RT Turn With Same Flt # -- Posting Issues
 

As part of an upcoming trip, I am flying a RT with an immediate turn -- same plane, same flight number on the outbound and return. Due to the same flight number being taken on the same day (although reverse routing), will I have a problem with miles being posted for each segment?

Yes, the return mileage will cancel the outbound mileage. :D

Seriously, you may well have a problem. And it sounds like one you wouldn't necessarily want to call DL and ask about.

The DL system might treat this like a "direct" flight where you don't get the total mileage from both segments having the same flight number... just the mileage from start to finish. Which, in your case, would be zero.

Perhaps some of the true mileage hounds can share some light on this.

One piece of advice: Do not select the same seat for both flights. There was a time in the past where, on a through flight, you could deplane at the intermediate stop and ask the GA working that flight for a seat change. Assuming the GA could do that, it would force the DL's computer to treat that as two separate segments.

Not sure if that works since the merger, but selecting a different seat for the return flight is a precaution I would take.

Can you post the flight number, airports, and date? I'm curious to see how this is recorded in the system.

Here's one example:

7/9/2011 DL 4229 DTW PWM
7/13/2011 DL 4229 PWM DTW

Mileage posting of these out-and-back flight numbers has never proven a problem for me.

I flew one of these in December as part of a weekend MR to TXL using the PIT promo --
02 Dec DL 6548 JFK-PIT
02 Dec DL 6548 PIT-JFK

The first flight was on one PNR and part of the PIT-TXL trip.
The second flight was on a different PNR and was part of the positioning trip to get to/from PIT.

Both posted -- but with the JFK-PIT flight getting 50% bonus MQM and miles since it was booked in I/F.

I did have to ask Kevin to post the PIT bonus miles separately because the system didn't recognize the whole trip as PIT originating.

I have done this while on a trip and my company asked me to be at another destination. It was cheaper to book a whole new trip rather than paying the change fees (plus more miles/MQMs for me :) ). I flew in, deplaned, waited for boarding to start and got back on. Was UG'd on both segments and FA instantly recognized me.

In this case they were distinct itineraries, each had its own BP and they posted without issue. Just keep your BPs as proof in case you need to prove you flew each segment.

Interesting to see this. Had no idea they were using the same flight number for the turnaround. Looks like this is pretty standard on certain routes, now that I have some idea of where to look. So I guess the big question is if they are marketing these as direct flights from XXX to XXX with a stop in YYY or if they're just recycling the flight number. I can't imagine the system would let you book them as a direct flight on a single PNR, but you can book them as back-to-back segments on a single PNR. Should be fine for posting, since the system knows the direction. Agree about hanging on to BPs until things post, however.

I'm pretty sure this only happens on some of the connection carriers, not mainline, but someone is sure to find an exception. The only times I've seen it have been on connection carriers.

I'm also flying one one of these itineraries (DL 1654 ATL-BNA-ATL on a DC 9-50) as two separate fares on the same PNR. While I'm not crediting to DL, AS said that I would earn full credit for both flights as the system recognizes this type of flight.

I'm going to keep my boarding passes and hope for the best.

Yep! I've flown the exception. I flew mainline from DTW-LAS on a MR last year for the BNA Double MQM bonus. The flight from DTW-LAS and the return LAS-DTW shared the same flight number. Due to an MX problem with the aircraft at DTW, I literally had about 25 minutes where I was off the plane...

To answer the question, yes, this caused a problem with SkyPesos being posted to my account. It took Kevin Pinto to fix it (thanks, Kevin!)

What's the deal with same the flight # both ways?
 

Another one... MSP-SJC and SJC-MSP both flight 2185.
Are they really running out of numbers?

Currently, all ATL-BNA-ATL that turn immediately have the same flight numbers throughout the day. Also, ATL-DFW-ATL - it appears to be the new norm at Delta on some routes.