When Do Flight Miles "Register" to your FF Account?
 

A number of years ago, before etickets, I checked in for a flight at the ticket counter but then had an emergency and skipped the flight. Several days later I found that the miles for that flight had posted to my account.

That meant that the miles were sent to my FF account as a result of the check-in process. Is that still true? Or do the miles get transferred when your boarding pass goes through the boarding machine now? If it is still the check-in that registers the miles, it would have obvious implications for mileage runs.

Miles are usually credited when the flight coupons are lifted. With paper tickets, I am guessing they lifted your flight coupons at check-in, so when tabulated all the flight coupons after the flight pushed back, your coupon was there, so you got the miles.

With e-tickets, "flight coupons" are lifted/processed after pushback by the computer.

Even with paper tickets, you would only have the flight coupon of your first segment lifted - so you'd only get miles for your first segment.

Well, actually, I did have connecting flights, checked in for both flights at the originating point, and actually got the miles for both flights. That is why I said that it was the check-in process that registered the miles, not the boarding process or the collection of paper tickets.

So I'm afraid that still leaves it open as to what happens with e-tickets.

How many flight coupons did they lift at check-in?

And which carrier was this with?

It's quite a few years ago, but as best I remember this was when the flight coupons had a boarding pass stub attached. They tore out the two flight coupons, with the boarding pass stub still attached, checked me in for the two flights, and gave the two coupons back to me. I was then to turn in one flight coupon at the gate upon boarding the first flight and the second coupon upon boarding the second flight. But I left the airport and never turned in either one.

I guess it's long enough ago that I could safely say, without fear of recrimination, that it was UA. That was the airline I flew the most, but I think I also remember that AA had a different procedure - If you checked in at the counter, I think they kept the flight coupon and just gave you back your boarding pass, but I'm not sure.

Not a good idea, especially after 9-11.