Freebie extra segments and audits
Jul 24, 1998, 7:03 am
#1
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Join Date: May 1998
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Freebie extra segments and audits
In another friend JoanH mentioned an acquaintance who was flying four segments to go BOS-ATL, just for the extra segments. This person ended up getting audited for this because they kicked up a stink when he got rebooked onto a direct flight and wanted all four segment credits.
Personally, the only thing I'll do to try and get extra segments is avoid direct flights with stops, since they cheat you out of a segment on those.
In the 20 months I've been flying with Delta (about 130 segments in that time on Delta) they've missed one segment on my frequent flyer account, which I think is pretty good. On the other hand, I've also picked up about five "freebie" segments that I didn't really deserve.
In one case I was flying an award ticket, and my SAN-ATL flight got cancelled, so instead of waiting 6 hours for the next available flight, I just flew into Orange County. The ticket they gave me earned miles (which gave me 3,000 free miles or so with the Gold Medallion Bonus plus the free segment). In a couple of other instances, I flew stand by or got off a delayed flight and got credit for two different flights on the same route on the same day (you'd think their computer would figure this one out). Another time I was flying DFW-MSY and took a voluntary bump and they routed me through ATL instead, giving me an extra segment and free ticket that only cost me a couple of hours (I did it for the free ticket obviously, the extra segment and miles was just an added bonus).
My question is this: Has anyone here or anyone you known ever been audited for this type of thing? Even if I were, I assume they would just take away the few extra miles and segments, and not revoke my Medallion status. After all, it's not like I was "knowingly" doing this, it's more a case of computer error. Losing my Gold Medallion status certainly would not be worth a few extra miles and segments.
Personally, the only thing I'll do to try and get extra segments is avoid direct flights with stops, since they cheat you out of a segment on those.
In the 20 months I've been flying with Delta (about 130 segments in that time on Delta) they've missed one segment on my frequent flyer account, which I think is pretty good. On the other hand, I've also picked up about five "freebie" segments that I didn't really deserve.
In one case I was flying an award ticket, and my SAN-ATL flight got cancelled, so instead of waiting 6 hours for the next available flight, I just flew into Orange County. The ticket they gave me earned miles (which gave me 3,000 free miles or so with the Gold Medallion Bonus plus the free segment). In a couple of other instances, I flew stand by or got off a delayed flight and got credit for two different flights on the same route on the same day (you'd think their computer would figure this one out). Another time I was flying DFW-MSY and took a voluntary bump and they routed me through ATL instead, giving me an extra segment and free ticket that only cost me a couple of hours (I did it for the free ticket obviously, the extra segment and miles was just an added bonus).
My question is this: Has anyone here or anyone you known ever been audited for this type of thing? Even if I were, I assume they would just take away the few extra miles and segments, and not revoke my Medallion status. After all, it's not like I was "knowingly" doing this, it's more a case of computer error. Losing my Gold Medallion status certainly would not be worth a few extra miles and segments.
Jul 24, 1998, 8:55 pm
#2
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Posts: 28
Beck - I'm with you, I hate not getting credit for those that keep the same flight number but change planes. I'm sorry, but in my mind, if you have to change planes, thats a connection. I can somehow see both sides of the direct flight issue, you trade not having to run through the airport for the extra segment. A few weeks back, I went to LAS on a direct flight that stopped in PHX and only about 3 of us stayed on the plane. We chatted with the crew and they were all lovely, it was a nice break in my day.
I remember reading in the Atlanta paper at the beginning of the year that Delta was going to start cracking down on ticket and frequent flyer fraud and would close accounts in cases of big offenders. If I wer you, I don't think that I would worry about being audited if the mistakes that you are talking about are minimal and caused by a Delta error. I use to work in security for a bank and I know that we usually had bigger fish to fry than some poor guy who had a check clear for $10.11 instead of $11.01. I'm sure that the frequent flyer security is probably in the same boat. At the most, they would probably just deduct the miles that shouldn't have posted.
I remember reading in the Atlanta paper at the beginning of the year that Delta was going to start cracking down on ticket and frequent flyer fraud and would close accounts in cases of big offenders. If I wer you, I don't think that I would worry about being audited if the mistakes that you are talking about are minimal and caused by a Delta error. I use to work in security for a bank and I know that we usually had bigger fish to fry than some poor guy who had a check clear for $10.11 instead of $11.01. I'm sure that the frequent flyer security is probably in the same boat. At the most, they would probably just deduct the miles that shouldn't have posted.