If you e book a flight and supply your frequent flyer quantity, your rewards needs to be mechanically credited to your account. However, this isn’t at all times the case. Many frequent vacationers have skilled conditions the place they didn’t obtain the factors or miles they need to have. So, if one thing appears off, it in all probability is.
Assuming your ticket qualifies for mileage credit score and you have obtained both no miles or an incorrect quantity, here is what you ought to do within the occasion of an airline mileage mishap.
My current mileage mishap
Last 12 months, on a journey to Colombia, I traveled with Avianca — a Star Alliance companion — on three separate Avianca-issued flights. I bought every flight within the L fare class, so by including my United Airlines MileagePlus quantity to my Avianca reservations, I anticipated to earn miles and Premier qualifying factors at a 75% foundation.
However, not one of the three flights posted accurately within the L fare class to my MileagePlus account. Most notably, the flight from Washington, D.C.’s Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento (BOG) was erroneously posted within the T fare class, which earns miles at a 25% foundation. That’s a far cry from the 75% foundation that ought to have been offered.
I contacted the United Premier 1K MileagePlus service middle concerning my Avianca ticket. They steered that I electronic mail [email protected], attaching copies of my Avianca e-tickets and paper boarding passes for them to evaluation. I had to undergo a comparable course of a 12 months in the past when a Eurowings flight did not get credited to my account. From that have, I discovered to maintain on to my paper boarding passes till the miles have been correctly added to my account.
Jumping again to the Colombia mishap: After not listening to again for a week, I despatched a follow-up electronic mail. This time, I heard again from United inside a day, and I logged in to my MileagePlus account to see the up to date exercise.
The two pals I traveled with — one a United Premier Platinum and the opposite a Premier Gold — additionally had this concern with the identical Avianca flights. Despite offering the identical info to United, one pal by no means obtained correct credit score for their flights.
Related: United’s best-kept elite standing secret: How to earn PQPs sooner with companion flights
Why this occurs — and what you can do
You in all probability have many questions by now.
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While we might by no means totally perceive why mileage mishaps occur, if you inquire about them, you’ll doubtless obtain a generic clarification like, “It’s a technical error.”
Personally, I expertise three or 4 mileage mishaps per 12 months, which quantities to roughly 5% of my flights. However, this 12 months has been uncommon, with three consecutive errors from Avianca. I’ve additionally assisted quite a few pals in getting their mileage discrepancies resolved. Interestingly, in all these instances, I’ve by no means seen a mileage mishap in favor of the shopper. However, searching the frequent flyer discussion board FlyerTalk, you’ll discover loads of tales the place people have benefited from such mishaps.
It’s price noting that companion flights are extra inclined to posting inaccurate mileage. Due to completely different ticketing methods and loyalty packages, incomes AAdvantage miles on a Cathay Pacific ticket, for instance, is inherently extra advanced than incomes them on an American Airlines-issued and -operated ticket.
To decide the variety of miles you will earn earlier than your flight, you can calculate it upfront. For occasion, if you’re reserving a United flight and wish to credit score it to your MileagePlus account, you can choose the “Details” choice for a particular flight after which select “base award miles.” Depending in your standing, a pop-up will show the anticipated mileage earnings.
While that is the way it works with United, it is fairly comparable to the opposite main U.S. carriers. But if you e book a ticket with a companion airline or a web based journey company like Expedia and credit score it to the airline of your alternative, the loyalty program might calculate your mileage accrual based mostly on the gap of your flight and your fare class.
For instance, assume you’re taking a Japan Airlines flight from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Haneda Airport (HND) in financial system class booked within the L fare class. According to the AAdvantage-Japan Airlines companion web page, such a fare would earn miles at a 50% foundation — so 50% of the flight distance. The distance between SFO and HND is 5,160 miles, so an AAdvantage member with out standing would earn 2,580 AAdvantage miles for this ticket.
But this doesn’t suggest that mileage mishaps cannot occur with the loyalty program of the airline promoting the flight. When operating by way of a 12 months’s price of Southwest Airlines actions, I seen two flights omitted from my aunt’s Rapid Rewards account. We received the flights manually added to her account by contacting buyer assist.
While it’d seem to be it is greater than needed, listed here are the most effective methods to “fight” mileage mishaps:
- Know what number of miles and elite qualifying metrics you ought to earn on a flight.
- Have quick access to your unique flight’s e-ticket (ideally as a PDF doc) with the 13- or 14-digit ticket quantity and fare class.
- Retain your paper boarding cross till your flight posts — and you confirm the quantity is appropriate (airways might ask for a copy of a paper boarding cross).
- Routinely audit your loyalty accounts (you typically have up to 12 months from the unique date of your flight to contest any exercise in your account).
Related: Quick Points: How and why you ought to usually audit your loyalty accounts
Troubleshooting with the airline
You ought to plan to wait not less than 14 enterprise days from the time of your flight earlier than reaching out to your airline for help. If you contact it earlier than this time, it might decline your request and ask you to attain out later.
There’s little that cellphone brokers can do on the spot in virtually all mileage mishap eventualities. You’ll want to give your airline time to analysis, and brokers might have to confirm paperwork, which just about at all times cannot be achieved over the cellphone.
So, your greatest wager is to log in to your loyalty account and look for one thing like “request mileage credit.” Although this technique is usually used to earn miles retroactively on a flight the place a frequent flyer program wasn’t offered, it should additionally let an airline analysis a flight lacking out of your account.
It’s comparable on all of the airways, however you may go to the “contact us” kind to submit an inquiry if you’re operating into points.
Related: How to retroactively credit score flights to your frequent flyer account
Bottom line
You’re being cheated out of your factors and miles when you fly and don’t earn what your airline says you’ll earn. If you have to contest how a flight posted to your account, airways will typically assume that you’re within the flawed until you can present paper documentation that implies in any other case.
That’s why it is necessary to maintain a copy of your e-ticket and save your paper boarding cross(es) till your flights are correctly posted, particularly when touring with a companion or on a codeshare flight. You also needs to know what number of miles and elite qualifying metrics you ought to earn earlier than you fly, so you know what to look out for after the flight.
As it seems, airways aren’t the one ones to have mishaps. It’s in your greatest curiosity to get into the routine of checking your lodge and airline accounts usually. When you catch an error, you’ll rapidly notice that your due diligence is price your whereas.
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