Originally Posted by
iapetus
The fare class that appears on your ticket may differ from the fare class that the operating airline uses to determine flight miles earned.
It makes it sounds like I can't really know if I'll actually earn miles based on what united.com tells me. Or is this really only an issue if I don't go through United to purchase my tickets?.....
When purchased as a codeshare (aka UA flight number) this is an issue. The fare code that matters is the operator's fare code. If you purchase using the operator's flight number, you know the needed farecode at purchase.