Lost all my AA miles due to inactivity. Help / what do I do now? (consolidated)
My AA Advantage account of air miles (174.000) with American Airlines was closed, because of inactivity on December 2006. I never got the emails send to me, the email was closed long time ago for MSN (hotmail) problems of virus and I had to format my hard disk. They never send me any information by regular mail or call me by phone to advertise me.
Do I have a chance to recuperate my account and the miles lost?
They ask me to send them a FAX to explain the case; but the only way, they say, is to buy them back ($100 x 1000 miles); meaning $ 17.000 USA from my pocket, has not senses at all.
Thanks for the feedback
Marti8.
Your options are either to make the purchase of the miles (as you noted), or go back and see if you had any activity that would have qualified for miles earning (such as a hotel stay or car rental) from before the expiration date that didn't credit anywhere. You might be able to get them to credit miles based on the activity date, thereby reactivating the miles.
If neither of these things happen, I don't think there is anything that they will do for you, as the expiration of miles is well-noted on their website.
Location: Austin, Executive Platinum, Explat since inception, Plat or higher for 16 years, 7 MMer, would walk or swim before flying UA
Posts: 3,727
Most FF programs now have policies in which miles expire through inactivity. It is not AA responsibility to remind you of that. They are not at fault at all.
My AA Advantage account of air miles (174.000) with American Airlines was closed, because of inactivity on December 2006. I never got the emails send to me, the email was closed long time ago for MSN (hotmail) problems of virus and I had to format my hard disk. They never send me any information by regular mail or call me by phone to advertise me.
Do I have a chance to recuperate my account and the miles lost?
They ask me to send them a FAX to explain the case; but the only way, they say, is to buy them back ($100 x 1000 miles); meaning $ 17.000 USA from my pocket, has not senses at all.
Thanks for the feedback
Marti8.
You had 174000 miles and didn't use them in three years? What were you holding them for??? Did you by chance open another AA account that you have been using? If so, get them to merge the accounts (maybe...). If not, I think you are out of luck but...good luck anyway.
Last year I called American Airlines to book a flight to Spain, using my AA advantage account; but I cancelled it because they gave me an itinerary with four airports, and I have to spend the night in London and take the next flight in the morning to Barcelona; so I declined. Since than, I never contact the Company. I flood many years with them and other airlines. More the half millions airmails points with them. I don't find very rewarding how they treat me; especially I couldn't get the emails send to me.
Thanks Mike for your feedback
Location: DFW; 2-time FT Fantasy Football Champ, now in recovery.
Programs: AA GLD 1.1MM, Marriott Gld; OMNIPat
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marti8
My AA Advantage account of air miles (174.000) with American Airlines was closed, because of inactivity on December 2006. I never got the emails send to me, the email was closed long time ago for MSN (hotmail) problems of virus and I had to format my hard disk. They never send me any information by regular mail or call me by phone to advertise me.
Do I have a chance to recuperate my account and the miles lost?
They ask me to send them a FAX to explain the case; but the only way, they say, is to buy them back ($100 x 1000 miles); meaning $ 17.000 USA from my pocket, has not senses at all.
Thanks for the feedback
Marti8.
Well, the good news, if you want to call it that, is that you're off by a decimal place on the cost to reinstate. The actual cost is $100 for 10000 miles (plus $30), so the actual cost to reinstate 170K miles would be $1730 USD. Depending on how you would plan to use your miles (for example, transatlantic business class), that transaction might make sense.
My AA Advantage account of air miles (174.000) with American Airlines was closed, because of inactivity on December 2006. I never got the emails send to me, the email was closed long time ago for MSN (hotmail) problems of virus and I had to format my hard disk. They never send me any information by regular mail or call me by phone to advertise me.
Do I have a chance to recuperate my account and the miles lost?
They ask me to send them a FAX to explain the case; but the only way, they say, is to buy them back ($100 x 1000 miles); meaning $ 17.000 USA from my pocket, has not senses at all.
Thanks for the feedback
Marti8.
The other airlines do not allow recovery of expired miles at all.
That said, you are certainly quoting the wrong price for recovery, by a factor of 10. It's $50 per 5000 miles, plus $30, or $1780 in your case. Pay it and be thankful. From the AAdvantage FAQ:
Q: Can I reactivate all of the miles that expired from my account, even if they expired at different times?
A: As long as the miles expired on or after December 31, 2002, then there's no limit to the number of miles you can reactivate. It doesn't matter if your miles expired at different times. You can reactivate your entire expired mileage balance or just the portion you need. The cost to reactivate miles is $50 for every 5,000 miles, plus a $30 per transaction, per account processing fee.
Q: How long is this offer available?
A: Eligible expired miles can be reactivated through December 31, 2007. Once reactivated, the miles will be available for your use for at least 36 months.
My AA Advantage account of air miles (174.000) with American Airlines was closed, because of inactivity on December 2006. I never got the emails send to me, the email was closed long time ago for MSN (hotmail) problems of virus and I had to format my hard disk. They never send me any information by regular mail or call me by phone to advertise me.
Do I have a chance to recuperate my account and the miles lost?
They ask me to send them a FAX to explain the case; but the only way, they say, is to buy them back ($100 x 1000 miles); meaning $ 17.000 USA from my pocket, has not senses at all.
Thanks for the feedback
Marti8.
It's $100 for every 10,000 miles ($50 for 5,000 miles), not $100 for every 1000 miles. So it would cost you $1,700, not $17,000.
If you can't find any unreported activity, then I would suggest you pay it, as the miles are certainly worth more than that.
We all have learning experiences in life, and most times, the learning costs us money. If $1,700 is the most expensive lesson that you learn in life, then count yourself blessed.
Programs: AA EXP/MM/AC, NW PE, Practicing for retirement.
Posts: 877
Quote:
Originally Posted by marti8
...
Do I have a chance to recuperate my account and the miles lost?
They ask me to send them a FAX to explain the case; but the only way, they say, is to buy them back ($100 x 1000 miles); meaning $ 17.000 USA ...
From AA.com:
"As long as the miles expired on or after December 31, 2002, then there's no limit to the number of miles you can reactivate. It doesn't matter if your miles expired at different times. You can reactivate your entire expired mileage balance or just the portion you need. The cost to reactivate miles is $50 for every 5,000 miles, plus a $30 per transaction, per account processing fee."
To recap: you had 36 months to have some kind of qualifying activity on your account: a flight, using miles, staying at a hotel, renting a car, anything at all. It is all in the terms and conditions.
You closed your e-mail address, the way you allowed them to contact you, and did not tell them of the new e-mail, nor did you ever apparently go online and read the terms and conditions. Actually, as I write this, I am not even sure you actually missed the miles until somehow you found out you lost them - almost three months ago.
You have contacted AA and they have said you must spend to reactivate your account, you are not held to the maximums of others who wish to purchase miles, nor are you asked to spend as much. To spend and get the miles, or not - that's your decision, but given the activity level you have had in at least the last three years, it seems to me you might actually have no reason to spend $1,780.00 / €1,336.42.
__________________ Lend a hand up with Kiva; far more than a hand out.
Location: MSP (and will only fly NWA in re-routes if I HAVE to)
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Posts: 5,802
Jut be on the watch .. other airlines (DL?) are closing frequent flier accounts with 18 months of no activity.
Geeze .. 36 months is sure a lot better than 18 months .. and ANY activity (buying flowers, renting a car, staying in a hotel) would re-set the counter.
It is not AA responsibility to remind you of that. They are not at fault at all.
But AA does remind you when you have expiring miles. AA has not used direct mail for this purpose in several years. But they do send send appropriate notices via the email link in their profile well in advance, not to mention monthly e-summariires, with activity or not. It is terrible that you have lost such an investment. But it is worthwhile to know you have an oportuntiy to recover it and for it to have value for you in doing so. There was a day when this was not even possible. You were very unfortunate to lose the miles, but very fortunate to have a chance to reclaim them.
