At least it was a surprise for me. And not a good one!

I have had situations before where one airline will not credit a special fare on another airline, or will not give miles for a trip that is too short, but this just takes the cake.

I flew roundtrip Shanghai to New York through Hong Kong (PVG-HKG-JFK-HKG-PVG) on Cathay Pacific and Dragon. I applied for a Asia Miles membership because I thought I could not get miles for the Dragon legs using my American Airlines number. An agent booked the ticket and I gave her my new Asia Miles number. No mention I would not earn any miles, and the ticket only lists my class as "economy". No mention from Cathay or Dragon when I cheked in either.

The flight was ok. Well, long. And I've flown through Tokyo, Seoul and US cities to NY before, but adding the extra time to go to Hong Kong really made this flight long. Plus I ended up with a middle seat most of the way.

Anyway, I get back and check my mileage and find out that I got 0 miles for the whole trip. I call Asia Miles custmoer service and find out that this was because my ticket was "N" class. Outrageous that for a flight this long there is no mileage credit. Completely crazy.

So, lesson learned. Check your ticket before it's issued - these airlines have too many crazy ticket classes and too many rules attached.

I may never fly Cathay / Dragon again. I've found China Eastern to be better for my flights to HK, and I've never had an issue with my China Eastern miles. And going through HK to get to NY from Shanghai is just way too long - if I don't get any credit. Really pissed off right now.