Originally Posted by
petemitchell
Haven't flown BA since 2020, was Silver/Gold for 5-6 years prior. Despite being based in Germany, my family, company, and I flew BA exclusively for international travel. Due to cheapening/declining service, along with the inconvenience of two LHR-layovers being part of every trip, my business (personal and company) shifted to Lufthansa/United.
When preparing to make a booking for a trip to London, I noticed that 220,000 Avios expired in July 2023, without warning. I understand that 36-months of inactivity triggers this, which I obviously did not keep track of. However, other airlines, like American, send a courtesy notice several weeks in advance. BA does not.
Long story short, I made a request to refund my Avios with the understanding that I would be making a cash booking in the coming weeks. Customer service simply refused. I find this baffling as it would cost BA a grand total of 0.00 and encourage me to fly BA again. Sadly, this behavior sends a clear message that my business is not appreciated and reinforces my decision to take my business elsewhere. As I politely, but firmly, told the customer service agent, I will be avoiding BA in future and will alert my friends and colleagues of my recent experience. The 20-30,000 EUR I spend annually on company/personal airfare will continue to be paid to other airlines without regret.
So, to be clear, OP:
1) Did not keep track of their own mileage balance, which is their duty, not BA's, even though doing so would require something as simple as an AwardWallet free account
2) Didn't fly BA for such a long period of time that they apparently failed to check their mileage account before it was too late
3) Asked BA to reinstate thousands of dollars worth of miles and go against policy that everyone else deals with for "the understanding that I would be making a cash booking" - not even an actual booking or any details on whether this would be, say, EDI-LHR in Y
4) Is threatening to move 20,000 to 30,000 EUR of bookings -- which they have
already moved to another airline -- to another airline
It's difficult to see why BA isn't moving heaven and earth to accommodate OP.