Last year I booked my first non-Delta flight in a while. I've been an exclusive Medallion flyer in situations where I have a choice. Sometimes, I go out of my way to fly Delta but on a recent trip to Brazil, it was really uneconomical.
Flying to Brazil via Latam would have cost me $5,200 while American Airlines had an alternative for $1700. I then viewed the same flight on a partner airline and GOL and booked it for $1,041. At the time, I felt like I saved a lot and I made the right choice so I felt pretty good.
When I returned from the flight I realize the mistake I had made. The flight was a Basic economy flight and the fare couldn't count toward my Advantage miles. I don't know about you but spending $1100 and not being able to get a single mile credited doesn't sit well with me nor would it with any frequent flyer.
Two things had to happen here: 1) I need to fly other airlines so I'm up to date with all policies rather than just one airline and 2) when I book with third-party sites, confirm that the flight is the Main cabin and above to avoid this disaster. Hopefully, this doesn't happen to you.
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