IanWorthington

If an airline credits my flights to their FF program even though I had requested at checkin that they do not, had my FF number removed, and retained my boarding pass stub as proof, and then refuses to remove them so I can use them where and when I wish to, do I have any form of redress?

Does this constitute theft? Breach of contract? Anything else? Do I complain to the DoT?

Any suggestions welcome.

Adam1222

Frequent flyer miles do not belong to you, so there is no theft.

Without details as to what airline this is, and how exactly the airline got your frequent flyer program number and how you "requested at check in" that that account not be credited, there's not much anyone can do here.

BearX220

Have you tried writing to them?

IanWorthington

This is LAN. I booked it via my account then decided before flying I did not want to credit to my LAN account. At both online checkin and in person checkin I removed the FF number and I have a boarding pass stub that confirms this was done.

LAN refuse to remove them from my account.

beckoa

As this is LAN specific that's where we're moving this thread.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

Adam1222

Did you give them another account #? Did you receive any benefits based on your LAN status?

For future reference, if you want to credit to a different program, give them the new program info at check in; it is easier to change frequent flyer info then remove all frequent flyer info.

Your boarding pass is kind of irrelevant here.

LAN'S frequent flyer program is not regulated by the U.S. DOT.

In terms of breach of contract, LAN PASS is governed by the laws of Chile. http://www.lan.com/en_us/sitio_personas/lanpass/about-lanpass/terms-and-conditions/index.html

bingocallerb22

Hi Ian:

I suggest filing a complaint on the LAN Perú webpage on their Libro de Reclamaciones. They will pay more attention there:

http://www.lan.com/cgi-bin/feedback/...ciones&claim=1

Cheers

sdsearch

Did you want it credited to another account? You didn't mention that, you just keep talking about removal.

Why remove it? What does it hurt to credit it to your LAN account if you didn't want it credited to somewhere else???

MarkXS

Wow, it's way over the top to call it "theft". But LAN doesn't seem to be able to change FF number after it's first been entered in the reservation. Not even if at online or kiosk check-in, it appears that you have changed it.

That just happened to me 3 weeks ago. I've switched my oneworld earnings to British Airways Executive Club (various reasons, mostly the "Household Account" ability to combine with wife's). I'd entered the BA number when I bought the ticket on LAN's website.

Though I hadn't used AA AAdvantage in years, I decided to check, and it turns out that AA gives 100% credit for international flights in LAN O class (dirt-cheap coach) while BA gives only 25% (as does LanPass itself). Given my Uruguay to San Francisco roundtrip would get me just about 12.5K RDM in AAdvantage, enough for a 1-way US/Canada (which is useful to me on my occasional USA visits), I decided to change it to my AA number.

Online checkin at LAN.com did let me change to AAdvantage, and my home-printed BPs had my AA number.

But the flights, and the LAN airport-issued BP for my connecting flight, had the original BA number. Everything posted to BA. At only 25%.

Wasn't worth the battle. Left it in BAEC. With the Household account combo, we've got enough out of the trip that we now can get to Lima or other shorthauls for a getaway. Good enough. Learned better for next time. Either be really sure which program you want it in at booking. Or don't enter an FF number at all until check-in.

By the way, American had the exact same issue last year, where my wife had originally entered her AA number but then decided she wanted to credit to BA. AA website doesn't allow changing, AA checkin kiosks don't allow it, AA ticket agents and gate agents can't do it. AA gate agent insisted we had to call AA reservations to change it, even though we were already checked in, at the gate, and the flight was under airport control.

These systems are all primitive. Handle huge volumes, sure, but primitive, not real time, don't connect to each other well, even in the same airline. Just a fact of life in the airline world.

What was amazing is that after a social media tweet complaint to AA, they helpfully replied, forwarded on to BA's social media team, then both contacted us by private email, got the details, and backed it out from AA posting to BA in a few days.

Don't expect LAN to do that. Actually, don't expect any airline to do that. We were darn surprised AA and BA even gave a hoot about helping with us, never mind had the system access and business procedures in place to do it.

sdsearch

So it sounds like they stick with the original FF# you used for booking?

If so, in my case I hope that's dependable. What I want to do later this year is book a flight (intra-Argentina) on LAN.com with my LAN FF#, change it later to my AA FF# to select an exit row seat (since I'm oneworld Sapphire through AA but have no status at LAN), and then once I have the seat selection made change it back to LAN FF# to extend the expiration of all my LAN kms by 3 years.

If they change it back to how it was originally booked, that's exactly the way I'll want it (assuming they don't throw me out of the seats I selected while my AA FF# was in there).

(Or is there a less complicated way of selecting exit row ssats in advance on a LAN Argentina flight which I want to have extend my LAN kms expiration when the only status I have is with AA?)

bingocallerb22

LAN does change FF number at counter and at gate. Just they are not very good at it. One caution, if you change it on outbound make sure you change it for return too or it doesn't "stick".

Some of us do not want any FF number associated with a flight because we can then claim it the next year, for the next year. A LAN peculiarity, but useful.

Pirohua

Bingo, do you mean to say that I can fly my remaining biz class flights this year without logging them on LanPass, and then next year present LAN with the various boarding passes and they will be credited for 2016? Never heard of this but amazing if true.

JohnnyColombia

Yes that is precisely what Mr Bingo is saying