pdrickey

This is in regards to the new promotion from Chase: Spend $30,000 in one year and get a companion certificate to use for 2for1 award redemption...
Here is my experience.. just wondering if anyone else has experienced the same.
I spent $30k on my credit card in December(statement closed on 12/26) in order to receive the companion certificate. The terms stated that I would receive the certificate within 4-6 weeks. It was brought to my attention that the offer did not officially start until 1/1/2010, but after reading this forum and talking to many reps at British Airways it was my understanding that Chase would honor those who spent $30k before the promotion officially started. I should have verified this with chase...

I have been in contact with BA over the past month inquiring about the certificate and when I would receive it. They told me many different stories as they didn’t really know anything about it…but within the last week it seems that they have gotten their act together. They said that Chase is in the middle of issuing the certificates, but are behind schedule as there were thousands that met the spending requirement. BA has even added a way to check the status of the certificate on their internal system. They told me that if you qualified for the offer the status would be listed under "Campaigns," and would show as either pending or issued. I verified with a number of BA reps that my account did in fact have the status listed and that it was pending - their explanation was that I have qualified for the certificate so it shows pending, but they are just awaiting Chase to send out the certificates.

I have been calling BA multiple times per day to see if the status has changed as I am trying to book an award ticket ASAP. As of today, my account still shows pending. I asked multiple BA reps if they were aware of anyone receiving the companion certificates, and each of them confirmed that customers have been issued the certificate and all of them stated that they had actually booked awards using the certificates. I decided to call chase to see what the hold up was with issuing the certificates and I received some terrible news from the manager on duty. Chase is not/will not issue certificates to people who met the $30k spending threshold in 2009. You will only receive a companion ticket if you meet the $30k spend in 2010. They are sending out this information via an official letter. This is contrary to what everyone has posted on this site as well as what every BA rep I have talked to regarding the subject.. I’m guessing that there is going to be some serious backlash towards Chase fdue to this issue. I am incredibly frustrated because I could have easily spent another $30k on the first day of the year. Now I am going to have to start this whole process over again so I wont get my certificate for another 2 months. Too bad the certificate will be useless at that point as the award seats are already almost non-existent for the dates I’m trying to book… I guess that it is my own fault for not contacting Chase earlier to learn that 2009 spending would not count…

Any one else receive the same info from Chase??

jdrtahoe

Good day,

Moderator removed my Previous post with direct contact with BA due to FT rules.

I am indeed sorry for a post of information outside of rules due showing a PM.
I will not copy a PM again on FT....Again I am in the wrong...


So in general:
Contacts at BA and Chase in October 2009 confirmed 30K spend in 2009
for current card holders would qualify. Indeed many have spent the 30,000
USD to qualify

I trust this is so, and thank BA and Chase for their correspondance last
October.

Regards,
Jdrtahoe

nyc6035

Somewhat related to this topic, I see you called out that your spending posted in a 2009 statement. Does anyone have any insight in terms how charged made in the back-half of 2009 but posted on a 2010 statement will accumulate? Will they count toward 2010 certificate accumulation or toward 2009?

mhbaker

On 10-22-09 ba.com helper posted: "We are pleased to let you know that BA and Chase will reward loyal card members with a redemption voucher for a companion ticket on 2009 spend even though the new benefits take effect on November 12, 2009. Keep this in mind when doing your holiday shopping especially if you're close to $30,000 for this calendar year." On 12-9-09 I copied, from the BA website, the terms and conditions of the offer which did not restrict the offer to 2010 spending. Given these facts, I pushed enough of my 2010 spending into 2009 to meet the $30,000 requirement. Interestingly, I recently received a promotional mailing regarding this offer. The mailing has a return address listing British Airways but with the address for Chase. The mailing touts the "upgraded benefits" of the BA Visa card, including the Redeem for 1, Travel for 2 certificate. There is nothing in the mailing which excludes 2009 spending. However, it does refer you to ba.com/Redeemfor1Travelfor 2 and this site states "New British Airways Visa Card Reward Begins January 1, 2010." This conflicts with the earlier representations of BA and Chase that the benefit actually began in November 2009. One thing is clear. BA explicitly represented that the benefit would be extended for 2009 spending and, in fact, encouraged cardholders to meet the $30,000 limit in 2009. Whatever Chase's position may be, I expect BA to honor this benefit for 2009 spending and given it's representations, I find it impossible to believe they could do otherwise. As to the other question, it is clear that charges made in 2009 qualify as 2009 spending even though appearing on a 2010 statement. When Chase sends the end-of-the-year summary, all such charges appear as 2009 spending. In conclusion, I would put no faith in anything Chase has to say on this issue because in my previous conversations with Chase representatives, I have found them to be singularly ignorant on the most basic of questions regarding the card, its benefits, and the card's terms and conditions. Again, I expect BA to live up to its representations regardless of the position taken by Chase.

KurtBJC

My experience with Chase has been overwhelmingly negative, in terms of customer service representatives having any idea what they're talking about, or even really trying to be the least bit helpful. I would not be at all surprised to find that Chase CSRs don't know the terms of the BA deal, and so I would take anything they say--positive or negative--with a grain of salt.

I do expect BA to live up to the terms announced, and will be very disappointed if BA does not. Both my wife and I shifted quite a bit of business spending for 2009 over to our BA cards so that we could each earn a 2009 companion award, and both of us hit the target, so I am still expecting the companion awards to show up in our accounts. It really would be nice, though, to have clarity on whether this is going to happen, as we could run both cards up to $30K for 2010 easily right away, but might choose to wait till later in the year if we knew that the 2009 certificates were indeed on their way.

Of course, now that BA is cutting SEA-LHR back from 13 to 7 (!) flights per week, award availability here stinks anyhow....

Kurt

KurtBJC

On a related note: has anyone yet seen one of these show up in the online EC interface? Will the companion voucher be bookable online through the normal Book With Miles process?

Vegas

For what it is worth (probably nothing) here is an email I received from Chase CS on the same subject last week :

Dear Mr Vegas

I have reviewed this account and confirmed that the
purchases you have made since January 1, 2009 have
exceeded $30,000.00. As a result, you have qualified to
receive the companion ticket certificate, which will be
sent to you in early February 2010.

Note the word 'sent' - I take this to mean sent via the USPS but I have been wrong before.

Steve in Olympia

Don't put out any milk and cookies for the USPS truck. The Terms & Conditions indicate that the certificate will be posted to your BAEC account.

When I spoke to a CSA in December, he consulted with this supervisor and then told me that 2009 spending would definitely qualify for the 2-for-1 certificate. He said all of the CSA's had a meeting on this and they were told that the certificate deal had been announced in October because they wanted to influence spending on the cards during the 2009 holiday season.

I remain guardedly optomistic......

mwalsh

I do too. BUT....

a) Chase is run by a bunch of a**holes in senior management whose greatest joy in life is clusterf'ing the public.

b) Chase middle management couldn't manage themselves out of a paper bag.

c) Chase 'customer service' is anything but.

BTW, no voucher here yet and we reached $30k of spend last September.

mhbaker

So, what do really think about Chase? The promotion wasn't announced until October and it was always my understanding that the certificate, based on 2009 spending, would not be posted to your BAEC account until sometime in early 2010. However, it would seem that Chase and BA have had ample time to issue those certificates, we are now 6 weeks into the year, and yet no one has reported receiving one.

Steve in Olympia

The Terms & Conditions say: Cardmember will receive the Voucher 4-6 weeks after the billing cycle when the Cardmember reaches $30,000 in purchases.

Since the program started January 1, and everybody's billing cycle closed sometime in January, we should have a week or so before they start showing up. Let's all wish upon a star.........

magicspot

does anyone know about the expiration date on the certificate?

i assume its 2 years from the date issued on the cert. so if i plan to travel with it in the future but dont know when it is in my best interested to cross the 30k threshold as late 2010 as possible?

thats my assumption. also, is it safe to say you dont need to have the chase BA card at the time of certificate redemption?

it seems no one has redeemed one yet.

can you really use it for *anything*? RTW first anyone?

nsr

"The Redemption Voucher will be valid from the date on which it appears on the Member’s Executive Club account and will be valid for 24 months."

nsr

The only thing mentioned is that you have to be a cardmember to RECEIVE the certificate but then at the end it states the following:

"Members must remain eligible for this promotion at the time of travel. BA and Chase reserve the right to withdraw any Redemption Voucher in the event that the Member is in breach of the terms of the BA/Chase Credit Card or the BA Executive Club Terms and Conditions"

which can be interpreted in different ways. I would definitely cancel my card only after making the booking, just to be safe.

nsr

Manager on Chase informed me that she had spoke on the phone with BA earlier this week and they are in the process of sending these certificates. She claims it will take about 6 more weeks