US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Miles for paid flight I didn't get to fly?

I am in Buffalo, NY on business and have a return flight scheduled for Friday. As it turns out, my parents live here and my mother has asked me to skip my flight and drive with her to my home so she can visit for the week...MGW, WV.

My question is...My round trip ticket return will go unused, but can I still request mileage credit for it? I already flew MGW-PIT-BUF

It's a shame my F seat will go unused - well, unused by me and now I get to drive 5 hours.

Thanks,
ChazDawg

No.

What stinks most is that even if you spend mucho $$ on a transcon (non-refundable) and have to cancel, you still don't get mileage credit.

Happened to me a month or so ago when I canceled a $1000 transcon ticket and could not apply to future travel prior to the departure date. US got the $$ but I didn't get the miles.

Wouldn't it be nice if I could get the miles for that flight? I paid for the ticket. US got the $$. They win. I get nothing. No good.

In the past, if this had happened, I would have had a year to apply the cash to an upcoming flight. Since all of my upcoming flights had to be refundable, US wouldn't apply this ticket.

Why not try checking in online and just seeing what happens, if you can't get a refund?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHL INTL TERMINAL:
What stinks most is that even if you spend mucho $$ on a transcon (non-refundable) and have to cancel, you still don't get mileage credit.

Happened to me a month or so ago when I canceled a $1000 transcon ticket and could not apply to future travel prior to the departure date. US got the $$ but I didn't get the miles.

Wouldn't it be nice if I could get the miles for that flight? I paid for the ticket. US got the $$. They win. I get nothing. No good.

In the past, if this had happened, I would have had a year to apply the cash to an upcoming flight. Since all of my upcoming flights had to be refundable, US wouldn't apply this ticket.</font>

This ought to be a crime. Write to consumer affairs and your congressman. Dispute the charge with your CC compnay. Don't put up with this.

Non-refundable &lt;&gt; no obligation to provide service. Non-trefundable just means that you can't get your cash back. A plane ticket is nothing like a concert ticket. Don't let Ben take you for sucker.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ChazDawg:
I am in Buffalo, NY on business and have a return flight scheduled for Friday. As it turns out, my parents live here and my mother has asked me to skip my flight and drive with her to my home so she can visit for the week...MGW, WV.

My question is...My round trip ticket return will go unused, but can I still request mileage credit for it? I already flew MGW-PIT-BUF

It's a shame my F seat will go unused - well, unused by me and now I get to drive 5 hours.

Thanks,
ChazDawg</font>

Get on the plane -- then, after they pull your ticket, get off the plane and go back to your Mom's place http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

You wouldn't even have to get on the plane-- just get the gate agent to take your boarding pass and then you could vanish into the mob of people crowding around the gate.
Apparently miles are credited only after the gate agent types in seat numbers of passengers who boarded (based on boarding passes collected)-- this is secondhand knowledge, though.

Logic has always been the same with the other airlines as well. Have had this happen to me on CO and NW a few times.

Unfortunately, giving your ticket to the G/A and leaving the flight will only send the law after you. Can you see the FA counting passengers and it not matching the manifest? The flight would have been on -hold. You would not have heard “one L one R” and “two L and two R”. Luggage would have had to been reviewed. Plane delayed two hours. Then they may have review your mileage for the front portion of the trip.

Anyhow, it is wrong that you cannot get credit for such a situation.

The only time I have ever heard of mileage being credited for a flight someone didn't actually fly on was if it was the airline's fault (e.g. mechanical caused missed connection).

That being said, would it be possible to board the plane, sit down in your seat, then right before takeoff fake an emergency that required you to get off the plane? Choose your own excuse.... wife is having a baby, meeting got cancelled, etc, etc.
You politely inform the purser or whoever, explain that you have no checked luggage, and off you go. Your BP has already been scanned, so would they "unscan" it?
Would this work?
Probably not worth the security hassle.

------------------
"I just wanna wish you good luck, we're all counting on you"
-Dr. Rumack

To be exact, my airfare was $1383.50.

I couldn't attempt to get on the flight because I had to fly the same day on a refundable fare to a different destination. I believe I should be give credit in some way since I paid for the flight, despite not getting on the plane.

I guess the arguement is that I should've paid for the refundable fare knowing that there was a possibility for the cancellation.

But the fact remains that I paid for the flight and those paying cheap fares received credit for that flight on a much cheaper fare. I got nothing, even though I paid the fare and gave more revenue to US than 2 or 3 pax. They should at least give something to me, but I could do nothing, because all of my upcoming flights were on refundable fares.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by g_leyser:
The only time I have ever heard of mileage being credited for a flight someone didn't actually fly on was if it was the airline's fault (e.g. mechanical caused missed connection).

That being said, would it be possible to board the plane, sit down in your seat, then right before takeoff fake an emergency that required you to get off the plane? Choose your own excuse.... wife is having a baby, meeting got cancelled, etc, etc.
You politely inform the purser or whoever, explain that you have no checked luggage, and off you go. Your BP has already been scanned, so would they "unscan" it?
Would this work?
Probably not worth the security hassle.
</font>
I don't want to be on a plane where someone is faking an emergency ESPECIALLY if it is done for miles. If you cannot make your flight for whatever reason, I am sorry that you will not be getting your miles. The airline should credit you somehow i.e. future ticket.
However, please do not waste people's time by checking in, getting on board and faking an emergency. Imagine the security issues that they have to go through to make sure everything is ok. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHL INTL TERMINAL:
To be exact, my airfare was $1383.50.

I couldn't attempt to get on the flight because I had to fly the same day on a refundable fare to a different destination. I believe I should be give credit in some way since I paid for the flight, despite not getting on the plane.

I guess the arguement is that I should've paid for the refundable fare knowing that there was a possibility for the cancellation.

But the fact remains that I paid for the flight and those paying cheap fares received credit for that flight on a much cheaper fare. I got nothing, even though I paid the fare and gave more revenue to US than 2 or 3 pax. They should at least give something to me, but I could do nothing, because all of my upcoming flights were on refundable fares. </font>


You should have parked the $1300 ticket in a non refundable ticket for a future date and then paid a $100 change fee to change that ticket.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MikeM6090:
Unfortunately, giving your ticket to the G/A and leaving the flight will only send the law after you.</font>

"A friend" was on a flight last summer. Said flight was delayed, delayed and delayed some more. The connection was obviously broken. The friend called the CP desk from 3F and got rebooked for the next day. By now many persons had bailed from this flight. My friend then got off the plane and went home. The law did not follow. The next morning he took the rebooked flight.

He was quite surprised to discover the miles for both the original and the rebooked flight had been credited to his account. He was pleased too since this evened the scales for a segment that had not been credited earlier in the year.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Can you see the FA counting passengers and it not matching the manifest? The flight would have been on-hold. You would not have heard “one L one R” and “two L and two R”. Luggage would have had to been reviewed. Plane delayed two hours. Then they may have review your mileage for the front portion of the trip.</font>

I've watched that dance quite a few times. Somehow they always manage to convince themselves that the numbers are coming out right.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Anyhow, it is wrong that you cannot get credit for such a situation.</font>

What's really wrong is that the airline has taken $1,300 from a customer and provided nothing in exchange.

What's almost as wrong is that there is even such a thing as a $1,300 "non-refundable" ticket in the first place.

I agree with Tom Bascom. On a recent flight I watched the flight attendants prepare for departure; it was complete confusion and the passenger count was more of a guess than an actual number.

If you don't even board the plane but just go most of the way down the jetway, turn around and tell the gate agent you're not taking the flight and then leave, that shouldn't be problematic for others.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHL INTL TERMINAL:
Happened to me a month or so ago when I canceled a $1000 transcon ticket and could not apply to future travel prior to the departure date. </font>

I think you may have been given poor information.

I was on the cheapest of cheap cockroach fares yesterday and thought about cancelling the trip. I called the CP desk and was told that I could apply the fare toward a future travel date, it just had to be rebooked by midmight last night and I had to pay a change fee. The next flight could also be changed in the future and applied toward a future fare if rebooked prior to midnight of the future booked date of travel. Since my original ticket was not worth much more than the $100 change fee I chose not to change it.

Based upon this information you could have rebooked the flight out months in advance, paid the change fee, and then rebooked to any other US destination at any time prior to that date by paying another $100.00 and applied the $1,300 to a future flight, provided you made the change prior to midnight on the date of your next booked flight.

Thus US would have clipped you for $200.00 but not the $1,300 you lost.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TomBascom:
What's really wrong is that the airline has taken $1,300 from a customer and provided nothing in exchange.</font>


Tom, we are not talking about the airline NOT providing the service purchased! We ARE talking about a passenger who decides he/she no longer wants to take the flight they have purchased (and agreed to the fare rules as well). There is a HUGE difference.

Also recognize that there is absolutely NO connection between the contract of carriage (the ticket) and frequent flyer programs. These are two ENTIRELY different animals.

All of this for two segments worth 500 miles each, plus class of service bonus?

Personally, I wouldn't risk being singled out in any way by security, especially in today's post-9/11 environment. Getting on a plane and then getting off before closing the door would really make me nervous about you.

Come on, ChazDawg, you've got to do it! You'd be a flyertalk legend!

A friend of mine flew all the way from Pittsburgh to Rome and back and didn't even leave the airport in Rome; he's had no problems with security since then.


[This message has been edited by NYCommuter (edited 08-14-2003).]

Agreed TomB

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by geo1005:
Tom, we are not talking about the airline NOT providing the service purchased! We ARE talking about a passenger who decides he/she no longer wants to take the flight they have purchased...</font>

That depends on how you define the service. I'm paying for transportation. If I don't get transported then I didn't get service. The argument that you're paying for transportation at a particular time and to a particular place is pretty darn weak given the footloose and fancy free manner that the airline plays with schedules, delays and cancellations -- when they start refunding my money for delays they can have my money if I change my mind.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">...(and agreed to the fare rules as well). There is a HUGE difference.</font>

Oh please! Does the airline read those rules to customers prior to purchase? Do they ensure that customers understand them? No. It's essentially a shrink-wrap license and as such has no validity or standing.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Also recognize that there is absolutely NO connection between the contract of carriage (the ticket) and frequent flyer programs. These are two ENTIRELY different animals.
</font>

I agree.

My

The reason why I did not re-book on another flight is twofold.

1. All of my future travel (for the following month or two) was on refundable fares. The routing that I needed did not offer non-refundable fares.
2. I realize that I could book on a different routing, but I am not able to justify to my company or my client the new "fake" routing. There would be no justification for the new routing (e.g. no meeting, client visit, etc.). I guess I could've said that I'm booking this flight simply to save some $$, but if my travel was ever audited, I'd probably have some explaining to do...something along the lines of "why did you book that $1000.00 ticket to &lt;insert city here&gt; when you had no business there?" I'd rather just cancel than having to explain what happened and why I needed to change the flight.

My point is that since I could not apply it to future travel and I just handed US $1,300.00, I should get something for it...e.g. the 10k or so miles I would have received had I been on the flight (miles+cp bonus miles+r&r bonus). Toss me a bone, US...I'm already giving you enough revenue flying on refundable fares just about every week this year!

Let's clear some things up:

1) US does not have $1300 in its pocket in exchange for no service. ChazDawg took half his trip.

2) If we could earn miles without flying, imagine how many of us would "purchase" elite status. I don't think the airlines want to make this posible.

I don't think we can have it both ways. Asking US to "throw us a bone" (translation: bend the rules) in one situation and then expect them to hold to the letter of the law when it comes to other things like upgrade pecking orders and Preferred benefits, etc. is a very slipery slope. We can't have it both ways, folks.

If I'm on a non-refundable fare and I don't fly the return portion - tough beans for me. Those rules were in place when I decided to buy the ticket. The "I usually fly on another fare class ticket" argument does not work.

Don't get me wrong for one second. I disagree with many of US's policies (change fees, standby fees, etc.) and I think the whole fare structure has more holes in it than a block of swiss cheese. And don't even get me started on our dear friend BBB at the Crystal Palace. HOWEVER, to ask them to bend the rules (the one's we hate) when it serves our purposes and then demand strict enforcement (of the rules we love) at other times is NOT the direction we want to go. After all, it's probably easier for the gate agent to upgrade that Gold Preferred standing at the podium than it is to tell him no while they go snag some CP out of coach.

I'll take consistent implimentation of the airline's policies at all times over some loosy-goosy attitude where I'll win a few and get royally screwed at others ANY DAY!



[This message has been edited by geo1005 (edited 08-14-2003).]

Here's my suggestion on a new policy:

If you purchase a non-refundable fare and do not fly on the flight you purchased and are not able to re-book the flight, you get mileage credit for the flight. No segment credit and no preferred mileage. Just standard miles. Basically, the $1300.00 bones I couldn't use would be applied to standard miles, just as if I had purchased them.

Thats "the bone" they should toss me. This would lessen the pain for people like me who travel a good amount, and it would make me a happier US customer.

Now who wants to write to consumer affairs for me regarding this suggestion?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PHL INTL TERMINAL:
Here's my suggestion on a new policy:

If you purchase a non-refundable fare and do not fly on the flight you purchased and are not able to re-book the flight, you get mileage credit for the flight. No segment credit and no preferred mileage. Just standard miles. Basically, the $1300.00 bones I couldn't use would be applied to standard miles, just as if I had purchased them.

Thats "the bone" they should toss me. This would lessen the pain for people like me who travel a good amount, and it would make me a happier US customer.

Now who wants to write to consumer affairs for me regarding this suggestion? </font>

Nope. They should simply revert to the former policy of allowing you to credit the ticket towards another flight which you (re)book at your leisure.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TomBascom:
Nope. They should simply revert to the former policy of allowing you to credit the ticket towards another flight which you (re)book at your leisure.</font>


Agreed. And I would have no problem with a small re-issue fee in this case.