I’ve Stopped Trying To Get Credit For A Flight From Delta SkyMiles

by joeheg

If you earn loyalty points for your travel, you’ll eventually come across a time when you don’t get the points you were supposed to. It could be because you forgot to include your number when making a reservation, or you may have connected your account only to have the information drop off without explanation. You’ll need to contact the company to get your points, which can be challenging.

I’m admittedly obsessive, so I’ll chase a company for points longer than I probably should. My time would be better spent doing something else but I don’t want to let programs off the hook. They want people to give up and I won’t give them the satisfaction.

For example, World of Hyatt finally credited me for a restaurant bill. It took a while but I received 3,500 points for the meal, which was worth the trouble of sending a few Tweets and emails.

But there are times when the points aren’t worth the effort. I’m giving up trying to get Delta SkyMiles credit for a flight on Vietnam Airlines (a SkyTeam partner) that we took in February.

Shortly after the flight, I noticed the trip didn’t show up on our SkyMiles account. The first step in applying for a missing mileage credit is easy if you’ve kept your paperwork. According to the Delta website, there’s a way to request credit for missing flights.

a screenshot of a credit card

Delta asks if you are missing credit from a Delta-operated flight, a partner flight or other SkyMiles partners.

If you’re missing a flight credit from a flight partner, you can enter the airline, flight number and flight date. Here’s the list of Delta SkyMiles partners.

I entered all the information and included a picture of the boarding pass. Then I waited and waited and waited.

Eventually, I decided to contact Delta, which wasn’t easy. I used the chat function with Apple Messages since Delta customer service is no longer on Twitter.  

After looking up my ticket number, the rep said I needed to contact Vietnam Airlines.

a screenshot of a phone

While I know that’s the way to get retroactive credit from car rentals, I didn’t think that’s how it works with SkyMiles. Why make a website to enter your information if I had to contact the other airline? Since that didn’t make sense, I’ve resubmitted my request one more time and now I’m done. That’s because the time isn’t worth the reward. Here’s what we received for our other Vietnam Airlines flight from SkyMiles.

a screenshot of a phone

If I needed additional segments for status, I could see it being worthwhile to fight for the credit. However, it’s not worth the time for 100 SkyMiles. I was going through the steps to learn how the system worked, and I discovered that while the process appears straightforward, it doesn’t mean you’ll get your miles immediately.

Has anyone else had experience getting missing flights credited to your Delta SkyMiles account? Was it easy, or did you have to jump through a series of hoops before getting your miles?

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3 comments

Jim May 26, 2023 - 1:37 pm

I stopped chasing points and status years ago. They aren’t worth anything anymore and it cost more to stay loyal to one airline. Who cares if you are group 1 or 3 boarding. I prefer to board last anyways. Not like the old days where you got upgraded frequently. Flights are so cheap now the hassle of obtaining points isn’t worth it.

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Alan C May 26, 2023 - 4:11 pm

I had a similar experience where I booked 2 business class seats for my wife and myself last fall from FCO to FRA on ITA. I made sure and entered both of our Delta numbers on the reservation. No credit was ever awarded by Delta and I didn’t even get a response to my E-mail requesting credit (BTW I’m lifetime Gold with almost 3 million miles on DL even though I don’t fly nearly as much as I used to since I retired).

I also gave up – just not worth the continued hassle.

Reply
Dena May 27, 2023 - 5:09 am

Same with Saks and promised additional discounts. Just not worth it.

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