gaggia

Hello FT!
I recently completed a connection from Guatemala City (GUA) to Flores (FRS) on Avianca, which is partnered with MP for earning miles. After the mergers in the past years, Avianca now has multiple subsidiaries, and even though everything inside and outside the plane said Avianca (logos, magazine, FA uniform, and so on), according to my boarding pass it was "operated by Aviateca" which is now known as Avianca Guatemala (GU) even though the flight number is listed as AV 7978 (Avianca).

MP is refusing to credit me miles for this connection, even though I booked the connection on United.com and my reservation confirmation lists out the miles I was supposed to receive. My ticket is in 016 ticket stock and the booking code is eligible for Avianca. Do you guys have any idea whether I might have standing?

Thanks!

br2k

I am curious too as I have an upcoming flight on "Avianca Ecuador", which will likely suffer the same fate.

WineCountryUA

United is not posting because Avianca is not approving the posting. The decision is in Avianca's hands. Numerous *A carriers are not supporting mileage earning of their low-cost subsidiaries.


Aviateca / Avianca Guatemala is listed on Wikipedia as Star Alliance (affiliate) which has not guaranteed miles in other cases. In the *A system the flight operator makes the decision on mileage earning.

exerda

Unfortunately, Avianca's word is what counts here.

I was worried recently as CM changed one of my flights to "Operated by AeroRepublica Colombia" that it wouldn't credit, and that MP would magically allocate a lot of the PQDs to that flight... but it posted just like a regular CM flight.

But last year, had an A3 flight which they changed after booking to "Operated by Olympic Air" not post (and it was even on A3 metal with A3 stuff everywhere onboard), nor offer any *A benefits (boarding, bags, etc.). So it balanced out, I suppose.

br2k

So, when Avianca substitutes their own metal with WAMOS air, and those flights do not post miles in the MP, it's Avianca who is denying mileage earning? I mean - that would be double-dishonest, first substitute inferior aircraft and then do not provide some of the benefits as intended.

jsloan

Yes it is.

However, if you are in that situation, you may be able to get a refund / change of carrier. If your itinerary includes the US, you definitely can, as it's a DOT regulation that the operating carrier be disclosed during the booking process. (Without looking, I'd guess that you'd have the same option if it happened to be a flight to Europe). However, even if you're on an itinerary that doesn't involve the US, I'd go ahead and call.

gaggia

Do you think there's any way to convince Avianca to credit these miles to me at this point? Aviateca is not even a low-cost carrier; it's simply a relic of the corporate restructuring that occurred during the mergers of the past years. Beyond that, there is simply no difference to mainline Avianca: the website is the same, the planes are the same, and the soft product is the same.

For that matter, I was able to reserve an MP award ticket with Aviateca legs, despite the fact that UA's website lacks any mention of Aviateca as a partner with whom you can spend miles.

WineCountryUA

There is no process for an individual to approach the operating carrier. You can ask UA to try again but don't expect an individual exception.

Given this is a sub-200 mile flight there isn't alot of miles to spend a lot of time on getting. What were the PQDs?

dvs7310

If you are able to book it as a MileagePlus award, then it should credit if flown on a revenue ticket. I'd ask MileagePlus Service Center push back on AV to get credit on it. Though as WineCountryUA states, it's not very many miles, so isn't likely to make a difference at the end of the year.

I had a CM flight last year that didn't credit correctly due to upgrading with an RPU. It took several rounds with MP Service Center to get it corrected because CM kept denying credit. Mine though was a couple thousand miles so was well worth pursuing.

br2k

Just had a flight on Avianca Ecuador that posted as Avianca (to another program). So, looks like at least some of those subsidiary carriers should earn as Avianca itself.

gaggia

Here's an update for everyone here and as a reference for folks who might encounter the same situation:

At first, United refused to credit the miles because my "flight was operated by Aviateca which is not a partner in the MileagePlus program." I then contacted Avianca over the phone, who confirmed to me that "the two airlines are the same" and that they credit miles on Aviateca to Star Alliance partners the same way as with Avianca. Because the soft and hard products are identical, you wouldn't know you're flying Aviateca over Avianca unless you scrutinized the small print on the boarding pass.

But when I contacted Avianca over e-mail to get a written confirmation I could send over to United, they responded by telling me they were not responsible for United's decisions on crediting miles and that I actually needed to contact them instead, "since not all subsidiaries are applicable to earn miles in all Star Alliance frequent flyer program."

Then when I pushed back on United, the miles appeared on my account and I got a response with a short note saying that no worries, the miles are there. When I pushed to get clarity on what policy they were following, they said that all partner operated flights under United ticket stock will earn miles based on ticket fare given that the fare class purchased is still a valid class to earn miles. Moreover, Aviateca is a subsidiary of Avianca thus it is considered a partner of United."

In other words, both airlines contradicted themselves outright, but I walked away with my miles at the end of the day. I hope requesting miles weren't such a pain in the neck

PTY1K

Good morning all

I'm looking for some guidance with a flight from Cusco to Lima operated by Avianca Peru. The fare codes are E or A, which are eligible for Avianca's international flights and domestic flights within Colombia. I can't find an earning chart for flights within Peru. Although it is only 363 miles, it would push me to the next elite status on United. So, my questions:

- Does anybody have experience of Avianca Peru flights posting in general?
- Does anybody have experience of Avianca Peru flights posting the 500-mile minimum PQM for elites?
- The flight is available for purchase on United; would it make any difference to book the flight on a 016 ticket?

Thanks and happy travels!

Kacee

Edited: According to the PQM earning chart, Premiers will get 500 mile minimum. Note that depends on accrual rate, so a 50% earning fare would accrue 250 miles minimum.

They must have added this since I last flew AV, likely due to the new JV.

AV Accruals