United Airlines Quietly Cracks Down On Buying Multiple Tickets To Save Money, Bans Video Calls And Viewing ‘Offensive’ Content

United Airlines made changes to its Contract of Carriage on Friday. This is the set of rules you agree to, without knowing it, when you buy a ticket. They didn’t tell customers their rules have changed, but you’re reading about it here.

There are a few things that most customers will actually like, but they’re written too ambiguously so some passengers will inadvertently get caught up as rule breakers. And there are a few really anti-consumer things United has snuck in.

You Can Get Kicked Off United Flights For Listening To Devices Without Headphones

United already had a ‘policy’ against listening to devices without headphones but it wasn’t explicitly in the airline’s Contract of Carriage. Now it’s a part of the ‘refusal to transport’ section: “Passengers who fail to use headphones while listening to audio or video content” can explicitly be kicked off.

People generally love this. I’d just point out that the rule is about using headphones not making noise. So loud headphones comply, while barely audible without headphones does not. Practically, enforcement will generally be that a warning gets issued and as long as you follow crewmember instructions you’re fine, so I’m not worried about that case. But it’s the actual noise level that matters, rather than the act of putting on the headphones.

Video Calls Are Banned Now, Not Just Voice Calls

Voice calls used to be what was banned after doors close under Rule 21(H)(19). Now voice or video calls are banned. That means no FaceTime and WhatsApp video calling, no Zoom or Teams calls, once the aircraft doors are closed, during taxi, or in-flight. I suppose there was a “but it’s a video call, not a voice call” loophole in some sense, but video calls can also be voice calls.

People won’t be mad at this, but I actually don’t like it. The problem is noise in the cabin that annoys neighboring passengers. It’s not listening to a zoom call with headphones or ear buds.

I frequently want to dial into calls where I wouldn’t be a speaker, but on American Airlines ViaSat this is blocked at the server level. This would bother no one! I don’t believe United’s Starlink Wi‑Fi blocks it, though I’ve seen some data points to the contrary. It’s just against the rules, and prior to this Contract of Carriage change United has been making passengers affirm a Starlink “code of conduct” during log-in that includes no voice or video calls, headphones required, and don’t view content others may find offensive.

They’ve Broadened The Kinds Of Tickets You Get In Trouble For Buying

The clause in the Contract of Carriage that banned back-to-back ticketing has changed. It’s no longer limited to roundtrip fares, where you nest tickets (travel from A to B and back to A on one ticket, and then fly B to A and back to B inside of it on a separate ticket to avoid Saturday night stay requirements).

Now the rule is much broader – and far more vague. Rule 6(J)(3) now prohibits:

The use of Flight Coupons from two or more different Tickets for the purpose of circumventing and/or undercutting filed fares, inventory controls or applicable tariff rules (including, but not limited to, advance purchase/minimum stay requirements) commonly referred to as ‘Back-to-Back Ticketing’ is prohibited by UA.

They’re now targeting any effort to undercut their filed fares, inventory controls, and tariff rules (not limited to advance purchase and minimum stay requirements).

United used to try to stop people from using two cheap round trips together to get Saturday night stay tickets without actually staying in a city over a weekend.

Now they’re trying to stop customers from using multiple tickets to pay less than the fare United wanted to charge.

Here’s the thing. People buy two separate tickets all the time, these are tickets offered for sale by United, and United wants to punish people for purchasing what they voluntarily sell. That’s always struck me as sketchy. And you can do things with legitimate purposes that United sees as saving money and that are therefore against the rules.

Maybe one ticket is for business, you fly to a given city. But you don’t fly home – instead you take a meeting, and then on a separate ticket fly somewhere for leisure or to see family. They’re on two tickets to meet corporate expensing rules, but it was cheaper than putting it on one ticket and you’ve broken United’s rules. You weren’t even doing it to save money, you just paid the amount United wanted.

Or you book a long work trip as a round trip and then tack on tickets back home for the weekend so you’re not stuck without your family for weeks. That’s nesting tickets, but it’s totally normal.

Maybe you want a long layover to see friends, sleep enroute, or do some plane spotting at the LAX In ‘n Out. United doesn’t give you exactly the itinerary you want cleanly, or it won’t price, so you just buy separate tickets from A to B (stop) and B to C. If United decides that was “for the purpose of undercutting filed fares” you’ve broken their rules.

United’s rule says this is all against the rules when it is “for the purpose of” circumventing their fare rules. They will likely infer your “purpose” from patterns, repeated behavior, and how much you’re saving – not why you’re actually buying the tickets they’re voluntarily selling.

I’m reminded that years ago Delta’s Revenue Protection Unit was going after mileage runners. Flyertalk members worked to come up with ‘legitimate’ reasons for adding extra connections to their itineraries other than simply earning more miles.

I’m having an affair with someone in XXXXX (insert city 1), but I told my spouse I was on business in YYYYY (insert city 2). And when they ask why your layover is only 25 minutes in XXXXXXX, you can tell them “that’s all the time I need.”

I’m pulling a heist in XXX and there’s no extradition treaty with YYY.

I lost my wallet in XXXXX last week and needed to check the airport lost and found to see if it’s there.

I’m buying a lottery ticket in XXX on the outbound and picking up my winnings on the return.

The [Crown Room Club, now Sky Club] in place XXX does not have my favourite beer. So I would like to grab one in YYY on my way to ZZZ.

I’m actually spending the weekend in ZZZ, but I’m flying [Continental] there since I can upgrade even the lowest fares.

I need the connections to stretch my legs and avoid deep vein thrombosis.

Those pretzels in the Philadelphia airport concourse are worth the extra stop.

I am auditioning an escort service in one of the Laptop Lanes and they have a free booth open in city AAA on my way to BBB. I only need 10 minutes in a private booth.

You Can Get Kicked Off For Viewing Offensive Content

“Viewing offensive content” has been added to the bucket of indecent, lewd, sexual conduct grouping as a basis for removing a passenger in Rule 21(H)(1). So if you’re watching porn (or something a flight attendant deems “offensive”) on your own device in a way others can see, you can clearly be removed.

Any problem comes from where the line is. United’s own inflight entertainment offers R-rated movies, and “offensive” is subjective. If you’re watching a mainstream show on your tablet or phone, and there’s briefly sex or nudity and your seatmate complains, this could get triggered. Or if you’re watching something with graphic violence, that could be a problem too.

It’s a tricky problem anyway because you’re not in private, even in business class, and there are kids on planes. And it’s the classic ‘know it when you see it’ issue, but rules don’t really define ‘it’. And each case will be judged differently in the moment, by crew with different sensibilities. Which isn’t to say this should be permitted, just that there’s high variance in what’s not permitted.

No More ‘Ticket Jackets’

It’s funny that the Contract of Carriage still referenced ticket jackets. U.S. airlines started saving money on paper years ago by eliminating those. But United’s document still mentioned “ticket, ticket jacket or eticket receipt” and that’s been cleaned up to “ticket or eticket receipt.”

You Can Get Kicked Off For Refusing To Wear A Mask

This isn’t new, but it’s still there, and the specific clause was updated because that’s where the headphone item is.

United is still keeping broad mask refusal language around masks and vaccination, testing, and contact tracing. Rule 21 Refusal of Transport, H.20. says:

Passengers who refuse to wear a mask or face covering while at the airport and/or onboard UA and United Express flights if UA or United Express believe, in their sole discretion, that a failure to wear such a mask or facial covering may pose a risk to the health or safety of others

And H.21 says:

Passengers flying into the U.S. from a foreign country or from a foreign country into the U.S. who: i) refuse to provide proof of full vaccination, ii) proof of a negative pre-departure test result for COVID-19, and iii) contact tracing information within 72 hours of their flight’s departure, the sufficiency of which for each of the three items is subject to UA’s approval

United went from woke to MAGA in the Trump administration but I guess that hasn’t fully spread to their legal team.

(HT: u/zman9119)