Punki

We recently flew SEA/IAD/FRA and received 6,387 miles.

On our return trip FRA/IAD/SEA we received 5,109 miles.

Mileage Plus had no explanation for this discrepancy and referred me to Customer Service. Customer Service had no explnation and referred me back to Mileage Plus.

The second Mileage Plus agent tried to tell me that we received mileage on the ticket we bought FRA/SEA, with the assumption that we would fly over the pole, not the ticket we actually flew FRA/IAD/SEA. Now that was just silly, so I requested to talk to a supervisor.

She was a very nice lady who removed the original posting and manually posted the two flight segments so we finally received the 6,387 miles that we actually flew.

1,278 miles closer to 1k for 2008.

CPMaverick

Was the return trip all the same flight number? ie, a 'direct' flight with one stop?

If so it is standard UA procedure to credit only the FRA-SEA mileage.

mahasamatman

Direct flights need to be avoided at all costs. This is only one example of the problems they cause.

GoingAway

917 is fra-iad-sea so I'm pretty sure you hit it ... Punki - you're lucky someone switched it for you as you were not entitled (based on MPs workings) to the additional mileage of separately ticketed segments if you were booked on the one-stop version.

WindFlyer

It would seem to me that you were booked on UA917 as a thru FRA-SEA flight with only one flight coupon and as such you'd only be entitled to the direct point-to-point mileage. If this is the case, the supervisor just gifted you those 1,278 EQMs.

Having said that, I wish UA trained its employees to provide the proper explanations of rules... that little story about over the pole is just silly .

someotherguy

No, it's just a slightly garbled version (and it might be the OP who garbled it) of the correct explanation, which is that on a direct flight the miles are calculated on the basis of a nonstop routing, which in the case of FRA-SEA goes pretty far north: great circle route

someotherguy

For the record: the other major problem is that for upgrades, all the legs have to be available for any of them to clear. When they have different flight numbers, the legs clear separately.

Punki

Yes, you are right someotherguy . I have run into the upgrade issue on Flight #916 SEA/FRA. Sometimes an agent will split the record into two consecutive flights and clear them one at a time.

Until and unless someone can come up with a logical explanation why I should not receive credit for the miles I actually fly, (and that is highly unlikely), I will continue to call until they correct my record. I don't see it as a "gift". I see it as receiving the actual miles I flew and rightfully deserve.

mahasamatman

Because that's United's documented policy.

WindFlyer

What I'd suggest you do is insist at booking, preferably (or at any point before actually taking the flights) that the flights be booked as separate segments (it'll cost you a handful of dollars more in taxes, BTW)... then your upgrades will clear segment by segment as available, and your miles will post correctly.

Until then, overrides by supervisors to credit segment miles on tickets booked directly are a gift—whether you choose to see it as such or not

cblaisd

The previous two posters are quite correct, and this "direct" flight trap has been discussed many, many times here. And, when all is said and done, it's also true that "Each member shall be responsible for remaining knowledgeable as to the Program Rules..."

robb

I guess the logical explanation is that you were not in any way entitled to those miles and are quite lucky you could chase down someone to give them to you. The rules are clear on direct flights, and what's more, you clearly understand them or else you wouldn't have posted the specific flight number to make it easier for people to reference the rule you've had explained and dislike.

To wit, here's a quote from 7 years ago where you'd had the same issue explained to you, but had convinced someone to break the rules:

Punki

And that is exactly as it should be. ^

I deserve every "butt in seat" mile that I fly, and, until and unless I hear a logical explanation why that should not be true, I will continue to fight it tooth and nail. I would hope that every other dedicated UA flyer would do the same. It is only fair and right that we should get credit for the miles we actually fly--not for some imaginary and non-existent route that only exists in the............, well it actually doesn't exist anywhere. Why would they pretend that it did?

Sorry, cblaisd, but I refuse to pretend to be more "knowledgable" than the folks at Mileage Plus and the folks at UA Customer Service. If they write a rule that is so obscure, just plain silly, and indefensible that none of their emloyees can find a way to justify it, I will continue to fight to make certain that they do not cheat me out of my rightfully flown miles.

I don't have a lot of patience for foolishness.

cblaisd

Just curious, but does your logic work the other way too? Do you feel like you don't deserve the extra 163 miles that you are given when you fly SFO-LAX and are credited with 500 miles? Is that rule equally unfair? Do you ask United to take back those miles because their 500 mile minimum rule is not logical?

Agree.

Neither do the rest of us.

Punki

If I ever had occasion to fly SFO/LAX it wouldn't matter to me in the least if I receive the extra 163 miles. It does matter to me if I lose over 1,200 miles per flight on a very long trip. On a round trip SEA/FRA/SEA on UA#916 and UA#917, the total difference in mileage between the actual route and the imaginary route is equal to a US transcon.

The lovely thing is that each of us can handle our own accounts as we see fit and those who want to claim the miles they actually flew can do so, just as those who choose to accept the number miles they might have received had a direct flight existed can do that.