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Passenger refunded $2,706 after airline denies mileage credit

September 24, 2009

singaporeGordon Robertson paid $2,706 for a ticket from Vancouver to Brisbane on Singapore Airlines. Little did he know that the ticket didn’t come with something he — and indeed, most passengers — expect when they book a flight: frequent flier miles.

“I bought the ticket specifically because the airline was a participating Star Alliance member, and gave my Aeroplan number to the travel agency at the time of purchase,” he says. “At the airport, I was told me that the ticket didn’t qualify to earn points.”

Was Robertson out of luck? Well, I’ve tried to mediate cases like this in the past, and I usually fail. The travel agent or airline inevitably points to some obscure fare rule that says miles aren’t included. And that’s it.

Not this time.


Robertson decided to dispute the full amount of his ticket with Visa.

At the time I purchased the ticket, I expected to receive Aeroplan mileage credit from Singapore Airlines. Because it was an E-Ticket (copy attached) there are no flight coupons; however there is nothing on the E-Ticket to indicate that Aeroplan miles would not be awarded.

Visa’s answer: no. So Robertson phoned a supervisor, who asked him to resubmit his paperwork.

I convinced the bank which issued my Visa card to initiate a charge back, and a temporary credit was issued. Singapore either didn’t bother responding to the chargeback (airlines, especially foreign carriers, are understaffed and lacking in staff with reasoning and language skills) or else missed the Visa-mandated response timeframe.

I got my $2,706 ticket price refunded to my credit card.

In conversations since then with other vendors about missing customer loyalty points for credit card purchases, loyalty-point representatives seemingly recognize that loyalty points are an integral part of the purchase process, and that goods-and-services charge-backs can result from failing to credit points.

That’s fascinating.

I’m not entirely sure if this sets a precedent for missing-miles cases. Would a domestic carrier roll over and play dead if a dispute like this came along? Probably not. But the fact that companies recognize that loyalty points are part of the purchase may present a problem in the airline industry’s relentless effort to “unbundle” its product.

Maybe they should think twice before deleting their miles — and charging extra for them.

(Photo: caribb/Flickr Creative Commons)

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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24 comments

  • http://waynedayton.tripod.com Wayne Dayton

    The arrogant SOBs who run the airline probably simply sent a Debit Memo to the issuing travel agency and are attempting to extort their money back via the usual threats and strongarm tactics they invariably use. In any case, SQ has pulled out of YVR as they cry cry cry about “needing” more frequencies to make the route work…another aspect of the airline extortion game, this time threatening the Canadian government, and, happily, Prime Minister Stephen Harper didn’t flinch and told them to go home and play in their own sandbox. Perhaps you can get SQ apologist James Boyd to comment on how an astronimically-priced fare at $2700 doesn’t qualify for miles, but some fares at $1500 do…would love to see the PR spin on that one, Chris.

  • Justin

    Wow, this guy is unbelievably lucky. Did he get WAY MORE than he bargained for and a free ride? Yes. I think a fair solution would be a partial credit at best. Still, one would have expected the airline to dispute, call him, and offer a solution. It failed to do so. I guess at the end of the day, it was their job to fix the problem. Congratulations sir, you just got one hell of a trip for FREE!!!

  • SirWired

    I have a funny feeling that it is indeed true that the fare the OP booked explicitly mentioned that miles were not awarded for the fare. It is the travel agents job to make a copy of the fare rules available to the passenger. Believe or not, I always flip through the fare rules even for a domestic ticket before purchase, mostly to check on the change fees.

    Chris, why didn’t you have the OP call the agency to ask for a copy of the fare rules for the ticket? I think you may have given the agency (who is likely at fault here) a free pass for something they should have mentioned to the traveler.

  • Thalassa

    Wait, what?? He got his money for the trip (I presume he actually took!) refunded just because he didn’t get miles for it??

    That’s completely absurd. At most, he should have been given the miles, and I’m not even sure about that. In no way was he entitled to a complete refund. He used the airline’s services, and he should have paid for them.

  • Elliot

    I’m willing to bet also that he booked in a fare class that doesn’t accrue miles through Aeroplan. Chris, did you even research what his fare class was, and if it was supposed to even accrue Aeroplan mileage? Aeroplan’s Web site is clear about which fare classes earn what amount of miles. There are several Singapore fares that don’t accrue miles on Aeroplan, I counted about 8.

    What the passenger has done, essentially, is committed credit card fraud, and should be subject to prosecution. Even if the fare was supposed to accrue miles, there is no way that this accounted for more than a tiny fraction of the $2000+ dollar fare.

  • David Z

    In no way was he entitled to a complete refund.

    @Thalassa – obviously Mr. Robertson (and a few others) disagree. He was arguably lucky to get a refund, too.

    I’m also curious to know if the “terms” of the ticket purchase state mileage points won’t be included, assuming they were indeed included.

  • Stoyko

    Interesting… I remember a while back I was in a similar situation. I flew on British Airways and at that time they were in a partnership with America West. I asked them at the airport to credit the miles to my America West account, but they said the fare didn’t qualify. I kept the boarding passes and mailed them to America West. Got the mileage credit within a week. I would never have thought about disputing the charges though…

  • Jake

    My experience with credit card disputes has been that they are all or nothing. For example, one time I called regarding a purchase that I had made because the amount had been keyed in incorrect. Although I made it clear to the person on the phone that I had indeed made the purchase, it just appeared that two numbers had been transposed and I was only disputing the difference – he said that he had to credit the entire amount back because it was incorrect.

    On a side note, good for Gordon! Hopefully dramatic reaction such as this will entice the airlines to play by the rules that they themselves write.

  • Mantini

    KLM now lists on their website how many miles you’ll be getting for your fare, and offers you the opportunity to go back and choose a fare with higher mileage (and a higher cost, naturally). A helpful and informative system, but annoying that us folks who can only ever afford to fly discounted economy seats won’t even get the small benefit of an occasional almost-free miles trip.

  • Ian

    Out of curiousity, if Aeroplan miles were so important, why didn’t he book on AC Vancouver-Sydney then a domestic flight to Brisbane? They also fly daily, as opposed to SQ’s three times weekly service via Seoul and Singapore (which also added 60% to the journey length).

    I’ve been caught out on not getting miles when I thought I should, but it was on a bargain ticket and when I went back to the website it was pretty explicit.

    I want the cheapest fare, even if it’s a +60% detour! But I also want full mileage credit, even though my plan is with a different airline!!

  • Jesse

    Aeroplan publishes which fare classes on SQ get award credit:

    http://www.aeroplan.com/earn_miles/our_partners/partner_details.do?Partner=SingaporeAirlines

    If the guy flew in a class not on that list, then it’s his fault for not checking to be sure. He got very very lucky to get a refund.

  • EricR

    What does your abbreviation “OP” stand for? (I figured out “FA” is flight attendant, at least!)

  • Joel Wechsler

    @EricR OP stands for original poster.
    I agree that all Mr. Robertson should have received is the mileage credit. SQ was foolish to agree to a full refund for a flight that he apparently took as was his credit card company. Giving him the miles to which he felt entitled would have made him whole. Now he is in the position of having stolen services, which is in itself against the law. This is nothing to crow about.

  • http://americaonline barbie45

    i dont think he broke the law; think of all the times you have been cheated by credit card compnies ,banks and all areas involved in travel; peole who hve a holier attitude than thou are pompous

  • Chris in NC

    Woah! Hold on a second here.

    I agree, that Mr Robertson should not have received a full refund for the flight. However, calling it “theft” of service is going way too far. While it is debatable whether a bank issued chargeback was moral or ethical, doing so is within his right as a Visa holder. He did not do anything illegal (or violate the terms of the CC agreement) by requesting the chargeback. He believed (whether he is right or wrong) that he did not get the service he paid for. He followed the rules in the CC contract. Not even close to being illegal.

    SQ would have been wise to settle this before it went this far. I am aware of cases where SQ has offered to “refund” the “value” of the miles (Typically a few hundred dollars) or allow the passenger the option of “buying” the miles. I’m surprised that SQ completely dropped the ball on this one. My suspicion is that the story doesn’t end here (Chris, if you are reading this, please let us know).

    At best, Mr Robertson pulled a fast one, but long term, I’m not sure he wins. He may find himself banned from SQ (one of the best airlines in the world). What goes around, comes around.

    @barbie45
    So 2 wrongs make a right? Good character is someone who does the right thing, all the time. Besides, the CC company and the banks are the ones that are out the money. Its the airline. Guess what, that eventually trickles down to the consumer.

  • http://pelillas04@aol.com P.J. Zornosa

    My only comment is that one should check your credit card statement often for the next 60 days. Even though THIS issue may be resolved do not be shocked to see another charge for the same (or close to) amount moving forward. If someone scrutinizes this they actually MAY charge you again thinking the refund was made in error. I only suggest this because that’s exactly what happened to me with a repair service with a computer manufacturer. Good Luck.

  • Robert Williams

    I purchased an SQ fare on Travelocity a couple of years ago. Fare rules did not mention anything about not acruing miles. In fact the Travelocity website requested my FF number as part of the purchase process. After confirmation of tickets (It was a paper ticket), I called SQ about seat assignments. (within the 24 hour window). The agent told me that it was a non-acruing ticket. SQ refused to do anything. Travelocity gave me the run around. Their satisfaction guarantee meant nothing. They just sent me back to SQ. Both parties refused to refund the ticket, even though I had called back within 24 hours of ticketing, because it was a paper ticket (their requirement that the ticket be a paper ticket). Travelocity did do one thing. They quickly updated the fare rules for the ticket on their web-site.

    I should have called my credit card company. Amex is pretty good about this sort of stuff.

  • Jennifer (the other one)

    Like others, I’m skeptical that this wasn’t disclosed anywhere in the terms or purchase contract, but I also find it difficult to believe that a credit card would issue a chargeback based solely on his word. If it truly wasn’t disclosed, then the airline owes him either the miles, or the price difference between the flight he took and the cheapest flight outside their alliance for the same dates.

    This issue has come up several times in this column regarding seat assignments, fare classes, mishandled bags, etc. Ultimately, the passenger pays for transport between point A and point B. Nothing short of failure to provide that warrants a full refund. People who abuse chargebacks for ridiculous things like this make it more difficult for honest consumers to have their complaints taken seriously by the credit card companies.

  • http://americaonline barbie45

    after reading the initial post i do not think the man was just lucky; he went about pursing the matter in a very professional way; he asked for credit back not just once but twice; i do not think Singapore airlines just allowed the matter to be dropped; forgot etc; also if you are entitled to a first class seat and reassigned you should definitely pursue the matter; also if you think a charge is not correct you should contact your credit company; now on air tran there is a ten dollar charge for an aisle seat ,which i wipay for ; but if i do not recieve you can be assured I will complain very loudly; rarely if ever do credit card companies or banks make mistakes in our favor; it is the other way around; also with hackers on line it is wise idea to contest anything which seens incorrect to you.

  • Jesse

    The way airline mileage works is the airline on which you wish to receive miles (in this case Air Canada) publishes which fare classes on its own flights and partner airlines are eligible to redeem miles. This is stated on each airlines’ web site.

    Air Canada’s rules for Singapore flights took me 30 seconds to find (see previous post).

    When you book a flight and you want to earn miles, it’s the buyer’s responsibility to make sure he/she is buying in a fare class that earns miles. Some web sites make it very easy to see which fare code your ticket will be in, and others don’t make it as transparent … however, the information is available.

    I understand this guy’s frustration, but he waited until AFTER forking over almost 3 grand and taking the flight to check “Oh yeah – will I get miles?”

    His fault. He got lucky for the refund. Highly irregular.

  • http://www.betterthanatravelguide.com Matt

    I had a similiar issue once with Air Europa. Basically, on my return flight home from Madrid, they screwed up my seat assignments and the flight attendants were completely rude about it and stuck us in the last row by the bathroom. Due to this I submitted a complaint to the airline, which they did not respond to. I then submitted the complaint to AMEX who opened a case for it. After Air Europa did not respond to their inquiries on the situation, AMEX gave me a full refund for that return flight.

    Part of any consumer purchase is a satisfaction with what you’re paying for. I wasn’t satisfied and wanted to be compensated. I tried to work with the airline on this, but they didn’t want to respond. They also didn’t want to respond to AMEX. Due to this poor customer service, they lost out on the money. It is 100% the airline’s fault if they can’t provide proper customer service to deal with any inquiries.

  • http://www.clarkecomputer.com Charles Clarke

    While I suspect his ticket wasn’t supposed to include mileage credit, since the least expensive don’t, I find this an interesting way to use airline’s non-responsiveness against them. It only works if you purchased the ticket on a short enough timeframe that you still can dispute the charge. Long range planners are out of luck.

    With some credit cards, you can’t dispute just part of the charge, so he probably had to dispute the whole amount instead of just whatever he knew/felt was the amount for the miles.

    If the airline is not responding and you are still in the dispute timeframe, going this route may get a response from them. Let us know if you hear of more people trying this and what their results are. And P.J. Zornosa’s comment about this charge reappearing on his credit card is a good caution. It would be useful to hear if that happens also.

  • Steve Veza

    Stranger things have happened. A year ago, I purchased an $7,600 refundable ticket on Continental that I had to change a few times and there were lots of fare changes, etc. Continental was dragging their feet calculating out the refund. I disputed it for a quicker refund (needed the $). Bank gave me back my money 3 days after disputing it, then a week after that Continental refunded me. I got refunded twice for almost $8,000.

  • Steve Veza

    Stranger things have happened. A year ago, I purchased an $7,600
    refundable ticket on Continental that I had to change a few times and
    there were lots of fare changes, etc. Continental was dragging their
    feet calculating out the refund. I disputed it for a quicker refund
    (needed the $). Bank gave me back my money 3 days after disputing it,
    then a week after that Continental refunded me. I got refunded twice for
    almost $8,000.

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