Is there a way to get miles for a flight you've purchased in the last month or so? I didn't get into this whole mile collection thing until I stumbled across this site, and I am wondering how I can collect miles for some flights I've purchased (though have not taken yet) in the last little bit.

Thanks

Welcome to Flyertalk!

If you haven't actually flown yet, you can sign up for the airline's FF program, most allow online enrollment, and then call to add your number to the reservation. The miles should then post automatically (but always keep your BP and receipt until the miles show up in your account, in case there is a kink in the system).

If you're location is London, Ontario, I might assume you are looking to earn Aeroplan miles, and you can definitely enroll in the program online, just go to aeroplan.com. Once you have enrolled, call AC reservations, and they will add the number to your reservation. You may also be able to add this number online.

You didn't mention what airline(s). There may be specific other suggestions based on that.

But anyway, in addition to what's mentioned above, once you have your frequent flyer number (that's usable with the airline you're flying), you can always provide it at check-in for most airlines (though it may depend on how you want to check in!).

in some cases, one can fly and then sign up and have activity retroactively applied up to a few months.

I see that this thread is a couple years old, but it addresses (in part) a question I have.

I am somewhat new to the idea of frequent flyer programs. I do have a Delta Skymiles account, but it has no miles in it, as I have not flown often until recently. In the past month and a half I have taken the following trips:

11/18 San Francisco to Minneapolis with stopover in Phoenix (U.S. Airways)
11/22 Minneapolis to Washington DC with stopover in Philadelphia (U.S. Airways)
12/2 Washington DC to Los Angeles with stopover in Philadelphia (U.S. Airways)
12/4 Los Angeles to London (Air New Zealand)
12/12 London to Barcelona (British Airways)
12/18 Barcelona to Casablanca (Royal Air du Morac)
12/22 Casablanca to Cairo with unplanned stop in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt Air)
12/28 Cairo to Istanbul (Turkish Airlines)
1/1 Istanbul to Athens (Aegean Air)

Tomorrow, January 5, 2011, I am flying from Athens to Prague, on Malev Hungarian Airlines. I have not yet bought this ticket, but will do so shortly.

My question is-- if I sign up for a frequent flyer program, is there any way to get credit for some or all of the trips I have recently taken? I know some of the airlines are part of the Star Alliance, others are part of other programs. I have searched online, and throughout this site, but have not found any definitive answers.

Perhaps some experienced user can offer me some advice as to what mileage program(s) would be best for me, and what (if anything) I can do to gain credit for all those recent trips.

I would guess it depends on how long ago the flight was and if it was on the base carrier's line (i.e a true Delta flight for Delta). Best bet is to call customer service and ask

Maybe I didn't express myself well. My question is this:

If I am not a member of a program, is there a way I can join, say, the Star Alliance and receive credit for my recent flights (all within the past 60 days)?

If not, are there any programs that are (or may soon) offer a promotion of any sort allowing one to retroactively add travel done in the past 60 days or so?

The majority of those flights were obviously with *A...

The US Airways ("US") program "Dividend Miles" seems to allow claims for past flights up to 6 months old... so may be the better option?

BTW you don't join the *A as such... you join the FF program of a member airline... but you can credit all eligible flights to that program...

I belong to NZ's "Airpoints" program fr'instance - and have credited flights from a whole bunch of *A airlines in the last 12 months.... It may seem surprising but I wouldn't recommend that particular program without knowing your future travel plans and what it is you most want from the program... "Airpoints" is... unusual...

Pretty much every program allows retroactive credit. This is deliberate. They want to promote their programs in flight via announcements and ads in in-flight magazines. They encourage passengers to sign up for these programs by telling them they can get credit for the flight they're on. That, of course, would have to be retroactive (unless one signs up online during the flight itself, if it offers Internet connectivity). They allow a reasonable time after completion of a trip to do this.

What a given airline considers a "reasonable time" may vary, of course. The ones I've looked at all offer 90 days or more, but there may be some 30-day limits out there.

Once you register for a program, you typically have more time than that (say, a year) to pursue flights that don't post. This isn't the usual situation, but it happens often enough for a variety of reasons. You have to keep on top of things to avoid missing out on credit.