What to do if you don’t get miles for a flight

If you book a flight and provide your frequent flyer number, your rewards should be automatically credited to your account. However, this is not always the case. Many frequent travelers have experienced situations where they did not receive the points or miles they should have. So, if something seems off, it probably is.

Assuming your ticket qualifies for mileage credit and you have received either no miles or an incorrect number, here's what you should do in the event of an airline mileage mishap.

My recent mileage mishap

Last year, on a trip to Colombia, I traveled with Avianca — a Star Alliance partner — on three separate Avianca-issued flights. I purchased each flight in the L fare class, so by adding my United Airlines MileagePlus number to my Avianca reservations, I expected to earn miles and Premier qualifying points at a 75% basis.

However, none of the three flights posted correctly in the L fare class to my MileagePlus account. Most notably, the flight from Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Bogota's El Dorado International Airport Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento (BOG) was erroneously posted in the T fare class, which earns miles at a 25% basis. That's a far cry from the 75% basis that should have been provided.

I contacted the United Premier 1K MileagePlus service center regarding my Avianca ticket. They suggested that I email mileageplus@united.com, attaching copies of my Avianca e-tickets and paper boarding passes for them to review. I had to go through a similar process a year ago when a Eurowings flight didn't get credited to my account. From that experience, I learned to hold on to my paper boarding passes until the miles were properly added to my account.

Jumping back to the Colombia mishap: After not hearing back for a week, I sent a follow-up email. This time, I heard back from United within a day, and I logged in to my MileagePlus account to see the updated activity.

The two friends I traveled with — one a United Premier Platinum and the other a Premier Gold — also had this issue with the same Avianca flights. Despite providing the same information to United, one friend never received proper credit for their flights.

Related: United's best-kept elite status secret: How to earn PQPs faster with partner flights

Why this happens — and what you can do

You probably have many questions by now.

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While we may never fully understand why mileage mishaps happen, if you inquire about them, you'll likely receive a generic explanation like, "It's a technical error."

Personally, I experience three or four mileage mishaps per year, which amounts to roughly 5% of my flights. However, this year has been unusual, with three consecutive errors from Avianca. I have also assisted numerous friends in getting their mileage discrepancies resolved. Interestingly, in all these cases, I have never seen a mileage mishap in favor of the customer. However, browsing the frequent flyer forum FlyerTalk, you'll find plenty of stories where individuals have benefited from such mishaps.

It's worth noting that partner flights are more prone to posting inaccurate mileage. Due to different ticketing systems and loyalty programs, earning AAdvantage miles on a Cathay Pacific ticket, for example, is inherently more complex than earning them on an American Airlines-issued and -operated ticket.

To determine the number of miles you will earn before your flight, you can calculate it in advance. For instance, if you're booking a United flight and want to credit it to your MileagePlus account, you can select the "Details" option for a specific flight and then choose "base award miles." Depending on your status, a pop-up will display the expected mileage earnings.

While this is how it works with United, it's pretty similar to the other major U.S. carriers. But if you book a ticket with a partner airline or an online travel agency like Expedia and credit it to the airline of your choice, the loyalty program may calculate your mileage accrual based on the distance of your flight and your fare class.

For example, assume you're taking a Japan Airlines flight from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Haneda Airport (HND) in economy class booked in the L fare class. According to the AAdvantage-Japan Airlines partner page, this type of fare would earn miles at a 50% basis — so 50% of the flight distance. The distance between SFO and HND is 5,160 miles, so an AAdvantage member without status would earn 2,580 AAdvantage miles for this ticket.

But this doesn't mean that mileage mishaps can't happen with the loyalty program of the airline selling the flight. When running through a year's worth of Southwest Airlines activities, I noticed two flights omitted from my aunt's Rapid Rewards account. We got the flights manually added to her account by contacting customer support.

While it might seem like it's more than necessary, here are the best ways to "fight" mileage mishaps:

1. Know how many miles and elite qualifying metrics you should earn on a flight.
2. Have easy access to your original flight's e-ticket (ideally as a PDF document) with the 13- or 14-digit ticket number and fare class.
3. Retain your paper boarding pass until your flight posts — and you verify the amount is correct (airlines may ask for a copy of a paper boarding pass).
4. Routinely audit your loyalty accounts (you generally have up to 12 months from the original date of your flight to contest any activity in your account).

Related: Quick Points: How and why you should regularly audit your loyalty accounts

Troubleshooting with the airline

You should plan to wait at least 14 business days from the time of your flight before reaching out to your airline for assistance. If you contact it before this time, it may decline your request and ask you to reach out later.

There's little that phone agents can do on the spot in almost all mileage mishap scenarios. You'll need to give your airline time to research, and agents may need to verify documents, which almost always can't be done over the phone.

So, your best bet is to log in to your loyalty account and look for something like "request mileage credit." Although this method is generally used to earn miles retroactively on a flight where a frequent flyer program wasn't provided, it will also let an airline research a flight missing from your account.

It's similar on all the airlines, but you can also visit the "contact us" form to submit an inquiry if you're running into issues.

Related: How to retroactively credit flights to your frequent flyer account

Bottom line

You're being cheated out of your points and miles when you fly and don't earn what your airline says you'll earn. If you have to contest how a flight posted to your account, airlines will generally assume that you're in the wrong unless you can provide paper documentation that suggests otherwise.

That's why it's important to keep a copy of your e-ticket and save your paper boarding pass(es) until your flights are properly posted, especially when traveling with a partner or on a codeshare flight. You should also know how many miles and elite qualifying metrics you should earn before you fly, so you know what to look out for after the flight.

As it turns out, airlines aren't the only ones to have mishaps. It's in your best interest to get into the routine of checking your hotel and airline accounts regularly. When you catch an error, you'll quickly realize that your due diligence is worth your while.

Related reading:

• When is the best time to book flights for the cheapest airfare?
• The best airline credit cards
• What exactly are airline miles, anyway?
• 6 real-life strategies you can use when your flight is canceled or delayed
• Maximize your airfare: The best credit cards for booking flights
• The best credit cards to reach elite status
• What are points and miles worth? TPG's monthly valuations