Elliott.org recently ran an interesting story about a customer of Singapore Airlines who did not get the Aeroplan miles he expected after paying $2,706 for a flight from Vancouver to Brisbane.

“I bought the ticket specifically because the airline was a participating Star Alliance member, and gave my Aeroplan number to the travel agency at the time of purchase,” says Gordon Robertson, the traveler. “At the airport, I was told that the ticket didn’t qualify to earn points.”

Instead of merely complaining to the airlines, he decided to dispute the full amount of the ticket with Visa. At first, he received a “no” answer, but according to Robertson he persevered and received a credit for the entire amount, and Singapore Airlines did not dispute it.

Bottom line: We think Robertson got lucky with this one. What we don’t know, is what fare class he flew under. On the Aeroplan Web site it states that the following fare classes do not earn miles: G, I, N, O, Q, T, V or X. But the Web site also reads, “All scheduled flights operated by Singapore Airlines are eligible,” which is a confusing statement. Burying the fares in the fine print that do not earn miles can sometimes come back to haunt the programs.