Bit miffed that two non-refundable returns in CW from LHR to LAX that I had to cancel didn't earn me any tier points. I know it's the rules that miles and points are only awarded if you actually travel but why is it the rules? As I see it I paid BA £7k for those seats. I didn't occupy them. I didn't receive any money back. And I gave enough notice for the seats to easily be resold. BA make more money by me cancelling. I get less in return. How does that work? Plus those tier points would have earned me my silver too.
It would really make all those TP runs across North America a fantastic way to cheaply buy any status without ever having to set foot on a plane (provided you buy 4 BA sectors as well)?
Bit miffed that two non-refundable returns in CW from LHR to LAX that I had to cancel didn't earn me any tier points. I know it's the rules that miles and points are only awarded if you actually travel but why is it the rules? As I see it I paid BA £7k for those seats. I didn't occupy them. I didn't receive any money back. And I gave enough notice for the seats to easily be resold. BA make more money by me cancelling. I get less in return. How does that work? Plus those tier points would have earned me my silver too.
I agree that it's more logical to earn TP/miles on the payment done rather than actually flying. I can't really see why this will hurt BA as a company.
With that said, was it impossible to reschedule the flights for a fee?
Thankfully it was a business trip so my company took the hit on the £7k. Doesn't mean I can't moan about not getting my silver though does it? I asked the question to customer services but was just told "those are the rules". Genuinely can't fathom out why BA could give two hoots whether I actually fly as long as I've paid.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thatbloke
Thankfully it was a business trip so my company took the hit on the £7k. Doesn't mean I can't moan about not getting my silver though does it? I asked the question to customer services but was just told "those are the rules". Genuinely can't fathom out why BA could give two hoots whether I actually fly as long as I've paid.
Because the next logical step is booking and then chucking £500 of AA tickets (plus a few LHR-MAN eligible flights) and getting Silver that way?
Genuinely can't fathom out why BA could give two hoots whether I actually fly as long as I've paid.
As I said, if TPs were earned without having to actually fly the segment or even be in the country of departure it would open a market of buying status without having to fly any segment of it.
It would be possible to price up ANY cheap TP run from ex-anywhere in the world on the Oneworld network and wait for the points and status to drop.
It would quickly make the TP system unsustainable.
I seem to remember many years ago that you did earn points towards status on tickets purchased, regardless of sectors flown.
It may have been while I was living in the States, but I remember reading about some chaps who had made quite an art out of buying multiple seats on particularly good flight deals and racked up a ton of miles without ever travelling. The rules changed soon after that as I recall.
Pretty obvious it wasn't a cheap tier point run though isn't it? £7k to get lounge access and pick seats a bit earlier than everyone else? Not the best deal. I take the point on people gaming the system but I hoped common sense would mean customer relations could see that I wasn't bending the rules.
Because the next logical step is booking and then chucking £500 of AA tickets (plus a few LHR-MAN eligible flights) and getting Silver that way?
Would it also be the case apart from the above good reason that BA could have sold this seat on in a higher fare bucket as well? Is that a factor? (I genuinely don't know the answer and this just crossed my mind)
@ thatbloke: I can understand your frustration/point in some ways but if you want flexibility with anything involving airlines/Hotels then it does cost a fair bit extra. CX Gold via the Amex Plat Card can get you OW Sapphire if that's an option for you?
I seem to remember many years ago that you did earn points towards status on tickets purchased, regardless of sectors flown.
It may have been while I was living in the States, but I remember reading about some chaps who had made quite an art out of buying multiple seats on particularly good flight deals and racked up a ton of miles without ever travelling. The rules changed soon after that as I recall.
Not sure it was the rules... but there was a bug that gave you miles and TPs if you cancelled. I found out by mistake
Pretty obvious it wasn't a cheap tier point run though isn't it? £7k to get lounge access and pick seats a bit earlier than everyone else? Not the best deal. I take the point on people gaming the system but I hoped common sense would mean customer relations could see that I wasn't bending the rules.
Agreed, but where do you draw the line?
Ultimately, your situation is probably quite rare and I can understand you feel a bit miffed by it, but as you said, them's the rules.
I guess someone in your company is probably mulling over the wisdom of buying non-refundable tickets.
I've just done the same for a trip to China and the boss isn't happy that the tickets I've booked are non-refundable. But as I could get discounted J for the price of fully flex Y I went for it and now I'm crossing my fingers he doesn't get any reason to say 'told you so' or I suspect I may end up eating the cost of the ticket.
