Other North & South America Frequent Flyer Programs - LANPass km credit for "U" class

Has anyone had a problem getting credit for kms flown on flights where you purchased the ticket and then used kms to upgrade? In other words: Buy a ticket in economy class that qualifies for km credit and then use kms from your account to upgrade. LAN eventually did credit these flights but only after many emails. They still claim that flights in "U" don't accumulate kms. The problem is that they use "U" for award tickets and tickets upgraded with kms. There should really be a separate booking class to distinguish paid from non-paid travel. I would appreciate any input. THANKS!

U doesn't typically earn miles. Haven't done the upgrade thing, so unsure.

U doesn't typically earn miles. Haven't done the upgrade thing, so unsure.

From the responses from LAN you would think that NOBODY ever did an upgrade using kilometers. How you can buy a paid ticket that earns kilometers and then upgrade it so that it no longer earns kilometers is hard for me to comprehend. An agent told me that the earning rate should be for the booking class the trip was originally ticketed in. That makes sense. But I can't find a written policy anywhere.

Really hoping somebody can help me out here. Let me put it another way: what LAN is telling me is that I can spend U$1,500 buying a ticket that is fully eligible for LANPASS kilometer accumulation, but if I upgrade it using kilometers from my account the ticket suddenly becomes ineligible for accumulation? This CANNOT be correct. Since they did eventually give me the credit, my fear is that if I make an issue of it they will take the credits back. Surely somebody out there has upgraded with kilometers. PLEASE? I just want to get it straight so I am prepared if this happens again. THANKS!

i didnot upgrade with kilometers yet but with upgrade vouchers. i didnot have problems with km credit.

I haven't done it with kms, only with upgrade vouchers. If you look at the T&C on 8.12 it says http://www.lan.com/lanpass/terminos-en-us.html

In case of a class Upgrade obtained as an Award or by courtesy of LAN or any of the Associated Airlines or Partner Companies, only the kilometers corresponding to the class paid by the member will be credited to the account, and not those corresponding to the class which he or she was upgraded to.

Btw, how many agents did you speak to ? It sounds alarming if some agent(s) notified you anything different from what is on their T&C. Then LAN shouldn't be using U as the fare code for upgrades with kms if this is going to be such a problem !

I haven't done it with kms, only with upgrade vouchers. If you look at the T&C on 8.12 it says http://www.lan.com/lanpass/terminos-en-us.html

In case of a class Upgrade obtained as an Award or by courtesy of LAN or any of the Associated Airlines or Partner Companies, only the kilometers corresponding to the class paid by the member will be credited to the account, and not those corresponding to the class which he or she was upgraded to.

Btw, how many agents did you speak to ? It sounds alarming if some agent(s) notified you anything different from what is on their T&C. Then LAN shouldn't be using U as the fare code for upgrades with kms if this is going to be such a problem !
I must have spoken to eight or ten agents by now. They are all over the place and obviously employee training is very lax. I finally did get a letter backtracking from the same person who sent me a letter denying the kms. She tried to pretend that I had misunderstood her (not possible in this case). I wrote back saying the whole situation was unacceptable and forwarded a copy to the head of LANPASS and a couple of other executives at LAN. We will see if I get any response. What a company!

I must have spoken to eight or ten agents by now. They are all over the place and obviously employee training is very lax. I finally did get a letter backtracking from the same person who sent me a letter denying the kms. She tried to pretend that I had misunderstood her (not possible in this case). I wrote back saying the whole situation was unacceptable and forwarded a copy to the head of LANPASS and a couple of other executives at LAN. We will see if I get any response. What a company!

phlashba,

Sorry to hear that it has been a very hard experience dealing with these CS reps! I know all about it, too.

Hopefully you should be able to get a senior Lanpass executive to help you with this dilemma, which in the first place shouldn't be happening to a customer who buys a fare ticket. It clearly states in their T&C that you get credit, so why the confusion ? Let us know how they reply and what actions they are going to take to avoid further frustration to you.

I like their service on board, but their customer service on the ground and phone agents is consistently horrible.

And raising the kms requirements for awards - and two times this year !!! was the last straw.

What a company ! I say the same thing and I'm going back to AA next year.

phlashba,

Sorry to hear that it has been a very hard experience dealing with these CS reps! I know all about it, too.

Hopefully you should be able to get a senior Lanpass executive to help you with this dilemma, which in the first place shouldn't be happening to a customer who buys a fare ticket. It clearly states in their T&C that you get credit, so why the confusion ? Let us know how they reply and what actions they are going to take to avoid further frustration to you.

I like their service on board, but their customer service on the ground and phone agents is consistently horrible.

And raising the kms requirements for awards - and two times this year !!! was the last straw.

What a company ! I say the same thing and I'm going back to AA next year.
I agree with you and believe me -- I have been seriously tempted to go back to AA too. But at the end of the day, I decided that it's really about travel experience (not what happens before or after) and on that score AA just fails miserably for me on the international long hauls that I typically fly whereas I am almost always VERY satisfied with LAN.

I have this situation all the time, as I usually take 4-5 trips to LIM on LAN. Since when they upgrade you with KM they book it into U. When they upgrade you, they also reissue the ticket with a new ticket number (045-xxxxxxxxx). So when I call them, I give the old (original) ticket number that shows the class you bought (i.e. V, S, etc.) and then I am correctly credited for the KM and class of service.

However, LAN's CS is hit or miss and it usually takes numerous calls. This last time they told me to put the request in from the web page. However it only allows me to choose the new ticket number (booked into U), so I doubt this is going to work.

As many FTers have pointed out, LAN is great in the air, but terrible on the ground.

Well, currently half way through a tix bought economy and upgraded with KMs. System has upgraded my account (so far) for normal KMs based on economy tix. I see if it continues and report back.

Well, currently half way through a tix bought economy and upgraded with KMs. System has upgraded my account (so far) for normal KMs based on economy tix. I see if it continues and report back.
Great to hear that! Maybe the huge stink I made about this made a difference ( but I doubt it) LOL Anyway it gives me hope that the system can work. What was your timing between buying the ticket, making the upgrade, and your traveling? Maybe it makes a difference?

I have this situation all the time, as I usually take 4-5 trips to LIM on LAN. Since when they upgrade you with KM they book it into U. When they upgrade you, they also reissue the ticket with a new ticket number (045-xxxxxxxxx). So when I call them, I give the old (original) ticket number that shows the class you bought (i.e. V, S, etc.) and then I am correctly credited for the KM and class of service.

However, LAN's CS is hit or miss and it usually takes numerous calls. This last time they told me to put the request in from the web page. However it only allows me to choose the new ticket number (booked into U), so I doubt this is going to work.

As many FTers have pointed out, LAN is great in the air, but terrible on the ground.
Thanks as always for sharing your experiences. I wish the CEO of LAN could read these comments.

re: Plashba's Q
Bought the ticket a month before, did the upgrade 2 days before.