Flying Blue (Air France, KLM, and Other Partners) - Problem with uncredited miles

I never used to check my mileage statements that carefully, but now that I started doing so, I have found a number of discrepancies. This year, for instance, I see two flights segments in my overview which I DID fly and which DID make it into my statement, but which - for some reason - show the column for 'level miles' checked but NO actual miles credited. Has anybody seen sthg similar? The only explanation I can think of is that my daughter actually was with me on those filghts on an award ticket. And I notice that when I book an award ticket, that ticket for some strange reason (that I have nothing to do with) gets the same FB number as my paid NON-award ticket. Could it be that they deny me those miles for that reason (that they cancel the miles of two people with the same FB number on the same flight)?

Could it be that they deny me those miles for that reason (that they cancel the miles of two people with the same FB number on the same flight)?

yep. Just write that into the service center and they will credit it.

yep. Just write that into the service center and they will credit it.

Jees. I must have missed thousands of miles that way then over the past few years (I always have our daughter fly on our miles on our vacations). Are they even aware of this problem?!?!? All they have to do is to NOT enter the wrong FB number on the award ticket!!!

Thanks for the info anyways. Now I'm REALLY stoked! :mad: Not at you of course, but at the FB people!

-Stephan

I have a similar issue with a CZech Airlines flight. Called FB , they said the class if my ticket doesnt earn miles or legs ...

Jees. I must have missed thousands of miles that way then over the past few years (I always have our daughter fly on our miles on our vacations). Are they even aware of this problem?!?!? All they have to do is to NOT enter the wrong FB number on the award ticket!!!

Thanks for the info anyways. Now I'm REALLY stoked! :mad: Not at you of course, but at the FB people!

-Stephan

same thing with all airlines. If you use your miles then your FQTV # is on the ticket. You can change it, but if you don't and you have a revenue tix on the same flight, then you can run into trouble because the computer is getting confused.

This year, for instance, I see two flights segments in my overview which I DID fly and which DID make it into my statement, but which - for some reason - show the column for 'level miles' checked but NO actual miles credited. Has anybody seen sthg similar?


There is no problem whatsoever here. What you have described is the normal presentation of data in Flying Blue.

The website only shows the amount of Award Miles. When a tick appears in the level miles column, it indicates that the amount of Level Miles awarded for that flight is identical to the figure appearing under the Award Miles earned for that flight. This is normal, and should not come as a surprise. The amount of Level Miles is always identical to the amount of Award Miles awarded for a flight - with the proviso that any elite bonus you may earn only count as Award Miles (and hence these bonuses do not have a tick under the "Level Miles" column).

http://i48.tinypic.com/mwbkgk.jpg

Your total level miles balance is reported at the top of the mileage summary. If you add up all the mileage amounts opposite the "ticks" (plus whatever roll-over mileage you may have added), you will see that the reported level miles balance is correct.

And I notice that when I book an award ticket, that ticket for some strange reason (that I have nothing to do with) gets the same FB number as my paid NON-award ticket. Could it be that they deny me those miles for that reason (that they cancel the miles of two people with the same FB number on the same flight)?

Flights that you have "paid for" with miles do not qualify for mileage earning. This is standard throughout the airline industry - award redemptions are booked in classes that do not accrue any further air miles.

Not quite sure what you mean by "the same FB number" but you only have one Flying Blue number (or, at least, you are only supposed to have one account) so in what circumstance can it be a problem to have your FB number associated with any of your travel?

I have a similar issue with a CZech Airlines flight. Called FB , they said the class if my ticket doesnt earn miles or legs ...

The amount of level miles awarded is identical to the amount of award miles. Therefore, if no miles were earned (and you need to carefully check the fare class being booked on airlines outside of AF, KL and DL if mileage earning is important to you) the flight is not deemed a level/qualifying flight.

A qualifying flight is any flight that earns level miles. In your FB statement, you will see that only those flights that have a tick under "Level Miles" (indicating that level miles were earned) have a tick under "Qualifying Flights"

I assume the OP is seeing no miles for the flight and level miles ticked. This is the SOP for award tickets crediting to the account.

I assume the OP is seeing no miles for the flight and level miles ticked. This is the SOP for award tickets crediting to the account.

The OP did not say that he was travelling on an award ticket - his daughter, who accompanied him on the trip in question, was the one travelling on an award ticket.

I don't think it's possible for the Level Award miles tick to be present if no miles were awarded. (The level miles tick should not be present for an award flight anyway.) And given that the OP didn't complain about not receiving Award Miles, I think my first post above correctly addresses the situation he is trying to describe.

There is no problem here at all - it's just seems that the OP didn't correctly interpret his FB mileage statement.

The OP did not say that he was travelling on an award ticket - his daughter, who accompanied him on the trip in question, was the one travelling on an award ticket.

I don't think it's possible for the Level Award miles tick to be present if no miles were awarded. (The level miles tick should not be present for an award flight anyway.) And given that the OP didn't complain about not receiving Award Miles, I think my first post above correctly addresses the situation he is trying to describe.

There is no problem here at all - it's just seems that the OP didn't correctly interpret his FB mileage statement.

it is. I just had flights in O credit to my account with zero miles and the Level Miles tick 'on'. If you have O and C credit to your account for the same flight (1 C for self and 1 O for family member w/ the same last name) it can throw the system off; I have seen this happen.

it is. I just had flights in O credit to my account with zero miles and the Level Miles tick 'on'. If you have O and C credit to your account for the same flight (1 C for self and 1 O for family member w/ the same last name) it can throw the system off; I have seen this happen.
This is exactly what happened. I DID pay for MY ticket. I did NOT pay for my daughter (same name) - other than the taxes of course. I did NOT expect the miles for my daughter. I DID expect the miles for myself. I did not get them. That is an error. So I wonder whether a) they are aware of this glitch, and b) if so, why they haven't corrected it. After all - THEY make the misake of erroneously entering the FB number of the AWARDING customer on the ticket of the person RECEIVING the award (which they obviously know is NOT the same person).

And yes, my statement DOES show what I said (https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-opIuO3xlZsZHNGbXR2VDUyUUU)

I have noticed the same problem. Like posted above the issue is with the FB number in the award booking. If you have issued an award on the same flight that you have a paid segment, the flight will credit as an award at 0 miles.

Call them or pass at the FB booth at AMS. Thats the easiest way probably :)

This is exactly what happened. I DID pay for MY ticket. I did NOT pay for my daughter (same name) - other than the taxes of course. I did NOT expect the miles for my daughter. I DID expect the miles for myself. I did not get them. That is an error. So I wonder whether a) they are aware of this glitch, and b) if so, why they haven't corrected it. After all - THEY make the misake of erroneously entering the FB number of the AWARDING customer on the ticket of the person RECEIVING the award (which they obviously know is NOT the same person).

And yes, my statement DOES show what I said (https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-opIuO3xlZsZHNGbXR2VDUyUUU)

just give them a call to get it fixed. It's a similar problem w/ no miles when you upgrade from coach to business because the system sees 'O' and automatically gives zero miles.

just give them a call to get it fixed. It's a similar problem w/ no miles when you upgrade from coach to business because the system sees 'O' and automatically gives zero miles.

Well I'm sure we'll get THIS one fixed. But I am pretty upset about all the times this happened without me noticing. And I also feel this glitch should be easy to fix. Actually if they are aware of this (I can hardly believe I would be the first one to have complained about this) I would have though they would have fixed this a long time ago!

But from what you've said, it appears not to be an O-related glitch, but rather confusion about having the same passenger travelling twice on a single flight (which is not allowed).

my daughter actually was with me on those filghts on an award ticket. And I notice that when I book an award ticket, that ticket for some strange reason (that I have nothing to do with) gets the same FB number as my paid NON-award ticket. Could it be that they deny me those miles for that reason (that they cancel the miles of two people with the same FB number on the same flight)?



I DID pay for MY ticket. I did NOT pay for my daughter (same name) - other than the taxes of course. I did NOT expect the miles for my daughter. I DID expect the miles for myself. I did not get them. That is an error. So I wonder whether a) they are aware of this glitch, and b) if so, why they haven't corrected it. After all - THEY make the misake of erroneously entering the FB number of the AWARDING customer on the ticket of the person RECEIVING the award (which they obviously know is NOT the same person).


When you say "same name" - do you mean just surname, or is the name on your daughter's passport identical to your own name (first/given names as well as surname?)

And when you say "when I book an award ticket, that ticket for some strange reason (that I have nothing to do with) gets the same FB number as my paid NON-award ticket" - how can it have nothing to do with you, seeing as you are the one making the booking? Surely, this means that you get the type of ticket that you ask for? If the identity of the passenger hasn't been correctly specified, isn't that your fault? I mean, it's your obligation to specify, eg, the date, the route, etc - so it's also your obligation to correctly identify the passenger.

It's my understanding that, in order for everything to work "normally", the full name on the ticket must match the full name associated with the Flying Blue account before any miles (if any are due) are credited.

As you say that "they" made the mistake of erroneously entering the FB number, I assume this means you did not make the booking yourself online, but rang an agent. Now, if both you and your daughter have identical names, you should have been prepared for potential confusion (related people with the same name are always coming in for such confusion). If the name of the passenger is identical to the person ringing up to make a booking, they can't magically know that the booking is not actually for the person making the booking. If, however, you make the bookings online yourself, you need to ensure that you un-tick the "The Flying Blue member is one of the passengers" box on the first (search) page - it's ticked by default - otherwise you are stating that the booking is for YOU.



So, it sounds like two identically-named passengers ended up on the same flight with two tickets associated with the same FB account. That's anomalous, and probably not surprising that the system didn't give miles out. I hope you kept both boarding passes, because it seems that that might be the easiest way to show the mistake. It took me until now to realise that there were two people of identical names (or at least, I think that's what you are saying, so that you are a mother and daughter with the same first name) that travelled on the same flight.

In future, if you notice an obvious error - such as your FB number appearing on your daughter's tickets/reservations/boarding passes - you should have this corrected immediately (before flying) as it's usually easier to fix something up front.

EDIT: By the way - I've never heard of Flying Blue auditing any accounts (though there are occasionally such reports on here for other frequent flyer programmes), but if they suspect that someone may be using, or may have used, a single account to collect miles for two different people, they may take an greater interest in that particular account.

But from what you've said, it appears not to be an O-related glitch, but rather confusion about having the same passenger travelling twice on a single flight (which is not allowed).







When you say "same name" - do you mean just surname, or is the name on your daughter's passport identical to your own name (first/given names as well as surname?)

Well, our last name is obviously identical. My first name is Stephan, hers is Sophia. So I enter our full first names, which then does indeed show up as two S'es. I do not know whether the name that appears on the ticket is also the name that is in their system. But I would PRESUME they keep the full first name in the system for border control reasons etc.

And when you say "when I book an award ticket, that ticket for some strange reason (that I have nothing to do with) gets the same FB number as my paid NON-award ticket" - how can it have nothing to do with you, seeing as you are the one making the booking? Surely, this means that you get the type of ticket that you ask for? If the identity of the passenger hasn't been correctly specified, isn't that your fault? I mean, it's your obligation to specify, eg, the date, the route, etc - so it's also your obligation to correctly identify the passenger.

Why am I feeling like I have to defend myself here? ;) It's very simple. ALL I do is enter our full names when I book the tickets (MY paid ticket and HER award ticket). I of course log in under MY name, but I did NOT enter an FB# for HER. When I book my own (paid) ticket, MY FB number is of course automatically entered for ME. But STILL she somehow ends up with MY FB# in HER record. Whether that is due to our identitical first name first letters, I do not know. Maybe others can tell whether this also happens when they book award tickets for somebody with a totally different name.

It's my understanding that, in order for everything to work "normally", the full name on the ticket must match the full name associated with the Flying Blue account before any miles (if any are due) are credited.

Well - it should, shouldn't it? Since I entered both MY full first name and HER full first name.

As you say that "they" made the mistake of erroneously entering the FB number, I assume this means you did not make the booking yourself online, but rang an agent.

Nope, I booked the tickets online.

Now, if both you and your daughter have identical names, you should have been prepared for potential confusion (related people with the same name are always coming in for such confusion). If the name of the passenger is identical to the person ringing up to make a booking, they can't magically know that the booking is not actually for the person making the booking.

Very funny. But that was NOT the case

If, however, you make the bookings online yourself, you need to ensure that you un-tick the "The Flying Blue member is one of the passengers" box on the first (search) page - it's ticked by default - otherwise you are stating that the booking is for YOU.

You're surprisingly talented in stating the obvious. And of course I unchecked that. Trust me - I would have noticed if I would have had to pay the taxes TWICE.



So, it sounds like two identically-named passengers ended up on the same flight with two tickets associated with the same FB account. That's anomalous, and probably not surprising that the system didn't give miles out. I hope you kept both boarding passes, because it seems that that might be the easiest way to show the mistake. It took me until now to realise that there were two people of identical names (or at least, I think that's what you are saying, so that you are a mother and daughter with the same first name) that travelled on the same flight.

In future, if you notice an obvious error - such as your FB number appearing on your daughter's tickets/reservations/boarding passes - you should have this corrected immediately (before flying) as it's usually easier to fix something up front.

Yes, that is true, and I WILL do so from now on. But still - this WAS a mistake on 'THEIR' side. Two different people. Different first names. Everything entered correctly and fully by the book. I did NOT enter HER FB number. But they did not credit me as they should have. It seems to me FB would want to look into this. Without assuming that I am either a full idiot or somebody who is trying to cheat the system. I do fly a lot with KLM (less that you Irish, but I have been Gold for over 10 years now, with only 2 exception in years where I probably SHOULD have been, but ended up not being - possibly because of this mistake) and it seems to me they owe that 'courtesy' to their frequent flyers. I presume they will look into this and correct the glitch (if indeed it is one). I have written, but have not received an adequate reply yet. I will post when they do.

EDIT: By the way - I've never heard of Flying Blue auditing any accounts (though there are occasionally such reports on here for other frequent flyer programmes), but if they suspect that someone may be using, or may have used, a single account to collect miles for two different people, they may take an greater interest in that particular account.

In future, if you notice an obvious error - such as your FB number appearing on your daughter's tickets/reservations/boarding passes - you should have this corrected immediately (before flying) as it's usually easier to fix something up front.

EDIT: By the way - I've never heard of Flying Blue auditing any accounts (though there are occasionally such reports on here for other frequent flyer programmes), but if they suspect that someone may be using, or may have used, a single account to collect miles for two different people, they may take an greater interest in that particular account.

Just FYI, it is common with all carriers I fly that the FQTV # of the account where the miles are coming from will be on the award ticket. The OP did everything right, but the broken AF computer system can't handle it.
To add, you CAN change the FQTV#, but it is a huge hassle on an award ticket ... needed to do this once because I used miles from my wife's account and obviously wanted my number in there for premium seating etc.; it took me 1/2 hr to get this fixed.

I agree. And I would like to note that it has nothing to do with the name, even when issuing an award ticket for somebody else with a totally different name, your fb# appears in their booking.

On the one hand that is bad, if you don't pay attention there is a chance to miss the miles like the OP. On the other hand, if that person is flying alone, he or she will get YOUR FB benefits. Meaning that if you have lounge access, the person you gave the ticket to will too.

And that last point I consider to be a benefit :-) It allows me to book award tix for friends or family who hardly fly, and giving them elite benefits for the trip as well.

Anyway, I was at the lounge in AMS yesterday and asked them to correct the exact same issue that the OP experienced. It was done in a matter of seconds, and the (besides this point extremely clueless) FB lady was well aware of the issue.

This is what my summary looks like for a round trip flight from SFO - CDG. Is 2784 the correct amount of miles for each leg? I'm not sure why I didn't get credit for the SFO - CDG flight.


http://s7.postimage.org/6uwedgmy3/Capture.jpg

Thanks Xandrios. I hadn't thought of the upside. But since I always use my miles for our family trips, I guess I always have been on the 'bad' side of the equation. And it seems to me the system should be able to distinguish between different passengers.
Incidentally, they did now credit me (I see on my overview) with level miles and a segment for the last flight. But not for earlier ones this year.
And also - to make matters worse, they somehow now entered my daughter's advance passenger information in MY profile. Once again, it was just by coincidence that I noticed this today.
AND I am still waiting for an explanation. I sent a first request through their online system on June 30, asking for a correction AND for an explanation of why the system works that way (making some of the frequent fliers like myself lose miles that we deserve). On July 2nd, I received the following canned reply
Thank you very much for your message dated 30 June 2012.

Please note that missing Miles for AIR FRANCE or KLM flights must be claimed directly via the www.airfrance.com or www.klm.com websites between 2 weeks and 6 months from the date of travel.

Your ticket number, that appears on your paper or electronic ticket, will be required for that transaction. It begins with 057... for Air France and with 074... for KLM.

For flights with other partners, a copy of your ticket and boarding pass should be sent by post at the following address:

FLYING BLUE Postbus 8 3400AA IJsselstein THE NETHERLANDS

To ensure that Miles are credited to your account automatically, please remember to give your Flying Blue account number every time you make a reservation with AIR FRANCE, KLM or other Flying Blue partner.


I thereupon replied that I did not consider this appropriately answered my question and asking once again for an explanation on July 8. We are now July 18 - and I am still waiting...

Sigh.

-Stephan