Never trash your boarding pass — here’s why

Next time you fly, keep your boarding pass. Especially if you collect frequent flier miles. And especially if your airline is playing the codeshare game.

John Hamilton wishes he had. He’s a member of Flying Blue, the loyalty program operated by Air France and KLM. He recently flew on Delta Air Lines, an Air France codeshare partner, and expected to get Flying Blue credit.

He didn’t.

Hamilton explains:

It seems that Air France requires the original boarding passes to recognize my flights so they can give me credit (and protect the 101,000 miles I presently have in their program).

I don’t know anyone who saves their boarding passes, and certainly I haven’t. Delta has been no help as they insist they can’t even send Flying Blue records that show my having paid for and flown their flights.

Delta and Flying Blue insist they cannot communicate with each other to verify my flights and neither will go the extra mile to help me resolve this issue. Having read your columns, I not only mailed both airlines direct but also wrote each of them letters (and copied the US Dept. of Transportation and the Maryland States Attorney General).

Am I being unrealistic to expect the airlines to honor my flights even though I no longer have the original boarding passes?

I don’t think it’s unrealistic. In a moment, I’ll tell you why you should keep your boarding pass. But first, let’s consult the rules.

1.4.6 All claims for retroactive credit should be made within six (6) months of the flight or transaction in question. Retroclaims for Partners should be sent to the Customer Service Centre by regular mail or made on Partners websites in accordance with the procedures as set forth in the FB Communication.

Retroclaims for Airline Partners have to be supported with (i) a copy of the passenger receipt or, in the event of electronic tickets, a document called “journey memo” or Trip Summary and (ii) the original boarding pass. Retroclaims for Non-Airline Partners shall be supported with the original or a copy of contract or invoice.

Furthermore, the Company reserves the right to demand at any time all documentary evidence of the accrual of Miles. Retroclaims can only be made via the Internet for Air France and KLM operated flights showing the AF or KL designated code. No correspondence can be entered into about retroactive credits, and documents submitted to the Customer Service Centre cannot be returned; it is then advised to keep copies.

Confused? Me too.

I’m not entirely sure if Hamilton had a “retroclaim” or not. If he’s a Flying Blue member, he would have almost certainly given his number to Delta when he booked the ticket. Still, the rules say you have to provide “documentary” evidence of a flight operated by an airline partner.

Let’s take a step back and get a big-picture perspective. Here’s a loyal Air France customer, and the carrier should be doing everything it can to make him happy, not throwing the rulebook in his face. We know Delta has an electronic record of his flight somewhere. Why can’t they just fix this for him?

I thought it was worth asking Air France about it. So I did.

Air France credited him with his miles.

For future reference, it’s worth keeping your boarding passes, and not only for collecting miles. If you’ve ever been audited by the IRS, you know that receipts are a good thing.

I keep my passes — just in case.

(Photo: David_Turner/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • Marc

    I wonder how this would have worked itself out with the new electronic boarding passes where you don’t even HAVE paper documentation.

  • Carver

    I’ve flown code share with One World and I’ve never had any problems whatsoever with miles being creditted. I have however had issues gaining entry into the club lounge because of a lack of communication and knowledge by the staff members.

  • Stephen – nyc

    I used to keep them just because I’m a pack rat of sorts. And as sort of a memento. Also, I used to think, ok, maybe I’ll need for _some_ reason. So, I saved them. I didn’t fly too much, but that was back in the day when airlines actually operated their own planes and had better customer service, so if things had gone a little wacky, I guess I would have called and things would have been made hunky-dory.

  • David E. Burge

    None of you folks have your boarding passes? Incredible! I’ve been living in Vietnam for the past almost-three years, flying back and forth to take care of business back in the USA and I’ll bet I’ve got every single boarding pass for those 3 years. I keep them to back up my tax deductions. Besides, those little pieces of paper don’t really take up much room, so why not just throw them into a box somewhere until you need some kindling five years down the road?

  • Thalassa

    Good to know, Chris. I’d have never thought to keep them either!

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    Since I do web check-in for most of my flights, I print two paper copies of the boarding passes and print one electronic copy (.PDF file format) of the boarding passes. If I do not receive flight credit within two days or one week for a code-share flight, I will file ‘Flight Credit’ claim with the airline. Since my employer pays for my airline tickets, I only keep my boarding passes for a year before they are shredded.

  • http://www.flightsite.co.za Laniece

    I prefer working with a boarding pass in paper form, that way you know that you always have it on you, this is now people that aren’t forgetful, but for those who prefer traveling with code share probably find it more convenient that having a little book or some papers in their back pocket or hand luggage!

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ Carver – “I have however had issues gaining entry into the club lounge because of a lack of communication and knowledge by the staff members.”
    - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

    I have the same problem with US Airways in PHX to gain entry to the club lounge as a Star Alliance Gold Member benefits; therefore, I carry a print out from the US Airways stating the benefits of a Star Alliance Gold member.

  • Joshua Z.

    I have every boarding pass from pretty much every flight I’ve taken since 2002, starting with my VS flight to London. I mainly keep them for souvenir value. However, since I started paying for my own flights back in October, I keep every travel document I get. Not only are they good for being audited (not that I plan on that or anything) or just for records, they’re also really important when you miss class and your professor wants a reason. Nothing beats a note that says “AIRCRAFT MX DELAY” or a new boarding pass with a connecting flight that leaves after class starts.

  • MeanMeosh

    Actually, a boarding pass has little value as tax documentation. It may prove you took a flight, but not how much you paid, which is all the IRS really cares about.

    As for the main issue at hand, I, too, have been burned by the missing credit problem, so from that perspective, it’s wise to hang on to your passes at least until your miles are supposed to get credited to your account. I’ve had the worst problems with Star Alliance – I’ve had to constantly send in boarding passes and ticket copies to get Mileage Plus credit for partner flights, even when the flight is a codeshare with a UA flight number!

  • http://jeffc.me JeffC

    Regarding the tax audit issues, I photcopy my boarding passes to paper so I can file them away in a folder. I then shred the boarding pass. I don’t see why a copy of the original would not satisfy the IRS if they audited me. Your thoughts?

  • http://praguepartmentsonline.com Martin Smith

    Chris your advice is as usual “spot on”. I always keep boarding passes until the credit is shown on my frequent flyer accounts. I pay particular attention to the credits for my girlfriend since have a couple of household accounts.
    I don’t know how practical it is for everyone else but I scan the boarding pass stubs into my computer where I keep the indefinitely and the actual boarding pass stubs in a drawer where I can scrounge around and find them if I need to.
    If you don’t have a scanner simply use the camera on your cell phone to take a close up picture of the boarding pass stub and leave it on your telephone until the credit for your flight appears. Although some of the rules say actual documentary evidence I can’t imagine an airline program not allowing an actual photograph of a boarding pass as evidence for FF purposes.
    Hope this advice will help someone in the future.

  • J C

    I always keep boarding passes until the credit is posted. I do the same with hotel statements until the mileage and hotel points are credited. I also keep all e-mail forms and invoices until everything is credited before deleting them. It’s safer and doesn’t take up space.

    Delta once posted my outgoing miles and not my return miles on a round trip and I had to send documentation to get my miles. A photograph of the boarding pass was fine. You would think they could work off their records and correct these problems, but that would be to easy.

    Bottom line — Keep all documentation. Better to be safe.

  • AdventureGirl

    Having flown 2M+ miles on American since 1989 and about half a million miles on other airlines (I checked), I ***ALWAYS*** keep my boarding passes until I verify mileage credit has posted to my account. Then I throw them away. There’s for sure no reason to “never” trash your boarding passes. Prior to online booking, it was all too easy to overlook getting your freq flyer number into the record, its easier now but with code-share and air/hotel packages, air booked by cruise lines or all-inclusive resorts, its best to have the boarding passes (of me and companions) until you see mileage credit posted.

  • AdventureGirl

    What happens when we have electronic boarding passes? And with Southwest, who collects boarding passes as you board the aircraft?

  • Dang

    Believe or not, with the e-tickets and e-boarding passes, the airlines still omit to credit your miles. I encounter this at least 3 times a year. Most of the airlines permit you claim the missing segment by filing a webpage your airlines ticket numbers , some ask for the hard copy of the boarding pass. I always keep my boarding passes until the end of the trip. Some asian and european airlines even stick you your luggage tags on the boarding pass. Conclusion, keep all the boarding passes, just in case,

  • http://www.travelingtoitaly.com Gabriele

    Personally I never trash the BPs until the miles are in my account, but I understand the frustration. Back in November Delta denied to me the miles accrued on a flight from Amsterdam to Rome and back to AMS, without explanations. I called Delta and they told me that those flight didn’t qualify. But on same flights took in February they recognized the gave to me the miles they are in my account. Go figure.

  • Adele

    I met my husband on an airplane. I saved THAT boarding pass for years- though for different reasons. By the way, after a while, the letters fade on ticket stock and it becomes unreadable.

  • J C

    @ Gabriele – On an open jaw last summer in Europe, I flew an Air France – Delta Sky Team partner – from Paris to Rome and returned from Munich to Paris. I was credited for the first leg but not the second. When I sent my documentation to Delta for the second leg credit, they told me the segment did not qualify because of the class of service and they listed all the classes of service that were excluded and the list was long T,K L, etc. So in this case on a partner airline, I could see that one segment might be in a higher class than the other. Whether or not that might have been your situation – who knows
    I agree – Go figure.

    Still, better to keep all documentation. You have very little chance with out it.

  • bruce

    I routinely keep my boarding passes until my mileage is credited before tossing them away.

  • John

    Generally, the procedure is such that the operating carrier sends the trip information over to the account and mileage gets posted. So in this case, if the miles didn’t get posted to the Air France account, it’s almost certainly Delta’s fault for not providing the information to AF and DL SHOULD be the ones to fix it. The whole thing about how they can’t talk to Flying Blue is complete BS; of course they can talk to the frequent flyer program of the company with which they are in a JOINT VENTURE.

  • Carver

    I guess we all have different experiences. I usually trash that sucker as soon as I get my checked baggage. If I don’t check bags, I lost track of it once the plane leaves the ground.

  • Francine

    I keep my Boarding Passes until the miles are posted in my account as well. I’ve found that if you code share and end up on another flight for some reason (cancelation, etc) then the miles often do not show.

  • Russell

    As someone else mentioned, what happens with airlines like Southwest, where they collect your boarding pass as you check in and board the flight? How could you then prove, with a boarding pass, that you were on that flight? Printing 2 copies doesn’t work, because having the boarding pass is no proof that you actually took that flight.

  • http://www.personalsafetygroup.com Larry Kaminer

    I will be keeping mine from now on. I fly to Africa a lot. Plenty miles I dont want to have evaporate on me. And whatever happened to honor in business anyway?

  • Linda Snow

    Make sure you keep both boarding passes AND the ticket receipt. I got cheated out of big miles twice by Star Alliance – the first was a trip to Australia, forgot to keep the boarding passes, the miles never showed up and I was out of luck. The second time on a trip to Asia the miles didn’t show up again (what a shock!), I sent in the boarding passes, and guess what? “You need the receipt too” – out of luck again. USAir the culprit both times, btw.

  • Kevin M

    For the folks wondering about Southwest: I’ve never had an issue with them not crediting a flight because of lack of documentation. Perhaps because they don’t codeshare much, it’s not such a big deal. But in the one or two instances where my Rapid Rewards # wasn’t available for entry at the time we booked the tickets, a quick call to Customer Service took care of it. All they asked was for the reservation number and my RR number.

    In addition, Southwest is pretty fast about those credits showing up in your account – usually within 48 hours or less of your flight. So it’s likely you would know very quickly if they failed to credit a flight, while their records are likely still readily available.

  • Scott

    I always keep them until the miles appear in my account. I have found that SkyTeam was better about crediting partner miles to my CO account. Now that CO is Star, I have had a few glitches, but they have all worked out once I scanned in the boarding pass and the e-ticket receipt and emailed them in to CO.

    Just as another thing to consider: on most carriers you are entitled to the miles you should have flown if your flight is canceled and you are rerouted on a non-partner carrier, but you will need the boarding pass and you will have to file a claim manually. So, if you are a CO OnePass member, and your United flight is canceled and they put you on AirIndia to get you home, you are entitled to the miles that you would have received on United.

  • hcbethel

    I flew to India last January and kept my boarding passes. The gate agent did not credit my skymiles account. Now Delta won’t credit my miles either, even though I have the boarding passes (18,000 miles down the drain).

    Get them logged and check on the agent.

    Also, Delta’s service sucks. Last time I flew to India their toilet erupted with sewage flowing into the cabin. Can’t wait to fly with them again.

  • http://www.travelswithcarole.blogspot.com Carole Terwilliger Meyers

    For many years now I have saved my boarding passes until my miles are posted. I’ve needed to have them several times as documentation. I just returned from flights to Dubai and within Thailand, and paper tickets and boarding passes printed out ahead of time were converted automatically at the airport into standard paper boarding passes.

  • Helio

    I had a similar problem last year. I booked a ticket via TAM (I have its mileage program), but I flew Lufthansa in a codeshare aircraft.

    My miles weren’t collected, I called TAM, they asked me to send them a copy of my boarding pass. I didn’t find it, I contacted Lufthansa for a new one. They told me they could provide a boarding declaration, but it will cost me US$100.

    It was just 1000 miles, I declined. But after that, I always keep my boarding passes until my mileage is credited.

  • Sinsava

     You flew with Delta because they have cheap fares to India $800 or so  If you flew paying full fare may be the story would be different & for some reason on these long haul flights they put all the cheap ticket passengers towards the rear of the aircraft and provide very little service