“Here’s a word of advice for you if this scenario were to happen to you: Keep the boarding pass, as there’s always a chance they might be able to retroactive the miles if you were that desperate. Don’t assume you’ll earn the miles, though.”
Earned as the result of a flight operated by Delta Air Lines from Baltimore to Atlanta, the SkyMiles which were in the account of
There is more to this story; but the additional details are not particularly relevant to the topic of this article.
Hang On to Your Boarding Pass — Until…
I have been experiencing issues with receiving proper credit to frequent travel loyalty programs lately. For example, I still have not received the number of Hyatt Gold Passport frequent guest loyalty points for renting cars three times from Avis; and even though I have provided all of the proper documentation, I still seem to be experiencing the runaround from the company which once proclaimed, “We try harder”. I intend to post an update when I receive some new information to report…
…but more relevant to this article is when I was not credited the proper amount of AAdvantage frequent flier loyalty program miles from flights operated by Etihad Airways and Gulf Air — both of which are partner airlines to American Airlines — and decided to pursue the issue.
During my attempts, this was the key part of ensuring that my AAdvantage account was indeed credited with the proper amount of miles which I had earned: “To receive mileage credit for your travel on AAdvantage® airline participants, please submit copies of your ticket receipt(s) and boarding pass for each missing flight.”
While I should not have had to pursue miles which should have automatically been deposited into my AAdvantage account, American Airlines eventually did the right thing — and the issue has been successfully resolved in my favor.
Summary
Saving a small piece of flimsy paper or cardboard may seem like a minor inconvenience; but in addition to granting you passage aboard an airplane and designating to which seat you are assigned, it can be a vital component in terms of evidence to ensure that your account is credited with the proper amount of frequent flier loyalty program miles.
Some people hold on to their boarding passes for reasons other than those which were just stated.
I do not discard any of my boarding passes until at least my account has been fully credited — and you should not do so either.
Photograph ©2012 by Brian Cohen.
