s777bg

Something similar happened to me few months ago. OJ cash J ticket that I was crediting to Delta :
1.JFK-CDG-SEZ (AF)
2. SOF-AMS-BOS

They credited my wife’s and child’s account for the 1. (and 2.) , but they never credited my account for the first leg, because I didn’t fly ?!? It took me close to two months and several calls , emails and chat sessions with Delta , till I got the miles credited .In the meantime , I had submitted BPs, pics of me on the plane and SEZ entry stamps. Finally I got hold of sympathetic agent that fixed the issue..

Goodoldflyer

Maybe the boarding pass didn't scan when boarding the flight.

If that's the case, it is odd that the return didn't get cancelled.

I can see why they can't (and shouldn't) take this lightly, though.

Flying without being on the manifest has to be "an incident".

DLASflyer

I think people not making it on the manifest happens more often than some of you think. Just the other day at SLC the flight attendants on my flight did a manual count and it was off by 4! They figured out who was missing but couldn't find them. Operations determined the missing pax probably got on a different plane to a different destination but had no idea which one. (this was in hard stand land.) No one seemed particularly concerned about it and the FAs commented many of their colleagues don't even count.

Similarly at my home station of JAC there are often multiple planes boarding and deplaning on the same tarmac area with passengers mixing. People routinely get on the wrong plane, even the wrong airline.

Goodoldflyer

I think that's probably true, but I've been on more than one flight where they held it up because they couldn't account for one passenger. In one case, they called the guy's name for 20 minutes before he eventually was found. How he remained unaware they were trying to find him I'll never know, but it definitely caused our flight to be late.

That said, I bet you're right that it does happen sometimes, and maybe frequently.

KDCAflyer

It's a bigger deal in OP's case since it's an international flight.

SteveinA2

I had this happen to me too. They said I was not on a flight, so I couldn't get my miles. I pushed back to no avail....until I submitted a refund request. If I was not on the flight I'd like my $700 flight cost back. Unfortunately, I didn't get the refund but the miles suddenly credited.

lindros2

I’ve had this happen twice.
One time they jammed my name on someone else’s PNR. Last minute standby end-around. Kind of risky, huh?
And I was seated next to Raphael Bostic. Google him.

aroundtheworld76

It's happened to me before. When I emailed DL for mileage credit that hadn't posted, they replied with an admonishment to "scan my boarding pass properly when boarding"... Ummm. I did.

fsuj25

Now I don’t feel silly for stopping and waiting until the boarding pass scanner light turns green

nrr

Each device (iPhone, iPad etc.) have unique identifiers, so when you use one of these inflight in theory they should know that ones device is in use, I don't know if they retain that info later on.

flyerCO

Gogo/Delta will have records. Even with subscription, must sign in and activate Wifi

dbuckho

Happened to me in 2006. Stood by for an earlier flight ATl-LAX. A seat opened up at the last minute but there was an issue assigning me - GA at the counter tore my boarding pass, wrote my seat number on it, and told the other GA at the door to let me on and she would fix the ticket. Definitely trying to get the door shut.

When the miles did not post and I was told multiple times via an email case that I did not fly, had to eventually send a letter where included the following (as I still have that letter on my computer!)…

Scanned Page 1:
• A scan of my eticket receipt showing the itinerary (includes the ticket number for your reference)
• The detached half of my boarding pass for July 30. I was originally scheduled to return to LAX on flight 395 (which is what the boarding pass says and what I checked in for), but I got to the airport early was able to stand-by for the earlier flight 1037. The gate agent at A1 wrote my new seat number - "20D" - on the boarding pass and took the other half. She said she was going to fix the ticket. Obviously something got messed up here, but the other half of this boarding pass should be in the paper records for the flight (or you have a real FAA problem!).

2. Scanned Page 2:
• Copy of my Hertz receipt showing me returning a car at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, timestamp 7/30/06 16:04 (4:04 PM)
• As further proof that I went from Atlanta to Los Angeles in approximately 5 hours on 7/30, I have also scanned my Easy Park receipt timestamp July 30, 2006 6:46 PM showing me physically back in Los Angeles.

3. Printed Page 1
• Page 11 from my August Verizon Wireless bill, showing my calls transactions for 7/30. They clearly show me in Atlanta and making a call at 4:43 telling my wife I may get on the earlier flight and at 4:57 telling her I got on the earlier flight -- and then showing me at LAX (El Segundo) at 6:30 PM Pacific just after Delta flight 1037 landed (and I did not fly myself to LAX).

I also pointed out that if I really did not fly, then for a $50 change fee I could really take advantage of the situation and reuse the ticket - but that since I did get the service from Delta I really just wanted the miles.

Not sure which part got it done but the flight was credited. Probably the last part about reusing the ticket.

Keyser

It's possible to purchase before the flight but the internet provider can check usage on-board so it will be very easy to verify if wi-fi was used on the flight.

lindros2

What the hell is with ATL<>LAX (both directions). It seems like every anomaly is related to this route...
Last-minute seat assignments.. no credit...
(dating back to me leaving my Bose headphones and iPod on the gate counter in ATL, and magically ending up on my actual plane... which was odd for so many ways)

Zorak

Same

Note FYI that Android and IOS both have privacy settings that randomize your device's wifi address (aka MAC address, though in this context it is unrelated to Apple Macs and stands for something else) on each connection, so you can't be tracked this way...

... this would be better evidence -- of course, theoretically you could have given someone else your password to login, but since this is for mileage credit and not a court of law, it's probably sufficient.
​​​​​
how you can get your hands on these records or persuade DL to look them up, I dunno.