My daughter flew out of Brisbane via Eva Air to Taipei on 11th Dec 2013 and then from Taipei to London Hthrw arriving on the 12th Dec 2013.

She is a Krisflyer member and I had to submit a retrospective mileage claim on her behalf via Singapore Airlines as a partner airline. They have come back and said that the flight leg from Brisbane to Taipei does not qualify as Eva were not a member of Star Alliance then but the leg from Taipei to Heathrow does qualify as by the time she arrived in Heathrow they were a member?

It seems almost unbelieveable that they should be trying to state that "midair" the agreement became valid so the leg after the signing qualifies but the leg before did not when the flight was a Brisbane to London Heathrow flight arriving on the 12th Dec when "apparently" the Krisflyer agreement was in place?

Any views on this from seasoned flyers out there ?

Many Thanks