Miles taken from wrong account
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 41
Miles taken from wrong account
Booked flights from LHR to ORD for family members with upgrades using miles from my account. Maybe because my and son’s names are same, miles were taken from his account. United reservations confirms that booking shows miles were to be from my account, but UA Mileage Plus says miles were taken from his account appropriately - which is impossible since I made reservation. Very helpful agent with Internat’l Reservations said I would have to spend 4-5 hours with a knowledgeable agent in MP - not someone in Manila (her words) - to try to get to the right level within UA to straighten this out. Does anyone have any ideas on a less painful and time consuming way to deal with this?
#4
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,567
Switching the source of the miles on a confirmed upgrade takes a very competent agent -- it probably could be done in 30-60 minutes with the right agent BUT it is not policy to make such changes. Might be done for high elites if switching from miles to PlusPoints -- but rare.
I don't see how if you were logged in on the right account that miles could have been deducted from another account.
Call MP Customer Support during USA business hours and ask for a supervisor to help.
Phone
Within the U.S. and Canada
7:00 a.m.–midnight (CT), daily1-800-421-4655 (toll-free)
1-713-952-1630 (charges may apply)
#5
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: PHL
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum, Raddison Platinum, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 5,256
Just takes the right agent, finding that agent is another story.
Might be easier to just use your miles the next time your son needs to use his.
Might be easier to just use your miles the next time your son needs to use his.
#6
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,567
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,351
Could be a good clue, but not necessarily conclusive if card was entered manually (not saved to profile), for example.
I agree that some kind of computer sharing / wrong log-in mix-up is most likely. I have made mistakes like that in the past, for example creating an entirely new booking rather than changing an existing one, or making a booking for the wrong passenger saved to profile. Fortunately caught those quickly enough to rectify easily (cancel, re-do).
Fundamentally I am quite sure there's no way for a request from one account to be "billed" to another account. They don't link accounts to that degree.
edit add: the record will show which account was supporting the waitlist request from the time of request — did the agent actually confirm it says account 1 requested and saw account 2 wound up debited?
I agree that some kind of computer sharing / wrong log-in mix-up is most likely. I have made mistakes like that in the past, for example creating an entirely new booking rather than changing an existing one, or making a booking for the wrong passenger saved to profile. Fortunately caught those quickly enough to rectify easily (cancel, re-do).
Fundamentally I am quite sure there's no way for a request from one account to be "billed" to another account. They don't link accounts to that degree.
edit add: the record will show which account was supporting the waitlist request from the time of request — did the agent actually confirm it says account 1 requested and saw account 2 wound up debited?
Last edited by fumje; May 27, 2022 at 11:36 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 41
I did the booking from my account (after logging in online) with my credit card. I received - and still have - a receipt showing that the miles were deducted from my account, the copay from my credit card account. The “helpful agent” told me that her record showed the miles were deducted from my account.
Could it possibly make a difference that I changed the outbound flight and date a couple of days later, paid all fare increases etc., by phone with an agent in some foreign land? But my son’s MP account shows the deduction from his account on the date of my original purchase, so presumptively the itinerary change should have no bearing on the mystery.
Also, my son’s MP number is in my account profile since I have included him as a passenger on many prior bookings.
Could it possibly make a difference that I changed the outbound flight and date a couple of days later, paid all fare increases etc., by phone with an agent in some foreign land? But my son’s MP account shows the deduction from his account on the date of my original purchase, so presumptively the itinerary change should have no bearing on the mystery.
Also, my son’s MP number is in my account profile since I have included him as a passenger on many prior bookings.
#9
Moderator: United Airlines
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,567
I did the booking from my account (after logging in online) with my credit card. I received - and still have - a receipt showing that the miles were deducted from my account, the copay from my credit card account. The “helpful agent” told me that her record showed the miles were deducted from my account.....
Suggestion to call MP SC still stands and make sure you have a competent agent as this could get messed up badly otherwise.
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,351
I did the booking from my account (after logging in online) with my credit card. I received - and still have - a receipt showing that the miles were deducted from my account, the copay from my credit card account. The “helpful agent” told me that her record showed the miles were deducted from my account.
Could it possibly make a difference that I changed the outbound flight and date a couple of days later, paid all fare increases etc., by phone with an agent in some foreign land? But my son’s MP account shows the deduction from his account on the date of my original purchase, so presumptively the itinerary change should have no bearing on the mystery.
Also, my son’s MP number is in my account profile since I have included him as a passenger on many prior bookings.
Could it possibly make a difference that I changed the outbound flight and date a couple of days later, paid all fare increases etc., by phone with an agent in some foreign land? But my son’s MP account shows the deduction from his account on the date of my original purchase, so presumptively the itinerary change should have no bearing on the mystery.
Also, my son’s MP number is in my account profile since I have included him as a passenger on many prior bookings.
#11
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Bellingham/Gainesville
Programs: UA-G MM, Priority Club Platinum, Avis First, Hertz 5*, Red Lion
Posts: 2,808
I did the booking from my account (after logging in online) with my credit card. I received - and still have - a receipt showing that the miles were deducted from my account, the copay from my credit card account. The “helpful agent” told me that her record showed the miles were deducted from my account.
Could it possibly make a difference that I changed the outbound flight and date a couple of days later, paid all fare increases etc., by phone with an agent in some foreign land? But my son’s MP account shows the deduction from his account on the date of my original purchase, so presumptively the itinerary change should have no bearing on the mystery.
Also, my son’s MP number is in my account profile since I have included him as a passenger on many prior bookings.
Could it possibly make a difference that I changed the outbound flight and date a couple of days later, paid all fare increases etc., by phone with an agent in some foreign land? But my son’s MP account shows the deduction from his account on the date of my original purchase, so presumptively the itinerary change should have no bearing on the mystery.
Also, my son’s MP number is in my account profile since I have included him as a passenger on many prior bookings.