Denied Miles when flying a 'partner' airline

Have you tried calling Delta?

Yes.

It is all spelled out in the Frequent Flyer agreement your airline has. It's not just Delta.

If you get points/miles or not depends on which ticketing class the partner airline actually places you in for your trip and not which class you may reserve.

I agree with Mark. I earn miles through United and so the only airlines that I can use those miles on and earn those miles from are partner airlines, which for United, are any airline within the Star Alliance partner group. However, whether or not I can use/earn those miles with either United or the partners depend on the book class/fare type. For any one journey there are several fare classes (i.e., full fare, discounted, etc.). On some fare classes (usually full fare), you earn the full miles (i.e., if the trip is 5000 miles, you earn all 5000 miles), but for discounted fare classes, you only earn a fraction. Using miles is the same, whether on your primary airline or their partners, not all flights are eligible for purchase for miles.

1) Check the fare class on your ticket; on most airlines the number of miles earned depends on that. Here are the classes on Alitalia that earn miles in Delta Skymiles.
http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/earn-miles/earn-miles-with-partners/airlines/alitalia.html

2) If your fare class is listed as eligible for miles, then reporrt it to the airline.

I've had both situations ... partner flights that were not eligible for points and eligible partner flights that did not get credited until I requested.

We had the same situation last year on American. We got 1/2 credit on the partner airline.

Thanks for the replies.

To clear things up, I am aware that under new rules the % of mile credited depends on the fare class one purchases, status with the airline, etc. That is not my complaint.

My complaint was that I got NOTHING not even 25% for flying on Delta's partner airline. I talked to a person at Delta and there was a mistake and I will get a few miles. Apparently, my fare class was not indicated properly and thus I got nothing.

I can see why there are entire websites devoted to the ins and outs of airline mileage programs.

So what was the fare class of your ticket?

It's not anything new - it has always been this way. Some tickets earn full credit in FF programs, some earn partial credit, some earn bupkis. It all depends on the "fare class" (code) associated with your ticket. Some airlines are more sneaky about this than others. Generally, if you buy a ticket that's low priced (especially if it looks like you got a great "deal") check carefully before buying it, if you care about the FF credit. Deeply discounted fares often come with no FF credit at all. The FF credits are a "cost" associated with your ticket, so that cost is (usually) factored in (or out) somewhere.

It's a complicated business, fraught with many, many opportunities for sneaky airlines to slip something by you. Delta has worked hard (harder than most) to find ways to hoodwink its customers. Caveat emptor.

And when it comes time to actually use those hard earned miles, there are tons of rules too. I tried using my United miles last year to book a Lufthansa flight and the flights that they have available for purchase with miles (as opposed to a regular cash purchase) are much more limited. Most of the flights available were not direct and involved other obscure partner air carriers.

FWIW, I am reviewing the few mileage plans I am a member of to see which best suit my travel style. These plans have a small influence on my airline travel. Basically, they are tie breakers. If I can fly on two airlines at about the same price, same service, same reliability, and same most everything else, I wlll choose the one with the better plan. I figure that directly or indirectly I am paying for the miles so I might as well get them. But, I NEVER pay extra just to get miles, and I don't depend on them when planing a trip.

While I am not happy with recent changes to Delta's plan, they have been very reliable, have a good on time record, have pleasant well trained cabin crews, and never lost my luggage or subjected me to long delays. That's got to be worth something.