Refund on Frequent Flier miles

After I saw your post I called American and was able to get through in just a couple of minutes. I spoke to a very helpful woman who returned my miles back to my account at no cost for the flight I cancelled last week (I had been waiting to call til things got a bit quieter). Yeah!

Same here....called American and the agent was so helpful and said she would return my frequent flier miles to my account and credit my credit card for the upgrade in seats. I was heading to Newport Beach for a wedding on May 9th, but it is now cancelled, so this was an unexpected and pleasant surprise, with no fees for returning my miles.

Kateja,
Did you post another question on the forum about this issue? I seem to remember I wrote a couple responses but maybe it was someone else.
I’m glad you were pleased with Delta’s service.

Kateja,

I’m confused...

Spoke with a very nice lady, who facilitated getting my miles returned in the form of cash to my Capital One credit card account.

Why would you get a cash refund instead of getting your miles reinstated back to your account?

I get AA miles with my Citibank MasterCard and have never been
offered a cash refund instead of having my miles reinstated back into my account.

Am I missing something?

As I understand it, technically, I did get a cash refund. The dollar cost of the trip is to be credited to my Capital One account. We'll see if it actually shows up.

I'm not sure why they did it this way. It seems like it would have been easier just to dump the miles back into my account.

To whoever asked..yes I did post earlier regarding my FF miles.

Since you paid with miles, not cash, what value did Delta give for each mile? Skymiles are currently US$0.012 per mile (The Points Guy 3/2020 valuation). I’m curious if you were refunded the cash equivalent for your miles.

110,000 miles refunded amount $1100. Works for me.

I had used 115,000 frequent flyer miles for two round trip business class tickets to Lisbon, Portugal in July. Checking on the American Airlines website just now, the same roundtrip business class seat is selling for $3981 x 2 seats = $7962. I'd prefer the miles back in my account when I call to cancel. They are worth more to me than $1100.

I'd prefer the miles back in my account when I call to cancel. They are worth more to me than $1100.

Same here. I used 160,000 AAdvantage miles for 2 business class seats to Amman, Jordan early March. Those seats are around $4400 x2 = $8800 right now. AA cancelled the reservation and returned the miles to my acct (no fee)The miles are worth so much more than their cash value of approx $1900.

Sounds like you picked the Capitol One redemption option that isn't 'real miles' that are native to a specific frequent flyer program (AMEX is Delta's only USA dance partner in that regard) but rather a designated travel credit of a specific dollar value that can be used on multiple travel partners. So you got the refund in the way you paid, which was a dollar-based travel credit rather than actual SkyMiles.

selkie, in the post above, is spot-on.

Capital One "miles" are not really "miles" as the term is generally used in most FF programs (their use of the term is highly deceptive and intended to confuse consumers). Their "miles" are just cash equivalents - literally, they are pennies, one red cent each. OP, your credit seems appropriate (and about as well as you could possibly do).

Skymiles are currently US$0.012 per mile (according to some self-serving idiot with a blog who makes his living by deceptively shilling credit cards to unsuspecting fools)

That's complete nonsense. Delta Skymiles are worth exactly what you (or anyone else) thinks they're worth, or what you can get for them when you go to use them.

I used 160,000 AAdvantage miles for 2 business class seats to Amman, Jordan early March. Those seats are around $4400 x2 = $8800 right now. AA cancelled the reservation and returned the miles to my acct (no fee)The miles are worth so much more than their cash value of approx $1900.

Yes, because those are actual AA miles (not fake Capital One Pennies). But what those AA miles are "worth" can only be determined when you get to use them for something specific in the future. Right now, with AA and almost all their partners only flying a tiny fraction of their previous routes, and with the current worldwide travel restrictions in place - and all the reasons NOT to travel - what they are currently "worth" is essentially nothing. Let's hope that your AA miles (and mine and everyone else's) are actually usable for something again someday. That requires the airline to avoid bankruptcy and the complete gutting of their FF program (none of which are sure things), and a bunch of other things.

Holding on to a lot of FF miles right now is not a particularly good bet (said he who has too many of them....so I'm in the same boat). Nothing wrong with cash, if you can get it at a reasonable exchange rate.