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Dormant US airways account (and resulting loss of miles toward million-miler status)

Dormant US airways account (and resulting loss of miles toward million-miler status)

Old Aug 27, 2015, 1:51 am
  #106  
 
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Originally Posted by oenophilist
Two reasons. 1. I don't think it will make any difference, if anything it will provoke a more negative reaction. 2. It is vastly easier for me to just stop doing business with AA.
Fair point. It exclusively depends on how much you value the lounge privilege. And @ OneWorld that feature has real value and would make it SCC accessible to you.

But I'd try at least the letter before that, not just the call centre employee.
At a macro level, airline loyalty is almost unnecessary anymore. The value of elite status diminishes every cycle. There are tons of choices that you can make based on quality of the experience and service....
And reliability. Your and this reason is why I fly much much less StarAlliance than ever before. Avoiding the moods and internal quarrels of UA and LH spares me a lot of trouble.

Also the raise of true Premium Economy products made the more and more hopeless upgrade lottery from a terminally crappy E+ to a too-good Business entirely worthless to me.
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Old Aug 27, 2015, 6:54 am
  #107  
 
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Originally Posted by weero
Also the raise of true Premium Economy products made the more and more hopeless upgrade lottery from a terminally crappy E+ to a too-good Business entirely worthless to me.
Did you mean NOT too good??
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Old Aug 27, 2015, 7:46 am
  #108  
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Originally Posted by weero
Also the raise of true Premium Economy products made the more and more hopeless upgrade lottery from a terminally crappy E+ to a too-good Business entirely worthless to me.
This is so true. The Premium Economy products from the likes of AF, LH, and BA (much as I despise BA for other reasons) are really hitting a sweet spot. The added comfort and space is enough to make a difference in long-haul. And while I do enjoy Business Class, the fact is that I am not looking for a gourmet meal on a plane, and lounges are less and less important as airports improve their amenities. I'd rather sit and sip some wine at a Vino Volo than hang out in a lounge.
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Old Aug 27, 2015, 5:38 pm
  #109  
 
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Originally Posted by oenophilist
..The added comfort and space is enough to make a difference in long-haul. And while I do enjoy Business Class, the fact is that I am not looking for a gourmet meal on a plane, and lounges are less and less important as airports improve their amenities. I'd rather sit and sip some wine at a Vino Volo than hang out in a lounge.
Yes, this became my flying style as well. No more hoping for being the more loved 1K than someone else, just buying the cheapest PE on offer and riding with what I paid for. I save lots of nerves and cash compared to the old system. And best of all, I don't have to be loyal to those airlines anymore.
Originally Posted by LINDEGR
Did you mean NOT too good??
No, I meant what I wrote.

Coach products are too shabby these days and the Biz products are so excessively upgraded - with cradles, fully flat beds, direct aisle access - that airlines then rightfully remove their F product as there is no true distinction anymore.
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Old Sep 28, 2015, 8:57 am
  #110  
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Originally Posted by oenophilist;25291938[B
Wrong[/B]. They made my account dormant. I didn't "allow" the account to do anything. I didn't want the account to go dormant. No one told me the account would go dormant. That was entirely the decision of the airline.

You are being a corporate apologist.

Does the airline have the right to do this? Possibly, depends on whether or not someone is willing to subject it to litigation. Is is wrong? Absolutely. Lifetime miles are lifetime. Period. Deleting lifetime miles for lack of activity negates the entire concept of lifetime miles.

Your opinion on this issue is dead wrong.
If the airline claims to provide benefit for "lifetime miles" then they're guilty of False Advertising when they claim that some miles the passenger flew during his lifetime "don't count".

They're entitled to change the rules at will. They're not entitled to lie about them.
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Old Sep 28, 2015, 10:01 am
  #111  
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Originally Posted by sethb
If the airline claims to provide benefit for "lifetime miles" then they're guilty of False Advertising when they claim that some miles the passenger flew during his lifetime "don't count".

They're entitled to change the rules at will. They're not entitled to lie about them.
AA offered "lifetime" "non-expiring" miles. They were actually usable for some specific rewards not available to those using the "three years became eighteen months" miles (iirc). But they announced those miles would either be used for the few remaining, highly diminished awards, or migrated into regular 18 month miles.

They did. Their lawyers have made sure those kinds of decisions are pretty much incontestable.

This isn't much different. A frequent flyer stops flying. The account cancels. The miles and record of lifetime miles disappear.

You rant on FlyerTalk, call everyone who disagrees with you wrong, apologists, whatever. Water under the bridge. No change. It is what it is, not what you want it to be.
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Old Sep 28, 2015, 2:07 pm
  #112  
 
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Originally Posted by JDiver
... A frequent flyer stops flying. The account cancels. The miles and record of lifetime miles disappear.
...
In our case the miles disappeared (as they should). The account was still there. The record of the lifetime miles on US was still there.

And you still haven't offered your opinion of the asymmetry between someone whose miles on US had expired and someone whose miles on AA had expired.

Originally Posted by JDiver
...

You rant on FlyerTalk, call everyone who disagrees with you wrong, apologists, whatever. Water under the bridge. No change. It is what it is, not what you want it to be.
I'm not sure who you are addressing here, but the poster you quoted was giving their first post on this subject. Maybe I'm ranting. I don't think sethb or I called anyone any names.

But flyertalk is an appropriate place to praise goodness, fairness, justice and the American way.
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Old Sep 28, 2015, 2:13 pm
  #113  
 
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For what it's worth, this is the KLM /AF approach to 'Lifers'.

"Become Platinum for Life

Of course, as a Platinum member you can carry over your Level Miles to the next year, making it easier to maintain your Platinum membership. After 10 consecutive years of being a Platinum member, you are rewarded with a Platinum for Life card. This means that you no longer have to reach the required threshold and that you will continue to enjoy all privileges you are used to, every time you travel."


I guess I will run my miles down to Zero eventually, but still retain the card I've had for a few years now for the rest of my life, unless they change the rules or maybe are taken over or disappear.
ps And you do not have to take anymore flights at all, once you achieve the Lifetime card.

Last edited by mike turnbull; Sep 28, 2015 at 2:29 pm
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Old Sep 28, 2015, 2:41 pm
  #114  
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Originally Posted by mike turnbull
For what it's worth, this is the KLM /AF approach to 'Lifers'.

"Become Platinum for Life

Of course, as a Platinum member you can carry over your Level Miles to the next year, making it easier to maintain your Platinum membership. After 10 consecutive years of being a Platinum member, you are rewarded with a Platinum for Life card. This means that you no longer have to reach the required threshold and that you will continue to enjoy all privileges you are used to, every time you travel."


I guess I will run my miles down to Zero eventually, but still retain the card I've had for a few years now for the rest of my life, unless they change the rules or maybe are taken over or disappear.
ps And you do not have to take anymore flights at all, once you achieve the Lifetime card.
That seems to me to be the honorable way to do it.

The other way, or at least one, is to notify FFP members you are entitled to make changes with or without notice and then make them.
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Old Sep 28, 2015, 2:57 pm
  #115  
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Originally Posted by sosafan
In our case the miles disappeared (as they should). The account was still there. The record of the lifetime miles on US was still there.

And you still haven't offered your opinion of the asymmetry between someone whose miles on US had expired and someone whose miles on AA had expired.



I'm not sure who you are addressing here, but the poster you quoted was giving their first post on this subject. Maybe I'm ranting. I don't think sethb or I called anyone any names.

But flyertalk is an appropriate place to praise goodness, fairness, justice and the American way.
Why should I have an opinion of something I don't know the facts of? If I recall, we have in fact had reports of members who lost their AA lifetime count miles.

If you read up thread, there are rant posts, accusations of members being corporate aplogogist, etc. I don't think I said you did, but it all appears upthread.

I'm afraid you take my comments about these issues, stating that the airlines write t&c that give them one-sided rights, contracts of adhesion, etc. as approval. Stating what they are doesn't state endorsement, or even imply that. If you had read many of my posts over the years, you'd have understood I abhor what the airlines have gotten away with since, at least, the original Warsaw Convention, where the cabal gathered, wrote one sided rules and got the various nations to endorse them. And that I'm one of those who create threads and wikis sharing how members can address IROPS, wrongs, etc. presumably constructively and more effectively.

Blowing off steam on FlyerTalk is a time-honored tradition, but that by itself accomplishes nothing but possible catharsis for some. If anyone wants to try reversing a significant loss of miles, benefits, etc. I'd suggest they've not really done their work until they document the facts and relevant details, put together a dispassionate and somewhat terse letter and FedEx it to Doug Parker's (or Sean Bentel's) office. (Yes, he'll never read it, but an executive assistant may give it a better look over than the group at Customer Relations.)
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Old Sep 28, 2015, 3:13 pm
  #116  
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Originally Posted by sethb
If the airline claims to provide benefit for "lifetime miles" then they're guilty of False Advertising when they claim that some miles the passenger flew during his lifetime "don't count".

They're entitled to change the rules at will. They're not entitled to lie about them.
The rules didn't change

Lifetime miles lasted for the lifetime of the US Dividend Miles Programme
The Programme has ended
USDM no longer exists

No one has lifetine niles in the non existent scheme
There is nothing that stated that , should the scheme end, that another scheme would take it on.
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Old Sep 28, 2015, 3:19 pm
  #117  
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
The rules didn't change

Lifetime miles lasted for the lifetime of the US Dividend Miles Programme
The Programme has ended
USDM no longer exists

No one has lifetine niles in the non existent scheme
There is nothing that stated that , should the scheme end, that another scheme would take it on.
You really think, though, that that's the kind of answer that helps?
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Old Sep 28, 2015, 4:01 pm
  #118  
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Originally Posted by JonNYC
You really think, though, that that's the kind of answer that helps?
Is it factually incorrect?

Lifetime is for lifetime of member or lifetime of the programme

There was no obligation on the part of US to take over anything from USDM to AAdvantage. It did however take over details of active accounts

There was not, as stated by the post being replied to, any false advertising
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Old Sep 28, 2015, 6:30 pm
  #119  
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I apparently had a Delta account back in the 1980s or so that I'd totally forgotten about.

I had another Delta account.

For about 10 years starting in 2002, I flew NW exclusively (living in Mpls does that) until they merged with DL. After the merger, my lifetime miles were the sum of the DL and NW miles.

A couple of years later, my other DL account came to light. I asked DL to merge it into my existing one. Any redeemable miles had long since disappeared, but the lifetime miles were still there and were most of the ones I still needed to make MM.

Just a data point on how an apparently more legitimate airline handles a similar issue.
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