A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a message about a rather unfortunate case where five airlines refused to give credit for Cathay Pacific Hong Kong – Singapore flights in business. Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions...
A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a message about a rather unfortunate case where five airlines refused to give credit for Cathay Pacific Hong Kong – Singapore flights in business.
Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions by email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’ll try to cover them here several times a week.
Reader’s Email:
I would like to share with you my ridiculous story which might be a good content for you website. Even though I have flown more than 200 flights in my life and have extensive knowledge and experience in the industry, this situation seems to be impossible to resolve in my favor.
I have flown Business Class with Cathay Pacific from HKG to SIN last July. The ticket was issued by Expedia with Lufthansa Group ticket number as a part of complex trip and the Cathay Pacific flight was marketed by MIAT Mongolian to make it more complicated. Before starting the trip I was planning to claim either M&M miles or One World Avios once it’s flown.
Here started my issue:
1. Lufthansa Group rejected M&M claim due to irrelevant route
Source:
You can earn award miles on the following flights:
Hong Kong – Auckland, New Zealand in both directions Hong Kong – Cairns, Australia in both directions Hong Kong – Melbourne, Australia in both directions Hong Kong – Sydney, Australia in both directionsEarn award miles on the following code-share flights:
Hong Kong – Zurich, Switzerland in both directions Hong Kong – Frankfurt, Germany in both directions Hong Kong – Munich, Germany in both directions2. Qatar Airways rejected claim with response
Dear Mr. REMOVED,
Thank you for writing to Privilege Club.
Regarding your request, as per Qatar Airways Privilege Club policy, you can claim the missing Avios for flight marketed and operated by Qatar Airways flights, One world, or Partner Airlines Only.
We regret to inform you that MIAT Mongolian Airlines is not one of the above mentioned.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.
Do let us know if we can assist you further.
Sincerely,
Privilege Club Team
3. Iberia rejected claim without any explanation
4. British Airways rejected claim with response
Dear Mr REMOVED
Thank you for requesting Avios and Tier Points for the following flight:
Flight Number: OM5735
Departure Airport: HKG
Arrival Airport: SIN
Date Travelled: 16 Jul 23
I appreciate your flight was operated by Cathay Pacific, but I am afraid our agreement with them does not include codeshare flights sold as Mongolian Airlines, so I’m sorry to disappoint you but on this occasion I am unable to credit your account.
I am sorry I couldn’t be more immediately helpful, but if there is anything else we can help with please let us know.
We would like to invite you to fill in a short questionnaire regarding your experience, you can do this by clicking on the following link: https://askba-faqemail.custhelp.com/c
Best regards
British Airways Executive Club
5. MIAT Mongolian Airlines rejected claim due to missing the membership deadline
Source:
New registered member: Mileage can be claimed only within 3 months before the date of account creation, and the request must be submitted within 1 month from the date of account creation. Mileage claims for flights past the specified period will not be given.
SUMMARY
ALL 5 AIRLINES REFUSED TO GRANT MILES. AS LUFTHANSA AND MIAT MONGOLIAN SAY IT CLEARLY ON THEIR WEBSITES WHY I COULD NOT GET THEM AND I UNDERSTAND IT, THE ONE WORLD MEMBERS (QATAR, BRITISH AIRWAYS) EXPLAIN THE MARKETED AIRLINES MATTERS AND IBERIA DOES NOT RESPOND AT ALL (ACTUALLY THEY NEVER EVER ANSWERED ANY OF MY REQUESTS OR QUESTIONS!).
IN SUCH A CASE, HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT A BUSINESS CLASS TICKET WITH ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNIZED AND APPRECIATED AIRLINES DOES NOT FIND A WAY TO BE GRANTED WITH MILES AT ALL WITHIN ONE WORLD ALLIANCE????????
There is a minefield with miles postings when it comes to marketing and operating airlines. In general, the ticketing airline, whose stock the ticket is issued, doesn’t matter.
Star Alliance
The marketing airline doesn’t matter, but a Star Alliance member airline needs to operate the flight. If you are flying on a codeshare, it is sometimes difficult to decipher the underlying fare class on the operating airline.
You could easily credit Lufthansa operated, but Cathay Pacific marketed flights to any Star Alliance program, as long as the LH fare class is eligible.
Oneworld
The eligible flight must be both Oneworld Alliance member-operated AND marketed, but there are quite a few exceptions with Qantas.
All Qantas codeshares operated by non-Oneworld partners can be credited to all Oneworld partners except those operated by Jetstar, a Qantas-owned airline.
SkyTeam
Like Oneworld, the eligible flights must be marketed and operated by alliance airlines.
Exceptions
There are quite a few exceptions that are frequent flier program-specific, depending on what non-alliance partners they have.
Reader’s Case:
The issue really is that Cathay Pacific is operating, and MIAT is the marketing airline. MIAT is not a partner of any alliance, while Cathay is an Oneworld Alliance member.
I looked at Cathay’s website, and it seems that you cannot credit MIAT-marketed flights to Asia Miles, so MIAT could then be the only option to which this specific flight could be credited.
Conclusion
You really need to pay attention to the marketing and operating airlines and sometimes the underlying fare class if you have booked a codeshare.
The reader’s case is unique, and I hope that having this segment on the MIAT code saved significantly on the price. Luckily, it was a relatively short flight.
I recently had a similar dilemma with a LATAM-marketed but Qantas-operated flight from Santiago to Sydney. Having the segment on the QF code would have cost $1K+ more. The flight didn’t automatically post, but I got it credited after a manual claim.