US Airways Dividend Miles - Miles on military paid flights?

My son will be flying to CA for his annual Reserve training; flights being booked by the military. Can he earn miles on these trips? Isn't it just the butt in the seat that matters and not who paid? I do not see how to enter his trips into the Dividends system. Will he have to wait until after the trip to request the miles?

Unless there's some restriction on government fares that I'm not aware of, he should - the passenger gets the miles, not whoever paid for the ticket.

Does he have a DM account? If not he can sign up at the airport on the day of his flight. If he already has an account, just add his DM # to the booking. That can be done on-line or at the airport.

Remember that he can earn miles in any Star Alliance carrier's FF program if he's already a member (but only one program per flight). United, for example. Just put that FF# in the booking.

Jim

I have a friend who works for the DoD and has to travel on official business often. She adds her FF# to the reservation after it's purchased to collect the miles and earn status.

Have him do the same.

The only restriction for govt employees is that airfare must be bought through gov means, so DTS or it's equivalent. After that, everything is fair game.

Some systems even let you add FF number during booking.
You can pay for hotels with any card you like, you don't have to use a gov credit card.
Rental cars same way.

US is generally the preferred airline for contract flights.

Isn't it just the butt in the seat that matters and not who paid?

The only thing that matters is the fare code. Most fare codes allow you to earn miles, some do not (mostly bulk group fares, etc.) I do not know what code you have, so can't answer the question. I would just call US and try to add the number. But yes, only the passenger in the seat can earn miles.

Assuming that it's a regular scheduled commercial flight, son should get regular coach miles. Government fares tend either to book into full Y inventory class, which most agencies are instructed to avoid and use only when absolutely necessary, or a mid-range discount but not deep discount inventory class. On DL these are YCA and HCA fares.

Which carrier has the government contract depends on the city pair. There's a competitive bidding process, IIRC annual.

Of course, military charter flights and any flights operated by the military or anything other than a commercial airline would not earn miles.

His first flight is on UA to ORD then 2 flights on AA. On way home all are on US. It seems that all his miles will end up on his UA MiliagePlus account even the AA ones. When I plugged his UA number onto his itinerary it said if he complete trip over 4000 MiliagePles miles will be credited. That would have to include the AA legs of the trip. Different alliances so I don't see how but regardless, a good chunk of free miles for him. Thanks for your replies!!

His first flight is on UA to ORD then 2 flights on AA. On way home all are on US. It seems that all his miles will end up on his UA MiliagePlus account even the AA ones. When I plugged his UA number onto his itinerary it said if he complete trip over 4000 MiliagePles miles will be credited. That would have to include the AA legs of the trip. Different alliances so I don't see how but regardless, a good chunk of free miles for him. Thanks for your replies!!

That is likely a glitch. I'm reasonably certain that he will only get UA credit for the UA flights, but the website isn't smart enough to recognize that. I think he will have to give AA his AA number to get credit for those flights.

His first flight is on UA to ORD then 2 flights on AA. On way home all are on US. It seems that all his miles will end up on his UA MiliagePlus account even the AA ones. When I plugged his UA number onto his itinerary it said if he complete trip over 4000 MiliagePles miles will be credited. That would have to include the AA legs of the trip. Different alliances so I don't see how but regardless, a good chunk of free miles for him. Thanks for your replies!!

Earn UA miles on a AA flight??

His first flight is on UA to ORD then 2 flights on AA. On way home all are on US. It seems that all his miles will end up on his UA MiliagePlus account even the AA ones. When I plugged his UA number onto his itinerary it said if he complete trip over 4000 MiliagePles miles will be credited. That would have to include the AA legs of the trip. Different alliances so I don't see how but regardless, a good chunk of free miles for him. Thanks for your replies!!

Earn UA miles on a AA flight??

He can earn UA miles for the UA legs and for the US legs, but not for the legs on AA. He could earn AA miles for those legs though. It sounds like the system is buggy.

He can earn UA miles for the UA legs and for the US legs, but not for the legs on AA. He could earn AA miles for those legs though. It sounds like the system is buggy.

The whole itinerary was booked on Carlson Wagonlit Sato Travel by the military. When he printed his boarding passes(he left today) his AA legs were printed with a United header on them. I tried putting in his AA number on the AA legs but I kept getting an error message. Don't know.

UPDATE: I just went on AA site to check things out and his US flights home show up on the AA site as well(no AA on way home). I'll guess I'll have to just wait and see what gets credited where!

UPDATE: I just went on AA site to check things out and his US flights home show up on the AA site as well(no AA on way home). I'll guess I'll have to just wait and see what gets credited where!

Unless you enter his AA number on AA's website or give it to an AA agent at the airport, you won't see credit for the AA segments anywhere.

When you say you got an error entering the AA number, where were you trying to enter it? You won't be able to enter it on the UA website, even though you will be able to see the segments.

Assuming that it's a regular scheduled commercial flight, son should get regular coach miles. Government fares tend either to book into full Y inventory class, which most agencies are instructed to avoid and use only when absolutely necessary, or a mid-range discount but not deep discount inventory class. On DL these are YCA and HCA fares.

Which carrier has the government contract depends on the city pair. There's a competitive bidding process, IIRC annual.

Of course, military charter flights and any flights operated by the military or anything other than a commercial airline would not earn miles.

Doesn't matter which booking code is used in economy. US gives everything from Y on down 100% pretty much, so there's no benefit to getting a YCA fare on US. Unless US gives instant upgrades on YCA, which I'm not sure if they do or not.

There is a benefit on DL, UA, and AA though.

The only thing that matters is the fare code. Most fare codes allow you to earn miles, some do not (mostly bulk group fares, etc.) I do not know what code you have, so can't answer the question. I would just call US and try to add the number. But yes, only the passenger in the seat can earn miles.

In order to get the fare paid, it also has to be flown on a U.S.-flag carrier (an airline based in the United States). No foreign carriers are permitted, unless it wouldn't make sense to use a U.S. carrier (they'd allow something like LHR-FRA on LH, but not MUC-CLT on LH).

It has been a long time, but yes when I was in the US Army, I got FF miles for every flight I took, both personal and govt paid. The SATO travel offices usually would setup a FF acct if you didn't have one for a particular airline. I still have a bunch of DL miles from taking NW flights to/fr Korea.

The whole itinerary was booked on Carlson Wagonlit Sato Travel by the military. When he printed his boarding passes(he left today) his AA legs were printed with a United header on them. I tried putting in his AA number on the AA legs but I kept getting an error message. Don't know.

UPDATE: I just went on AA site to check things out and his US flights home show up on the AA site as well(no AA on way home). I'll guess I'll have to just wait and see what gets credited where!

Their best bet is to speak directly with a GA from each airline as they progress through the trip. Have the GA enter the AA number for the AA legs and the UA number for the UA and US legs. Have them re-print the BPs and be certain they show the correct FF number for each leg. Have them save every BP. Even if the miles don't credit properly they'll have the BPs and can scan and email them for credit.

1. There's no mystery here. Congress authorized govt. fliers to accept FF benefits back in 2003.

2. Easiest way, rather than having you in the middle is for your son to have the GA do the entry before his first UA/US flight with the US# and before the first AA flight with the AA#.

Well said son came back home last week and I checked his FF programs today. He got credit for 473 UA miles. None for AA or US Air and he doesn't think he has his tickets or boarding passes any more so that will be a wash for those miles. Next time he'll know to save everything til miles post. He isn't into the miles thing. He can buy me a ticket with his points if he doesn't want them! Thanks for all the replies.

Well said son came back home last week and I checked his FF programs today. He got credit for 473 UA miles. None for AA or US Air and he doesn't think he has his tickets or boarding passes any more so that will be a wash for those miles. Next time he'll know to save everything til miles post. He isn't into the miles thing. He can buy me a ticket with his points if he doesn't want them! Thanks for all the replies.

If he has his itinerary, he may be able to obtain retroactive credit by entering info on the website. Travel agent can provide missing information.

BTW, if he was crediting US flights to UA, that can take a few days or longer.

In order to get the fare paid, it also has to be flown on a U.S.-flag carrier (an airline based in the United States). No foreign carriers are permitted, unless it wouldn't make sense to use a U.S. carrier (they'd allow something like LHR-FRA on LH, but not MUC-CLT on LH).

Code-shares on foreign-flag carriers are eligible. This is actually a law, the Fly America Act, which requires all government-paid travel to be on US carriers (well, codeshares) when traveling to-from US.

He found his boarding passes for 1 of the AA flights after I posted. However there is no airline code number above the bar code and his MileagePlus number appears on it instead of his AAdvantage number. He is due 1745 AAdvantage miles so I'd like to get them if I can. Other than contacting the travel agency(it was booked by the Army not him-not sure how far I will get with that). There is the eticket number-which is the same for all 3 flights he took, and a 4 digit number under a segment number to the right of the barcode. Can I get anywhere with that info?
When he checked in for his initial UA flight he was ticketed for the 2 following AA flights by UA and his bags were pushed thru to AA by UA. Perhaps this is some sort of arrangement the military has with the airlines?

Go to AA and see what info you still need to get credit. Here's the link. Travel agent should be able to get ticket number if you don't have it:

https://www.aa.com/AAdvantage/requestMileageCreditAccess.do?v_locale=en_US&v_mobileUAFlag=AA

Finally all miles have posted. Thanks for the help!