Disappearing Miles Leave Flyers With Little Recourse
Frequent Flyer Q&A
by Tim Winship - April 7, 2009

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Dear Tim,

As a dedicated Continental Elite I avoid other airlines and only
accumulate miles elsewhere when there is no better option. Recently I
took a look at my American account and realized that they had
inactivated a 42,500-mile chunk of my miles last December and I had
never received any notice or warning whatsoever. I don't think they
even sent a notice when they first instituted the 18-month expiration
policy, let alone when I was nearing it.

I wrote them and received a magnanimous offer to reinstate my miles
for a mere $425!

Louise

Dear Louise,

While I don't have any exact figures, I know that you were not alone
in losing miles as a result of the changes that American—and, it
should be added, all major airlines—made to their mileage expiration
policies in 2007. I have received notes from many other frequent
flyers whose experience exactly mirrored yours.
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The lost miles raise two interrelated questions. Can American change
the policy? And if they do, is it their responsibility to communicate
the change to their members?

Both questions are answered unambiguously in American's terms and
conditions, which AAdvantage members implicitly agree to when they
enroll in the program.

American reserves for itself the right to change the program at any
time, for any reason, as follows:

American Airlines may, among other things, (i) withdraw, limit,
modify, or cancel any award; (ii) change program benefits, mileage
levels, participant affiliations, conditions of participation, rules
for earning, redeeming, retaining or forfeiting mileage credit, or
rules for the use of travel awards; or (iii) add travel embargo dates,
limit the number of seats available for award travel ... or otherwise
restrict the continued availability of travel awards or special
offers. American Airlines may make any one or more of these changes at
any time even though such changes may affect your ability to use the
mileage credit or awards that you have already accumulated.

And it is the responsibility of the member to stay current with
program policies and rules.

You are responsible for reading the AAdvantage Program Terms and
Conditions, additional member information, AAdvantage newsletter/s and
account summaries online at AA.com in order to understand your rights,
responsibilities, and status under the AAdvantage program. American
Airlines may amend its rules of the Program at any time without
notice.

So as a practical matter, you have no recourse but to throw yourself
on the airline's mercy. (I have heard of some cases where airlines
reinstated expired miles without assessing a fee, but it's rare.)

As a group, the airlines don't rank high on consumers' trust gauge. So
it's tempting to suspect that they cynically under-communicated the
policy change in order to lure program members into letting their
miles lapse. And there is clear incentive for airlines to erase miles—
it reduces the liability carried on their books. And at least some
program members will choose to pay to reactivate their miles,
generating extra revenue for the airline.

But realistically, there's just too high a price to pay for such
underhanded shenanigans. The public outcry would have badly tarnished
American's reputation. And the loss of business from disaffected
customers would have seriously undermined their bottom line.

As an AAdvantage member myself, I know that American publicized the
policy change on its website, and in numerous emails sent to active
members. They could have done better, but I think they made a good-
faith effort to get the word out.

There is a take-away from this incident that goes beyond the issue of
expiring miles. Loyalty programs and frequent flyer miles cannot be
taken for granted. They are in a continual state of flux, and the
changes sometimes put miles at risk.

If you value your miles, give them the attention they require.

http://www.smartertravel.com/travel-...0&u=SL4F6B4DC5