TFC answers. How long do I have to make up the missing miles?
In this week's installment, we answer a reader's question who contacted us about how he could see [...]
In this week's episode. We are responding to a reader's question who contacted us to find out how to see miles credited for certain flights taken without having indicated a frequent flyer profile.
In this article:
To explain how it works and what the rules are, I start from a personal experience.
In recent weeks Air France has launched the Flying Blue Family program. by giving Air France and KLM loyalty program members the opportunity to be able to create A unique profile where all the points of family members come together so that they can be used more easily.
Since the novelty introduced by Air France has made it very interesting to the accumulation for children, I decided to create my 7-year-old daughter's profile And to request credit for flights made. Particularly the one made to go to Thailand last October.
How the request for non-credit works
Of course, the first thing you need to do is to be enrolled in a loyalty program, of the company you flew with or Of a partner in the same alliance. Once you have your own card number you can go to the restricted area on the company's website and apply for missing points.
Above is the screenshot of the ITA-Airways website for requesting points. In fact, the only data you need to retrieve is the ticket number. Each company has its own rules regarding:
- How long before the flight must have been made
- Whether it is allowed to accumulate points/miles for a flight made before being enrolled
- If active promotions are recognized at the time of the flight made.
The rules of the major airlines
- ITA Airways Within 12 months from the date of flight
- Air France/KLM Within 6 months from the date of the flight
- American Airlines Within 12 months from the date of flight
- British Airways Within 6 months of flight or up to 3 months prior to Executive Club membership date
- Delta Within 9 months from the date of the flight
- Emirates Within 6 months from the date of the flight
- Lufthansa/Swiss/Austrian Within 6 months from the date of the flight
- United Within 12 months from the date of flight
As can be seen, ITA Airways is one of the most generous European airlines and allows "forgetful" people to go back 12 months, while British's Executive Club is the only one that locks in the term based on when a user created the account in the frequent flyer.
My experience with Air France
I must say that I was really pleased with Air France's customer service, it certainly helped to be a Platinum user and talk to the dedicated customer service, but in a little over 10 minutes I was able to:
- Creating a profile to my daughter
- Getting miles from a series of flights
- Also receive flight-related XP, including the bonus in effect at the time of the flight
- Obtaining Silver status
Granted, the status for a 7-year-old girl makes little sense, but thanks to this level she will also be entitled to free baggage, which is no small feat. Also, thanks to recent news, FB points will not expire until she is 18, a perfect way to accumulate over the years and have a nest egg to use when she comes of age (or sooner)
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