A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a question about a KLM award ticket rebooking that resulted in them flying on BA, and if there is a way to credit this BA flight to some program.
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Reader Question:
KLM award cancelled and was rebooked on BA. Ticket stock is 074 KLM. Is there anywhere I can credit this?
Ticket value says 0 so I assume would get nothing from KLM/AF.
Think I will have them remove my Alaska FF number since it won’t credit anyway (used it to get into First lounge at LHR). Thanks.
KLM obviously doesn’t have access to BA’s award booking classes, and the reader has most certainly rebooked on a revenue bucket, but it is unclear to which one.
EC 261/2004 legislation requires airlines to rebook tickets, including awards, if there are irregular operations, even when this means moving them to a competing airline, as is the case here.
This opens up opportunities to earn credit for an award ticket or have a paid ticket credited to two programs (original routing credit) if the flights are on separate alliances.
I would not try to credit KLM rebooking on BA with any program that awards miles for BA flights based on the underlying revenue, as we have no idea what it might be here. That leaves BA, IB, and AA out of the equation, as you earn both Avios and AAdvantage miles based on the ticket price.
Alaska Airlines or even Finnair wouldn’t be bad choices.
The key here is to have your frequent flier number on file with BA, because you cannot do retroactive credit with AS or AY, which requires an e-ticket receipt.
Conclusion
The KLM rebooking on BA is definitely in a revenue bucket, but it’s impossible to say what the credit would be on AA or IB/BA programs.
Both Alaska Airlines and Finnair would credit the flight based on the ticketed fare class and the segment length.
Years ago, around the 2010s, I requalified for EXP with American, mostly due to UA rebookings on AA for Miami to Honolulu trips that I had booked.
The United Express flight MIA-IAD was always either significantly delayed or canceled, and I was rebooked without a fight on AA via DFW.
These rebookings were always in the full Y class, which then yielded a higher credit, and upgrades also cleared without too much hassle. I obviously got an original routing credit for the United flights with MileagePlus.
