A very strange thing happened to me on the way to MVP Gold this year. In January, friends and we flew a cheap BA J fare to Madrid for a long weekend (thanks to the premium fare forum!). YVR-LHR-MAD and return - it wasn't a super great deal, about 5 cpm, but we needed some sun and sangria. Got back about a month ago - everyone got their lovely miles deposited into their accounts but me. I politely waited two weeks, then submitted the online form, then waited another week, then called mileage plan, who sent me another form which I sent in, then waited another week. Called yesterday to the gold line to ask about something else, then queried about my mileage request.

The agent was gone for quite awhile. She came back and said, "I've never seen this, but your request was denied from someone higher up. But I asked my supervisor, and the mileage will be credited as soon as possible". An hour later I had my 49,000 miles, almost half of which were EQM.

So why and who would deny partner mile earnings? Is there some kind of new rule I'm not aware of? I know Avios has changed to reflect price-based earnings, but Alaska's partner earnings on BA J are still mileage based as far as I know.