He Booked On JetBlue And Flew On Etihad To Abu Dhabi. He Got Zero Mileage Credit.

David Castelveter spent 32 years working in the airline industry, 27 at US Airways and five as chief spokesman at trade association Airlines for America. When he wanted mileage credit for his 14,000-mile round-trip Dulles to Abu Dhabi trip in February, it didn’t help one bit.

Five months later, he has received oogatz in mileage credits.

Now a senior communications executive for a federal agency, Castelveter traveled to speak at a conference on effective communications. He booked on JetBlue, which has a code share agreement with Etihad. He flew on Etihad, eastbound on Feb. 10 and westbound on Feb. 18. Both airlines have repeatedly declined his requests for mileage credit. .

After years in the airline industry, Castelveter knows the system. He has written repeatedly to both carriers, to the U.S. Department of Transportation and to a half dozen reporters, including me, whom he knows from his work. (Disclosure: Castelveter was my boss when I worked as US Airways staff writer in 2005.)

In an April 11 letter to officials at both airlines, Castelveter wrote, “I fully understand code-share arrangements. However, in this case, it seemed like a finger pointing exercise.”

In a May 5^th letter, sent to both airlines’ chairmen, Castelveter said, “I have written both of you, including the travel agency, as you all have refused to provide me with what I have earned, frequent flyer miles. Etihad refuses, as you say the ticket was issued by JetBlue. JetBlue refuses, as it says that while it has a code-share agreement with Etihad, it does not have a marketing agreement with Etihad.”

In a series of emails over the past week, Castelveter heard from DOT
DOT
and both airlines.

On July 11, a DOT official wrote, “The U.S. Department of Transportation seeks to ensure that all airline passengers are treated fairly.

The official said, “I will forward your complaint to the airlines and ask the company to respond directly to you with a copy to us. Airlines are required to provide a substantive response to the complainant within 60 days. We will review the airline’s response.”

She added, “If our review of your complaint and the response from the company discloses a potential violation of the law, we may pursue enforcement action.” Enforcement action may include the assessment of civil penalties, she said. “However, we have no authority to order compensation for individual complainants,” she said.

DOT got the airlines’ attention. On July 12, a guest relations officer at Etihad emailed Castelveter. He wrote, “I am sorry to read that you were left disappointed with your experience when requesting your miles to be credited.

“As you may know, we do not have a marketing agreement with JetBlue,” he wrote. “Therefore we regret to inform you that we are not able to credit the miles earned on our flights to your JetBlue Frequent Flyer account.” He encouraged Castelveter to apply for an Etihad frequent flyer card. That way, “You may be eligible to collect your miles for your future travels with us,” he said.

The last email came yesterday from JetBlue customer support. It said, “We regret to hear of your continued frustration that you have not received the points or miles for your recent trip. As previously mentioned, we don’t have a loyalty agreement with Etihad, and we’re unable to assist with your point request.

“We encourage you to keep contacting Etihad regarding your point request,” JetBlue said.

Castelveter said Monday that he is,” Caught in a Catch 22,” a reference to a novel that became popular during the Vietnam War. He should know. He is a Vietnam vet.

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