For some travelers, frequent flier miles are almost as important as the trip. Especially when they are one or two flights away from the miles they need for a dream trip.
My office is located near San Francisco, which means a majority of travelers are part of United’s Mileage Plus program, which partners, among others, with Singapore Air, Air Canada, and SAS. So many people cheerfully book on those partner carriers, figuring they will get better inflight service and miles.
And then passengers find out that many discount fares give reduced or zero mileage credit. In general, tickets from places like Priceline.com and Hotwire don’t ever give frequent flier miles. But many of these people were on regular published fares. Singapore actually gives zero credit on most of their discount fares. At Air Canada accrual rates for such tickets range from zero to 50 percent, while SAS gives only 25 percent credit on most special fares, and zero on the lowest.
In general, passengers flying business and first class, even discount premium fares get full mileage credit, and sometimes even bonuses. And most partner carriers give full credit for higher last-minute fares.
Alaska Airlines is another regional carrier with a number of partners. But check out the fine print. Most American Airlines fares give full mileage credit, although deeply discounted international sale fares – booked in “O” class – give zero credit. British Airways, on the other hand, only gives 25 percent of actual miles flown for most discount fares. And Cathay Pacific gives anything from zero to 50 or 100 percent mileage credit, based on which one of over twenty classes of services has been ticketed.
Another catch with this partner system, is that some airlines differentiate between flights booked as a code-share, and flights booked under the true carrier. For example, if a Qantas flight is booked using a discount fare with an American flight number, passengers get full American mileage credit. If the same flight is booked as a Qantas flight, there may be zero credit.
But with United’s program, an SAS flight may get reduced mileage credit regardless of how it is booked, as Mileage Plus determines frequent flier miles by the flown carrier.
Explaining all the permutations of the various programs would take a book. And these rules are all subject to change anyway. But the best advice, if you are booking a partner carrier to get miles in your chosen program, call or go online first and find out the rules.
If you aren’t sure, or the agent sounds confused, double check. And if a letter booking code isn’t included in a list you read or they give you, assume the worst case, which is no miles. I have had clients enter mileage numbers anyway in these case, and sometimes they get lucky. But usually not.
It’s particularly frustrating after the face to discover the fare that would have gotten you credit was only a little bit more. And no, you can’t pay more after your return to get the credit.
In addition, some carriers have different rules for consolidator tickets. Some give miles as long as the booking class is eligible, others do not. When inquiring, be as specific as possible.
And as with most things travel, any time there is a potential issue, it’s a good idea to get the name of who you talk to, or a printout of online rules. It doesn’t guarantee you will win a mileage battle with an airline, but it’s a good start.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
