Questions and Answers

I travel to Germany at least once a year, and domestically I fly about twice a year.I have a family of four. I signed up for the Delta SkyMiles program, but noticed that I only get credit for the ticket bought in my name….as I paid for the other three members of my family, (they are not SkyMiles members, as two of them are children, the other, my wife who doesn’t travel with me domestically) should I not be getting credit for the other tickets I bought under MY NAME and MY CREDIT CARD? When I log into Delta website to check my mileage, there is no mention of the other three tickets I bought, even though they were for members of my family….can you expound/explain this practice? As someday, I may want to travel by myself, but can’t use the points, as I don’t have nearly enough(except for maybe an upgrade seat!) Is this a common practice among ALL carriers, since they are all a member of Star Alliance or some other conglomerate? Thanks for any input you could share!

Hey Markus,

As a rule, airlines award miles to the passenger who flies with their “butt in the seat” on the ticket. It doesn’t matter who pays for the tickets (you, your employer, etc.,), what matters is who flies on the ticket.

A few programs allow family pooling, but those are few and far between.

Definitely sign your wife and kids up for accounts! The miles don’t expire with most programs as long as you have activity every so often, you can often top the accounts off through shopping portals or other promos, and the balances will eventually add up.