Is this the most unfair thing about flying?

THIS could be one of the most unfair things about flying.

By- Joe Cortez : An American couple is resuming plans for a 75th birthday trip to France that was initially put on hold because an airline policy screwed up their plans.

Joe and Marilyn Woerner had more than 300,000 miles on their United Airlines MileagePlus miles accounts between them when they began planning their trip to France.

But when they logged into their accounts, they discovered their miles had expired due to inactivity.

Under United’s frequent flyer policy, MileagePlus miles expire at 18 months if a flyer does not complete a qualifying activity, such as making a purchase with a United MileagePlus co-branded credit card.

While the airline says flyers are given a warning before miles expire, the Woerners claim they never received any notice.

When Joe contacted United by email, he claims a customer service agent for the carrier suggested a program to buy back the balance of his miles. Joe thought that was unacceptable.

“So we would have to pay money, over $US500 ($685), to buy back the points we had already earned,” Joe said. “Which to me was just ridiculous.”

Running out of options, the Woerners turned to New York’s PIX11 television station for help. After contacting the station, Joe reached out to United once again, explaining that he was hospitalised and was unable to travel during the 18-month period. When he attached a note from his doctor verifying his claims, United agreed to reinstate his 270,000 miles.

However, PIX11 reports the station had to contact the airline in regards to reinstating Marilyn’s points and only then were her 52,000 miles refunded.

While the Woerners agree they learned a valuable lesson about points and miles, their message is clear: Airlines should stop expiring miles.

“It just seems to me once you earn them, you ought to be able to keep them,” says Joe.

This story originally appeared on FlyerTalk.com.