Originally Posted by
Xandrios
The fraud that they are trying to prevent is miles being stolen and sold for profit. There is a whole mini-economy revolving around selling and buying credit card points (including those sourced from hacked accounts), and those points subsequently being used to buy award tickets for 3rd party clients that pay (almost) retail prices. These transactions are in fact fraud and are typically marked by having a new (unused) account having a sudden influx of miles from credit-card programs. That's why airlines are so strict when this kind of activity is seen.
That's not me. I do not engage in such activities. (Yes, I know you did not accuse me.) If their "anti-fraud" program is so hypersensitive that it flags someone trying to redeem miles for tickets for himself and someone else with the same last name living at the same address, then they need to fix that algorithm. Otherwise, get rid of the program since in some cases you do not seem to want to honor it.
Originally Posted by
Xandrios
Lets be clear; you transferring your own miles into FB and using those to buy an award tickets is perfectly within the rules and allowed. But it may require a 'check' to verify that the above scenario is not happening. That's what we are talking about here. If your account or transaction were to be flagged you can still resolve that by following their instructions. Granted, its a hassle and they make you go through hoops - but it should be possible.
That check should not be
unreasonable, e.g. multiple trips to the airport in person. If it takes a day off from work to redeem an "award," it's no so much of an award. As someone else pointed out elsewhere, what if you are in Phoenix and redeem the award and they tell you you have been "flagged" so go to the nearest AF ticket counter for a "check." But the nearest AF ticket counter is in Los Angeles! I call that unreasonable. And it could be argued that if AF allows no other method of resolving this matter that they have no intentions of resolving it at all. Who wants to not only take a day or more off from work but have to buy a roundtrip ticket on another airline to comply with some anonymous agent's demands for a "check" especially with no guarantee of success?
Originally Posted by
Xandrios
I believe that what carnarvon may also be referring to is a related topic. Many frequent fliers feel that it is unfair that 'outsiders with credit card points' come in to 'steal' their availability, especially when we are talking about hard to find/redeem award seats. Think business class or LaPremiere on popular routes. That's not against the rules, its just something that the people traveling on AFKL often don't like as they feel that 'their' availability is being used up by outsiders who don't take part in the programme otherwise.
Carnarvon is free to explain anytime. There are lots of things that a lot of us don't like about various frequent flier programs. Yes, I see where you may not like your preferred carrier entering into agreements that sell miles. None of that, however, affects the validity of my arguments.
I started this thread because I wanted accurate information on whether or not Air France/Flying Blue is living up to the promises made through American Express for the redemption of Membership Rewards points.