Well, 2019 has been shaping up to be an interesting year. I went into this year thinking that I would be doing minimal flying. That’s relative because I’ll of course fly over 100,000 miles to re-qualify, but I thought flying beyond that would be limited. However, I’ve actually been doing a quite a bit more travel than I originally anticipated. It’s been nice though because from it, I’ve flown JetBlue, United, and Delta. In the past I couldn’t fly these airlines because I’ve been married to American, but this year I can play the field a bit more.
While playing the field has been fun, it’s also brought about some challenges. I’ve had to start learning the in’s and out’s of several airline loyalty programs. I’ve also had to start tracking my mileage accruals with several airlines opposed to just American. As a result, I’ve also had to start requesting miles from airlines other than American. So, today, I thought it would be helpful to explain how to request miles with United.
Missing United Airlines Mileage Accrual
Just over two weeks ago my girlfriend and I flew from New York to San Francisco on United. We booked the trip because we needed to get to SFO and the United option offered us a ride on the new 787-10! After we touched down safely in San Francisco my girlfriend noticed her United MileagePlus miles had already posted to her account. Mine on the other hand had not.
I’ve been waiting just over two weeks now and the miles still haven’t posted. Usually at two weeks I begin to get a bit nervous. Airlines typically state that miles take up to a month (30 days) to post. From my experience, if they haven’t posted in two weeks, they aren’t going to ever show up without a request.
So, to request a missing milage accrual you must first visit United.com. From there, Log into your MileagePlus account to begin the request process. Once logged in, scroll to the very bottom of the page to find a search option.
After clicking on the search bar, United directs you to another, older looking search page. On this page search for “missing milage” or “Request MileagePlus Credit.”
Requesting Missing MileagePlus Credit
From there you should be able to find the right page from the top of the search page results. If not, you can find the request page here. The page should look something like this.
In the “Ticket Number” box, you must enter only your ticket number. You can find your ticket number on the bottom of your paper boarding pass which I’m sure you saved… It should start with a 016-xxxxxxxxxx.
If you don’t have your paper boarding card, you can also find your ticket number in your confirmation email from United or through one of these methods presented on the website.
After you’ve entered your ticket number, you’ll reach the following page with some information already populated.
If the information looks correct, click on the “Request Credit” button to… request credit. After clicking the button you’ll reach a confirmation page.
On the confirmation page you’ll see a “status” which tells you the results of your request. The first time I submitted the request I was “approved” and my miles posted instantly. However, I forgot to take a screenshot of the approval which is why the above says denied.
Final Thoughts
Recently United has improved the time it takes MileagePlus miles to post. Now, most passengers receive credit when or even before they land. This is a huge improvement over the old system in which miles often took weeks to post.
Likewise, when you request missing mileage it appears the miles also post instantly. Again, this is a great improvement as they are miles you’ve earned and probably want to spend. It’s annoying to sit around waiting for miles to post especially if you have an award redemption in mind. After all, they’re your miles and you want them now!
