it was mailed out of Oaklahoma and I live CA. I love all of the BS they include:
This is not a government document – REALLY!
Note: This is not a timeshare or land sales offer. – I just wanted a flight not to be relocated! DUH – HA HA HA…
I received the letter today from Valerie Fay @ 1-866-342-8614. We are in Flordia. It was sent from Phoenix, AZ on November 18, 2011. Thank you everyone for your posts of this scam.
Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. From what I was able to read in all the comments here was that we are the lucky ones, and I do mean that. So many people find out about being scammed way to late after the fact, and the financial devistation it causes to some is overwhelming.
I too received a letter from US Airlines dated Nov. 14th 2011 with an expiration date of 11/25/11. My letter is from Phoenix, AZ, with a hand written envelope,stamped with a real stamp, signed by Valerie Fay, Vice President and the # is 1-866-352-6458.
I work for the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program here in Illinois and I have been carrying the message about watching out for scams for almost two years now. Our Senior Volunteers carry the information to other Seniors either through skits or presentations and we hand out a lot of items from Illinois’ Attorney General, Lisa Madigan’s office to the attendees of these presentations. I plan to follow in the foot steps of action some of you have taken. THIS and OTHER SCAMS LIKE THIS MUST STOP!!!
Older adults are being scamed everyday with things as simple as buying more insurance,etc. My Grandfather contacted his insurance agency years ago regarding the purchase of more insurance. He ends up with a female insurance agent stopping by to set up an appt. (He didn’t know she was selling door to door and wasn’t from his agency.) The woman met my grandpa back at his home for the appointment, her scam mate was watching through the window and and saw Grandpa get his policies out of a lock box in his bedroom closet. He returned the box to the closet after removing the paperwork she requested. He had several valuable items in this lock box, one of which was his wedding ring set with a 1 ct diamond from 1918. The male scam mate snuck into the house and stole the box WHILE she was talking to Grandpa and they got away with it because he was hard of hearing and couldn’t hear the man come in.
People who do things like scamming others have a special place created just for them. Almost wish I could watch!
Watch over your families and loved ones as scams are easier to spot with the eyes of a village.
Beware…These US Airlines guys are so audacious, they have made a video where “real people describe their great experience” with US Airlines… they all say the same thing with different words, they all felt curious and called that phone number, they all got free tickets to San Diego (what a lack of imagination), and they all thank US Airlines…. Meet the crooks:
http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x1l2ra_charlenejames_us-airlines-scam/1#videoId=xgvb70
Heh. My “Day After Thanksgiving” deal was also from Phoenix. 866-342-3798. I’m supposed to call VP, Erica Bale.
Clue it’s a scam: When the address is hand-written but looks like they used their feet instead, that’s a pretty good clue.
Received the letter awhile back and threw it out. Today I received a card,stating they have been trying to contact me, call within 48 hrs. phone # 1-877-221-0608. We are in Florida
Since E. Bale was nice enough to leave a toll-free number, I have just set my old fax machine on auto-redial with a copy of the letter and a “No Thanks” message. That should tie up their line a bit.
Hello again. Addition to 11/23/11 Blog… I contacted the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan shortly after my original Blog. For Illinois Residents call:(800)243-0618. For out of State (217)782-1090.
Email: http://www.IllinoisAttorneyGeneral.gov or
http://www.ag.state.il.us. I spoke with an extremely helpful gentleman. I received more handout information to add to our Scam Presentations.
He also told me to contact:
U.S. Postal Inspection Service
Criminal Investigations Service Center
ATTN: Mail Fraud
222 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 1250
Chicago, IL 60606-6100
Email: postalinspectors.uspis.gov
Phone: (877)876-2455
and
The Federal Trade Commission
Email:ftc.gov
Watch a new video, How to file a Complaint at: ftc.gov/video
(877)FTC-HELP (877)382-4357
and to be sure all of our volunteers and/or attendees to our Scam Presentations or Skits have a copy of this information too. Keep your eyes open they are everywhere!
Just thought I would ad the updated info for people searching. Mine came to Colorado and the new Vice President is Erica Bale and the call # 866-342-1899. I fell for one of these years ago, lost $300. Hope no one else does now with the internet searching available!
Received my letter on Dec 2nd though is was mailed Nov 11 from Phoenix AZ. I knew immediately it is a scam because of the envelope which was hand printed and looked like it was printed by a first grader. Mine was signed “Erica Bale Vice President and was from US Airlines as well. I am in Florida on the West Coast so I guess they have expanded. As soon as I opened it I Googled the key words “US Airlines 2 Free roundtrip tickets” and SCAM came right up. Do these people really think the public is this stupid? I think they are handwritten envelopes to make the recipient think it may be from a friend and sothey open it. If it looks too official I just throw it out so I am sure the printing is part of their plan. OK Florida, you have been informed too!
My boyfriend received this letter today, but it was dated November 28th. Like others, i knew it was a scam because US Airlines doesnt even exist! the phone number they listed was 866.334.4783 with vice president name Erica Bale. Mine came to Michigan.
Got the same letter today in Fort Myers, Florida…
I can’t believe they can get away with this crap.
Husband got his letter yesterday. As soon as he started reading it to me I told him to throw it away. For some reason it was still on the table this morning so I decided to do what I do with all scams and “google” it. Glad I found this blog. Our VP is Dorothy Wade. The number given to call is 1-866-330-4602. We live in Florida it’s sad they will probably trick a lot of elderly people with this scam. I’m reporting them.
Yep – just got one and knew right away of course but thougth I’d see what’s on-line! The power of the internet!