Beware of Delta's small print ... you must keep your boarding passes ... if they mess up and fail to credit your Skymiles Account, you must prove you flew with them ... they will take your money, but not your word.
Case in point: Delta is willing to give me miles for my flight to Africa, and for flying me from Atlanta back to DC after the trip. But they refuse to give me credit for flying from Africa to Atlanta. They insist I prove to them I flew back ... otherwise I materialzed in Atlanta's airport that morning, just in time to catch that Delta flight to DC.

Which brings me to the small print: Delta will not credit you with materializations. It's somewhere in that small print, they assure me. And although they partner with South African Airways, and even sell some seats on their flights to Africa, they are unable to communicate with their partner on anything involving customer care ... if it's not for profit, they no speaka. Delta, ready when you are. Ciao

A similar situation happened to my Mom who traveled on Continental Partner NW/KLM to the Ukraine to help my Sister adopt a child. Can you imagine traveling back with a very upset, non English speaking toddler and trying to keep track of those little boarding pass receipts?
The good news is that NW actually helped me work it out with Continental and she received credit for the flights about a year later. I mailed a letter of explanation about the lost boarding passes and copies of her ticket receipts and itinerary to Continental's Onepass Customer Service to accomplish it. Don't give up because of some negative result on the phone. Continental told me "No" many times before they gave in!

This is not unique to Delta. I'm enrolled in several FF programs and they all require boarding passes and ticket receipts to credit you with missing miles. They usually say so clearly on their statements, under some heading like "What to do if You're Missing Milage," as well as in the program rules , hardcopy and online I routinely hold on to my boarding passes until I see that milage has been credited. Yeah, it certainly seems like they should be able to check to see that you've checked in for the flight, but on the other hand it's not that hard to keep the boarding passes.

It has always seemd to me, but particularly now given our supposedly heightened security, that an airline WOULD KNOW who flew on their planes. That information is in their computers. They have a passenger manifest. I guess they would argue that they don't keep that information for long (computer storage limits, etc.), but I think for a trip that was only a few weeks ago, I don't see why they can't pull up that info. It goes without saying that airlines are more interested in their bottom line than in customer service, EVEN THOUGH their butts had to be bailed out by the government (meaning us) back in September. Now, the airlines can resume what they do best: Treat their customers like cattle!! (Someone please print this and send it to ALL the airlines)

I don't understand what the issue is. It's been the practice from time immemorial that you save your boarding passes as proof that you were on the flight in case the airline doesn't credit you for the miles. You know what they say -- S**T happens -- and you should keep your passes just to cover yourself. Once you receive the credit, toss them.

I can't speak for Leone, but have you ever noticed, Easy Does It, that the smallest shread of travel documentation known to man is the sliver of boarding pass you're given back after they take your ticket. On international flights, you have to juggle your ticket, your passport, your declaration form, etc., and sometimes it's easy to lose sight of that 1" x 2" slip of paper. I think we all know that we're SUPPOSED to keep them. But, c'mon . . .

Point taken, Captain. I can see losing track of it on a flight from Atlanta to DC, but for the Africa-Atlanta leg I'd never let it out of my sight, sticking it in an old attache case chained to my wrist if I had to.

I agree, Delta can institute any rule. Their "service" center in Atlanta told me to lump it. They demanded a copy of the tickets AND the boarding pass. I have nothing to show them except an honest face. Look, Customs and USDA (they swabbed my boots) welcomed me to Atlanta that morning. They said something about my being home again. It felt good. Delta's customer "care" center in Atlanta told me they'd research the problem of how I got to Atlanta, then get back to me. Isn't it funny how timing is everything ... life IS fun. This afternoon, I was supposed to purchase two more Delta/SAA tickets to return to S. Africa. I told Delta ... but their response took me back to the good ole days of counter service: will that be one or two lumps, sir? Delta must be doing better than the others. Ciao

Leone, what makes you think you won't receive credit for the miles? On the FAQ section of the Delta website, it says that credits appear within 30 days for Delta and 90 days for a Delta partner. You've only been back 2 weeks or so, right? Also, Delta prints the FF# on the boarding pass if you or your agent gave it to them, so if you've received credit for one direction it stands to reason you'll receive it for the other direction too. So I wouldn't give up hope. You might get those miles yet.