I've been flying American Airlines and accumulating miles for 20+ years and have never encountered this: In June we flew DFW-LGW with return CDG-DFW. We were credited with our miles on the CDG-DFW portion but not on the DFW-LGW portion. When I phoned to ask the problem, I was told that it was because on international flights that are "heavily discounted," miles are not awarded. Apparently one portion of the trip was under one code and the other under a different code -- even though it was booked as one trip -- meaning that the trip going wasn't coded to award miles while the return trip was. Does this make sense to anyone out there? I have booked and flown dozens of trans Atlantic flights on American, most if not all of them discounted, and have always gotten miles credited to my account. Mostly to calm me down, I think, the agent kindly gave us 1000 miles each "as a goodwill gesture." I can think of a different gesture I'd like to make to American (not the agent who was nice and somewhat apologetic). What have I missed here? How do I avoid that happening in the future?

same thing happened to me in 2006 from ORD to CDG I think - got the Citi CC for AA miles even - was told the code for the fare I got did not give miles credit as too low! What the hey!! never had this happen on any other airline and I dont pay full fare either

Never heard of an international fare so low that no miles would be awarded, at least if you booked directly with the airline. For a definitive answer, try the AA board on flyertalk.com .

This has happened to me with British Airways. In fact, they would not even allow me to join their frequent flier program because my fare was too cheap. (Outrageous!) Three years later, I avoid flying BA because I can't collect miles.

It is not unheard of for different legs of an itinerary to be in different fare classes. Check your itinerary to see what fare class was the DFW-LGW leg. Unfortunately, AA is not as clear and specific as others in listing which fare classes earn; all the AADvantage site states is:
"Certain airline tickets are not eligible for earning mileage credit. These include, without limitation, the following: all tickets issued as AAdvantage awards or other free ticket promotions including free or reduced rate tickets; companion tickets; charter flight tickets; travel agency/ industry reduced rate tickets; infant tickets; items occupying a purchased seat; unpublished fare tickets, including consolidator fares; and tickets issued subject to special provisions."


Also, where you buy the ticket can sometimes affect whether or not miles are earned or what % credit is earned - best is always to buy online from the airline.

Of course it "makes sensequot; the airlines change the rules all the time. It is anger-producing but what can you do?

That's new to me. I always thought AA awarded miles on any fare code except mileage awards. On all my mileage upgrades I always get full coach miles.

How "heavily discounted" was this fare? As well as posting on flyertalk, post on the Airlines forum here. AAFrequentflyer is a whiz about this stuff.

I once was declined by American for mileage credit for a round-trip ticket, but the flights were entirely within the U.S. Since I had purchased the tickets on-line (Expedia, I think), I couldn't ask them later why I wasn't told about this "small print" exclusion.

My lesson learned: Booking on-line might be cheaper but at an unknown "cost."

Airline miles are worth so much less than they were, say, 8 years ago that I'm not so worried about it anymore. I just flew AA to Italy only because I had a voucher to use; I put the miles on Alaska Airlines. After bad experiences with AA last Christmas I hope to avoid flying them in the future.

My entire trip to Venice on UAL/Air France did not receive one single credit mile, due to the fact that it was the lowest fare class-I was furious, but could do nothing about it.

What was your booking class? I believe that an "O" or "Q" (for Europe) will get you no miles because these are consolidator fares.
Try posting this in the Airlines forum and may AAFrequentFlyer will be able to answer your question better.

Thanks for your input. I'm sorry to learn that many of you have had similar problems. I will indeed post on flyertalk and on the airlines forum. FYI, I purchased these tickets from CitiTravel, associated with my Citi AAdvantage Master Card, all of which (I thought) were connected with American Airlines. I almost always book through CitiTravel and never before had a problem getting miles awarded. Incidentally, the "heavily discounted" tickets cost $948.00 base plus $246.32 tax, for a total of $1,194.32 each. This was, I guess, high season (June 4-July 4), but still it doesn't sound that discounted to me. Oh, well.

Two questions:

You did actually fly on American Airlines planes, not a code share on a BA or other airline?

You did book your tickets directly with American and not through a consolidator?

what is a consolidator? I had a weird experience recently with American where I tried to change a flight and, even though I found it just by going on their website, they told me that fare wasn't supposed to be available, it was a bulk fare (I think that's what they called it). I spent an hour and a half on the phone arguing with them, and eventually they gave in, but they did ask me what kind of computer and web browser I was using, so I'm thinking something slipped by them that wasn't meant for the general public.

NeoPatrick - Yes, we flew on American both ways. We purchased the tickets from CitiTravel, associated with my Citi AAdvantage Master Card, both of which I assumed to be connected loosely with American. Nearly always book through CitiTravel and have never been denied my American miles.

Well, that last point may be the problem. I don't know what CitiTravel is, but it wouldn't surprise me that they are a consolidator and bought up "bulk" tickets they then sell. I look at those things the same way as not being able to get hotel points at most hotels when booking with Priceline. They've gotten a deal that they pass on to you and it voids the usual giving of miles by the hotel -- in a sense because you booked with Priceline and not directly with the hotel. Sounds like the same sort of thing.

Of course, in the past if the tickets they sold you were individual rather than bulk purchased tickets, then of course you would have always been getting your miles anyway with them. Was it a lower price that you could get directly from AA -- or did you check on that at the time?

skatedancer - a consolidator is a company that buys seats in volume ("bulk&quot from the airline at greatly discounted prices and resells them. Before planes were so full, there were always enough empty seats that the airline preferred selling to the consolidator at rock bottom prices to letting the seat go totally empty. These days, with flights much fuller, there are fewer seats being sold to consolidators, but there are still some. When you buy from a consolidator you usually have little or no option for changes.
JoyC - not all Q and O fares are consolidator fares. Tickets purchased directly form the airline may be in Q or o class.

Hey I am using 80,000 miles on American(actually BA) to Delhi from London and between the transaction fare ($75.00) and the taxes(another $197.00) per ticket-you have to wonder?

Dutyfree-I was wondering-80,000 to Delhi? Then I saw you're leaving from London. By the way, I was looking at the other two star hotels in Delhi that people recommended on the other threads-and none of them are as highly rated as Classic Hotel, which is right down the street from the main shopping drag in Delhi-I'm going to stay there, I've decided-guesthouses are a little too homey for me.

Girlspytravel-I STILL don't have a place to stay in Delhi next week even thought my son says he is going to take care of it...yeah,right.
Anyway,I finally booked a night in Agra for Sunday the 11th as I could not bare the thought of training back and forth in one day there.
Where else are you going on your trip to India? I am finishing my last thyphoid pill tonight and am having some major stomach problems as we speak.I am excited but anxious about this whole trip as I have never been so umprepared in my life but my son keeps telling me to relax?