Yodlee/H&R Block Tax Software: 2 for 1 Companion Airfare Tickets

I received an interesting offer from Yodlee this week, of course after I already filed my taxes. I discussed how we use TurboTax free federal software and my State’s website for State taxes in this post a couple of weeks ago. A quick note for those not familiar with Yodlee. It is a good website for consolidating all of your financial and travel related accounts, and uses some nice tools for budgeting, etc. It took me several years to feel comfortable entering all of my online information into a website, but eventually I finally felt comfortable with the concept since it was widely used. We keep all of our financial, airline, and hotel accounts in Yodlee, and then have access to our balances, account numbers, and passwords anywhere we have internet access. It makes it slightly easier than having to always remember tons of login credentials. Ok back to the offer.

Yodlee has teamed up with H&R Block to offer tax filing software, apparently directly through Yodlee’s platform. After logging into your account, click on the Tax Center tab at the top. From there, click File My Taxes, which will take you to H&R Block’s website. Then the offer reads…

Get rewarded! Once you’ve completed filing your 2010 federal and state taxes with H&R Block At Home™, you will receive two round-trip airline tickets for the price of one. When your Companion Fare certificate arrives, book your flight online or by phone and you’re on your way! See terms and conditions below for restrictions that apply.*

* TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Receive one coach class, discounted roundtrip companion airline ticket with the purchase of the first coach class, roundtrip, airline ticket. Blackout dates may apply to certain destinations. 14-day advance purchase and Saturday night stay may be required. Fares are subject to change without notice. Election of airline varies by market. Airline service is not available in all markets. The companion ticket program applies to the base fare only. Normal taxes and fees charged by the airline will apply to both tickets. See complete Terms and Conditions as stated in the airline voucher and companion booking site. Yodlee and H&R Block do not provide travel services and is not affiliated with Promotions In Travel LTD. Additional restrictions may apply.

Beginning at 12:00:01 am Pacific Time (“PT”) on February 23, 2011 and ending at 11:59:59 pm PT on April 18, 2011 (the “Promotion Period”), an Eligible Participant will receive a certificate for one (1) discounted roundtrip companion airline ticket with the purchase of the first coach class, roundtrip airline ticket for completing the filing of their 2010 taxes through H&R Block At Home during the Promotion Period, limit one (1) per Eligible Participant. For those that qualify, offers may be fulfilled within ten to twelve weeks from Promotion end date.

This incentive offer will only be awarded to the first 750 individuals that complete the tax filing online process through the Yodlee H&R Block At Home FinApp offered on Yodlee MoneyCenter.

So I have several questions. 1) I am assuming that you will not be able to file the free Federal version and need to pay for state. 2) This offer is only limited to the first 750 people. Has this been met? 3) What are the terms of the voucher? Do I need to go through a third party vendor, who may be charging me double what the airline would charge?

Well the first question is not to hard to answer. After linking into H&R Block’s website through Yodlee, the Deluxe package for the Federal portion is $29.95. Each State filing is $34.95. Therefore, my 2 for 1 airline ticket voucher is now costing me 1 roundtrip ticket, taxes on both tickets, plus $64.90 in tax software…hardly a deal yet unless I can book an international fare.

The second and third questions are extremely difficult to answer. The terms of the offer are located here. The limited number of redemption for this offer (750) would appear at first to be easily met, considering this promotion has been running since Feb. 23, 2011. I did not even know about it until they sent me an email yesterday (3/8/11). Therefore, I would be hesitant to file my taxes through this offer if you were counting on the airline ticket voucher. However, if you were already planning on paying for tax software, and are a member of Yodlee, then you might as well at least try to go through their offer in the hopes that you at least get something for the money.

As for the third question, in the terms it states “Yodlee and H&R Block do not provide travel services and is not affiliated with Promotions In Travel LTD. Therefore, there is a third party vendor you need to deal with on the voucher. This opens up a whole bunch of questions that I will not be able to answer including what airlines do they have access to fly? Are they limited on days and times for flights? How do the costs compare with going directly through the airlines? What about additional fees that Promotions in Travel may try to add on to the price? Will we earn airline miles?

Overall, I am never too impressed by these offers. Several years ago I received one for purchasing tires through National Tire and Battery (NTB). Long story short, I never used the voucher and could not even give it away because there were so many restrictions (I could give it away, but nobody wanted it).