Flying doesn't always earn miles

In May, Gerald and Joyce Moran of Maplewood traveled to Rome for a vacation. When they got back, something was missing — credit for the 10,000 miles they had flown.

The Morans learned after the fact that their $858 tickets were KLM discount fares and therefore ineligible for frequent flier miles. The policy meant Delta, which operated the first leg of the flight, wouldn't award SkyMiles points either.

A Delta spokesman said passengers shouldn't expect sales agents to alert them about when they will earn SkyMiles.

"We provide detailed information about mileage credit on delta.com/skymiles and encourage customers to verify that their travel on partner airlines qualifies for mileage credit," the spokesman said.

The explanation didn't mollify Moran, 75, a retired medical administrator. He wouldn't have thought to ask about the SkyMiles up front, because the couple provided their SkyMiles account numbers when buying the tickets.

"I think the airline needs to be upfront about that, instead of hiding it in some very vague language in the back of some web site page," he said.