[Kathleen]

I have an issue with Air France deleting my miles. I was informed by them via email in July that my miles would expire at the end of November. It said I needed to reactivate them by taking flight or to use them on a flight. My husband and I decided to take a trip and when we started shopping for flights we could not find one to a destination stateside on Air France or any of there partners that would work without having long layovers or just getting to our destination. I called Flying Blue (mileage plan) and spoke with customer service and told her this dilemma, she said we could stay in a partner hotel or rent a car with a partner company and that would help me keep my miles, I even confirmed with her the Sheraton on their website as a possible hotel. This was great because we did not have time to fly to Europe and wanted to see the Fall colors in New England ideally. I was all set, I booked it and way overpaid for 1 night at the Sheraton Portsmouth (knowing it was worth it to keep my miles). Our trip cost us well over $2k and we enjoyed it with the added benefit of keeping my miles.

I got an update email from Flying Blue the end of November showing I still had miles. Naturally being a skeptic on Dec 2, I logged in to double check and poof “no miles”. I called and customer service said I was misinformed and had to take a flight to keep my miles but to send a letter of grievance to their main center to see if I could get it corrected. I sent a letter and received a reply yesterday that I was S.O.L for not following the guidelines and that it was up to me to contact customer service if I did not know the rules. Seriously! Customer service steered me wrong to begin with!

This is not the first time Air France has been unkind to us. My husband actually took a qualifying flight to keep his miles in 2009 and it did not get posted in time to their site, when I followed up several times, sent the itinerary, the credit card bill showing the flight paid for and the confirmation of his reservation, they would not consider it because I did not have his boarding pass. Back then they kept the boarding pass at the gate and I could not get a copy.

Needless to say we both had over 60k miles with them and that is a free flight r/t to Europe, we both lost them after being committed travel customers and recommending them to countless people. We travel a lot and really enjoy it-but feel screwed by Air France.

[Leatherboy2006]

No offense, but you said the email in July said you had to take a flight or use them on a flight. Did the email state from Air France state you could keep them by staying at a partener hotel?
Is Flying Blue part of Air France? If not they are the ones that miss directed you, you should get them to give you miles, since if they are an outside company not run by air france why would air france or any carrier be subject to what they say?
Just curious.

[Leatherboy2006]

Just googled flying blue and you are right, didn't realize they were part of air france.
Hope they restate your miles

[Kathleen]

The email said take a flight. As I mentioned I could not find one and I called Customer servce. The policy in the past had been if you use a partner (hotel, car rental) it will keep your miles active and CS confirmed this. Alas, it did not.

[jimworcs]

I would try one last letter to Air France corporate HQ in France at CDG. If no joy, you have only one remedy...stop using them. I fly more than average... and I no longer belong to any frequent flyer programmes. They are simply not worth it. You make irrational decisions... for example, continuing to show them loyalty when they screwed you over the first time.. or you pay for things over the odds, to "protect" your miles, such as the Sheraton trip. I have been there and done exactly the same. You would save yourself money and lot of grief if you stop the con. Price your trip and shop around for each carrier and select the best deal, taking into account the service. In this way, you will be financially better off and a lot less stressed. Frequently Flyer programmes are con.. they are designed to try and stop you shopping around, but the restrictions are now so byzantine, it is hard to redeem them. They are no better than "time share" schemes. No one ever got a good deal on a time share and no one ever got a good deal from a frequent flyer programme. They are a con and a rip off.

[David Bouchier]

We are regular Air France customers. booked two flights from New York to Paris in February 2011, to fly on May 30. One was booked Premium Economy with miles via Flying Blue, the other also Premium Economy purchased with cash. On April 27 we received a call that both Premium Economy tickets had been canceled and that we had to fly economy class - which is a problem for us for health reasons. No apology or compensation was offered except for a $30 "voucher." This downgrading was effectively theft of both miles and cash. Moral: never try to use miles to book a flight on Air France because you will be treated like trash.