IT/Exception fares - is this correct and common?
 

My most recent trip on Delta was a very expensive YYZ-ATL roundtrip, purchased through my company's travel agency (American Express). Total cost was C$1117, with base fare of C$946, which is pretty expensive for this routing.

I was anticipating earning around 6,300 Skymiles (C$946 ~ US$700), based on the 9x earning rate as Platinum Medallion. However, I was shocked to see that I earned only 1,994 miles. After calling to inquire about this, the agent explained that this was due to the fare I booked being an "IT/Exception" fare, which earns miles based on distance traveled rather than ticket price. I've verified on my invoice that the fare class is Q, and no other indication of this being an IT/Exception fare. Ticket number starts with "006", which corresponds to the info on the exception fare page on the Delta website.

I'm wondering:
1. If this sounds correct?
2. If this is a common scenario?
3. If there was anything I should have done differently prior to booking to avoid this type of fare?
4. If there is any recourse at this point?


I'm currently on a status match to Platinum Medallion, based on my United MileagePlus 1K status. I'd like to retain this status to give me more flexibility to book on either alliance. However, this most recent experience doesn't leave me with a lot of confidence to switch some of my business to Delta. I've never experienced anything like this on prior bookings with United/Star Alliance flights.

Thanks in advance.

Seems right:

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...ion-fares.html

YYZ-ATL-YYZ: ~1480 miles round trip.
Q fares earn 75% - for your routing: ~1100 miles. Add 80% bonus on top of the base miles you earned and that's the 1994 miles you got.

There may be an agreement to rebate some percentage of the fare. I've heard of businesses with contracts that specify last-seat availability in Business at 40% of the lowest published Business fare.

But yes, /IT fares and the mileage you got are real things.

AMEX may have booked you on a bulk ticket. This has nothing to do with DL, but AMEX. Since they booked on a bulk ticket it will earn as an exception ticket. Have to ask AMEX to verify. Other way is to pull up receipt on delta.com. It shouldn't show a price I if it's a bulk ticket.

Same issue at UA/AA if you end up on a bulk ticket.

I checked the receipt on delta.com. It shows only the taxes/fees, but not the total price paid. The first page shows the price as $0.

I'm just really surprised that this fare earned such few miles, when it was such an expensive fare for this routing.

For future reference, is there any way identify these tickets before booking, to avoid booking such a ticket? It only showed as a Q fare when booking.

There is basically no way to tell this in advance, because the travel agency has no incentive to provide you with this information. The only thing you can do is see if the fare is bookable on delta.com for the same price - if it is, it is probably a normal fare. However, this is not always foolproof.

In this situation, the travel agency screwed you. However, in the future if you view the receipts on delta.com within 24 hours you may be able to tell if it is an unpublished/discounted fare and try to get a refund.

Got it... thanks for the info. This is disappointing to learn, but I will check for that in the future and hope it prevents this from occurring again.

Thanks again to all.

Oddly, I have flights that I *wish* I could book purposely as an exception fare, even at a slight premium. A little more transparency would be awfully nice...

Is this a surefire indication that tickets are booked as a bulk fare? I know some cruise tickets qualify as exception fares, but not all. I have a Z class ticket coming up, which cost $6,000 to Europe. Ticket is showing as paid with UATP. I have a feeling it's going to post as an exception fare, and I am going to lose a significant amount of MQD and redeemable miles:(

Yes, this is an exception fare. You will earn per distance not $.

You paid $6000 just for the airline ticket? Or did that price also include the cruise? A $6000 Z fare is pretty unusual. The 60-day advance ones are generally a good deal less than that.

Purchased one week before departure. Delta receipt, on the app, shows $1780 (although no indication of price on delta.com). Retail price is $6,000; that's some big discount then!

So you are saying that while the airline ticket would have cost $6000 retail, that's not actually what you paid? I'm not really seeing the basis for a complaint if so. If they were to credit based on fare paid, most would expect that to be on the price actually paid for the fare, not the "retail" price. Note the 20% of miles as MQD is calculated on the mileage earning (not including status bonus) which would be 150% of miles flown on a Z fare.

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MQD are calculated on distance on flight without any bonuses for fare class/elite level. The MQD percent of distance already varies depending on fare class.