Mar 27, 2015, 9:09 am
Last edit by: corporate-wage-slave
If you are new to this thread, please read this wiki before posting a question.
It's here to summarise what we know so far. It will save you the trouble of skim-reading the whole thread and should only take a minute to read. Thanks!
The very short version is:
If all your BA Avios have vanished, don't panic. They have probably been temporarily frozen by BA, not stolen by hackers.
British Airways have issued an FAQ on the issue:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel...s?p_faqid=5249
Starting on 27 March 2015, a very large number of people have found that their Avios balance has been reset to zero. Their list of transactions shows an "Ex-Gratia" deduction of their entire previous balance. Other people are also reporting they are unable to access their accounts at all, with their BAEC number not being recognised.
As of 17 hrs BST 30 March 2015, some members of FT have seen their Avios returned, as an equal Ex-Gratia credit to their account.
BAEC call centre staff do not seem to have received a thorough briefing and are giving at times contradictory information. However, an email has gone out to some, not all, BAEC members affected by this issue, with the subject "Executive Club Password Change", details here in post 181. At present there is no definitive information about the exact cause, but it's clear that BA believes there has been a serious security breach (or that there was a serious risk of such a breach).
Can I fix it myself?
Not at this stage. Early posts described a two part process but that no longer works, perhaps because there were too many cases. It will be necessary to reset your password if you are affected. After that you can login to your account, but at the moment those affected will still see zero Avios. Tier Points are unaffected by this incident.
Do I need to reset my password?
If you can't get into BA.com then yes. There seems to be two ways to do this:
1) If you received the email in post 181 above, follow the link to generate a new password. Note that you should double check that this is the precise same email shown in the link. There is a facility to view this email in a browser, top right, this is hosted by ed4.net
2) On the front page of BA.com -- when not logged in -- there is a "Forgotten PIN/Password" option. This should send an email to your registered account and from there you can reset your password.
There are, however, many reports of option 2 not working, although it is working for some BAEC members on some occasions. As always, check your spam box. If you can't get it to work, you can telephone the call centre (service centre) and after asking additional questions to verify identity, they can generate the email too.
I haven't received the email but I have been locked out / zero'd, what should I do?
Try to reset your password as above, and you could ring BA to find out if you need to take additional action. However the chances are that at the moment you will need to wait at least a few days until the situation becomes clearer.
I haven't been blocked, do I need to do anything?
No. But if you are worried you can reset your password inside BAEC, just go to My Executive Club / Manage My Account / Update My Personal Information / Login Details. However with so many BAEC members inhibited in making bookings at the moment, now may be a good time to take advantage of unclaimed availability.
Have other Avios partners been hit by this?
Yes, Iberia have been, Avios.com apparently not.
How do I look for or book redemptions?
If you have been zero'd then the Book with Avios or Money tab on the left side of My Executive Club may be blocked. However, you can at least check availability via Executive Club / Reward Flights / Book a Reward Flight. BAEC call centre staff are able to book redemptions for you. Remember to check that any booking fee is waived (hopefully they will do this without prompting). In other cases call centre staff have offered to put a redemption booking on "hold" pending the resolution of this issue. Alternatively if you have an Avios.com account with Avios already available there, then this maybe another way of handling this matter.
Statement of March 28 by AwardWallet.com : https://awardwallet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6616&sid=28d901e85aafebb62044 609dc1a1ae7b
It's here to summarise what we know so far. It will save you the trouble of skim-reading the whole thread and should only take a minute to read. Thanks!
The very short version is:
If all your BA Avios have vanished, don't panic. They have probably been temporarily frozen by BA, not stolen by hackers.
British Airways have issued an FAQ on the issue:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel...s?p_faqid=5249
Starting on 27 March 2015, a very large number of people have found that their Avios balance has been reset to zero. Their list of transactions shows an "Ex-Gratia" deduction of their entire previous balance. Other people are also reporting they are unable to access their accounts at all, with their BAEC number not being recognised.
As of 17 hrs BST 30 March 2015, some members of FT have seen their Avios returned, as an equal Ex-Gratia credit to their account.
BAEC call centre staff do not seem to have received a thorough briefing and are giving at times contradictory information. However, an email has gone out to some, not all, BAEC members affected by this issue, with the subject "Executive Club Password Change", details here in post 181. At present there is no definitive information about the exact cause, but it's clear that BA believes there has been a serious security breach (or that there was a serious risk of such a breach).
Can I fix it myself?
Not at this stage. Early posts described a two part process but that no longer works, perhaps because there were too many cases. It will be necessary to reset your password if you are affected. After that you can login to your account, but at the moment those affected will still see zero Avios. Tier Points are unaffected by this incident.
Do I need to reset my password?
If you can't get into BA.com then yes. There seems to be two ways to do this:
1) If you received the email in post 181 above, follow the link to generate a new password. Note that you should double check that this is the precise same email shown in the link. There is a facility to view this email in a browser, top right, this is hosted by ed4.net
2) On the front page of BA.com -- when not logged in -- there is a "Forgotten PIN/Password" option. This should send an email to your registered account and from there you can reset your password.
There are, however, many reports of option 2 not working, although it is working for some BAEC members on some occasions. As always, check your spam box. If you can't get it to work, you can telephone the call centre (service centre) and after asking additional questions to verify identity, they can generate the email too.
I haven't received the email but I have been locked out / zero'd, what should I do?
Try to reset your password as above, and you could ring BA to find out if you need to take additional action. However the chances are that at the moment you will need to wait at least a few days until the situation becomes clearer.
I haven't been blocked, do I need to do anything?
No. But if you are worried you can reset your password inside BAEC, just go to My Executive Club / Manage My Account / Update My Personal Information / Login Details. However with so many BAEC members inhibited in making bookings at the moment, now may be a good time to take advantage of unclaimed availability.
Have other Avios partners been hit by this?
Yes, Iberia have been, Avios.com apparently not.
How do I look for or book redemptions?
If you have been zero'd then the Book with Avios or Money tab on the left side of My Executive Club may be blocked. However, you can at least check availability via Executive Club / Reward Flights / Book a Reward Flight. BAEC call centre staff are able to book redemptions for you. Remember to check that any booking fee is waived (hopefully they will do this without prompting). In other cases call centre staff have offered to put a redemption booking on "hold" pending the resolution of this issue. Alternatively if you have an Avios.com account with Avios already available there, then this maybe another way of handling this matter.
Statement of March 28 by AwardWallet.com : https://awardwallet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6616&sid=28d901e85aafebb62044 609dc1a1ae7b
27 Mar: Large numbers of BAEC accounts being Locked/Zeroed Out/in Audit ('Ex-gratia')
Jun 24, 2015, 8:59 pm
#976
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Charleston, SC, USA
Programs: Avis Pref+, Hyatt Explorist, Marriott Life Gold, Honors Silver, IHG Plat via MC.
Posts: 6,786
Ttama, my one buddy, on whose account I am a 3rd-Party Nominee/ Contact Person NEVER got any emails for 2 months, no matter how I requested! Online, via mobile Website, by phoning, etc. We also were advised to submit a special form by BAExecutiveClub. I got the same error message from my laptop, but it worked from my mobile phone with the 'please wait 3 days' message. I changed my friend's email address from his work addy to my Earthlink one, which had successfully received the BA email for my own account 2 months earlier.
It worked, so as I posted above, it's OK now. Obviously, some email servers are incompatible with BA's system
!
It worked, so as I posted above, it's OK now. Obviously, some email servers are incompatible with BA's system
!
Jun 25, 2015, 12:56 am
#977
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver Card
Posts: 120
There is an issue with some BA accounts not receiving emails. For example, I'm not receiving any booking confirmations via email. I called the GC line and they acknowledged that "some" accounts were experiencing this glitch, and added mine to the list of accounts to be "fixed". This was some weeks ago, and as of a few days ago I am still not receiving emails from BA.
I get the Hilliergram though.
I get the Hilliergram though.
Jun 25, 2015, 7:04 am
#978
Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,076
Same here... Not getting the password reset emails (but getting all other emails like "we've noticed you've been looking at flights to NYC lately...", so definitely not a problem on my end).
BA - please get your act together... How long can I be locked out of my account?
BA - please get your act together... How long can I be locked out of my account?
Jun 25, 2015, 7:23 am
#979
formerly sahiljain22
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: BOS;NYC;YVR;YYZ;DEL;BOM
Programs: Amex Plat; HH Diamond; SPG Plat; Hyatt Diamond; United 1K; National EE; HSBC Premier
Posts: 532
My account got compromised 4 days ago (was not compromised in March). Email changed. 71k hotel award reservation done. Noticed today when I could not login. Called and requested account to be frozen and sent to audit.
Letting others know this isnt over yet.
Letting others know this isnt over yet.
Jul 19, 2015, 3:02 pm
#980
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 29
My BA Executive Club account had been hacked and 109,000+ Avios point were used back in June 3 to book at Hilton Checker in LA and then another 27,000+ points was used in July 3 for Mandarin Orchard. I called BAEC this morning. The agent was able to stop the July 3 booking (since it will not be dur to be used until October) and reimbursed my account with the points. However, the 109K from June 3 booking apparent had already been used. They are referring it to "audit" and supposedly will call me back.
Has any one had similar experiences? If so, did they credit your miles back ... and after how long?
BTW: When they cancelled the July booking, I got an email telling me the reservation had been cancelled. It also show the booking's lead traveller is a "Agata Firmandi of Jakarta of SARATOGA 95070" and an email address of "[email protected]". I am surprised when the original reservations were made, I did not get any notifications. I am also surprised when I did a google search for BAEC hack, there seemed to be a major, high profile, hacking incident back at the end of March ... and yet I did not receive any notification :-(
Has any one had similar experiences? If so, did they credit your miles back ... and after how long?
BTW: When they cancelled the July booking, I got an email telling me the reservation had been cancelled. It also show the booking's lead traveller is a "Agata Firmandi of Jakarta of SARATOGA 95070" and an email address of "[email protected]". I am surprised when the original reservations were made, I did not get any notifications. I am also surprised when I did a google search for BAEC hack, there seemed to be a major, high profile, hacking incident back at the end of March ... and yet I did not receive any notification :-(
Last edited by Wong1234; Jul 19, 2015 at 3:12 pm
Nov 5, 2015, 2:36 am
#981
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Seattle
Programs: AAdvantage Plat+, FoundersCard, Amex Plat, TR Diamond, Marriott Gold, Wyndham Dia, HH Gold, Hertz 5*
Posts: 785
I manage multiple family members' Avios accounts.
Some of them were approaching the 36 month expiration date of their points, when lo and behold BA did their "Ex Gratia" confiscate all their points and then give them back. Does this count as "qualifying activity", so the points/Avios don't expire for 36 months since this fiasco?
Some of them were approaching the 36 month expiration date of their points, when lo and behold BA did their "Ex Gratia" confiscate all their points and then give them back. Does this count as "qualifying activity", so the points/Avios don't expire for 36 months since this fiasco?
Nov 29, 2022, 3:15 am
#982
Join Date: Nov 2022
Posts: 1
Late to the party, but I thought I'd share my story.
At the end of August, I found my inbox flooded with over six hundred random emails. I was about to block delete them, but thought I should just check through them. In the middle of them, I found one email from BA confirming that just under 100,000 Avios points had been used to book a 5 star hotel in Kazakhstan for a week, starting the next day. I immediately logged in to my BAEC account and changed the password.
I tried multiple times to call the BAEC number without success. In the end I used Twitter, mentioning BA and recounting my story. My account was locked on the 26th August, and remains locked. I have tried phoning BA multiple times (I always wait forever and then get disconnected). Using Twitter Direct Messages, I finally get through to an operator and the message is always the same - "We're afraid our Executive Club team are unable to unlock your Executive Club account until they've completed their investigation". I've been waiting three months now, have lost 100,000 Avios points and I need access to my account soon for flights that are coming up that were booked before things went to total custard.
I suspect that this is a massive breach which BA are trying very hard to keep quiet.
At the end of August, I found my inbox flooded with over six hundred random emails. I was about to block delete them, but thought I should just check through them. In the middle of them, I found one email from BA confirming that just under 100,000 Avios points had been used to book a 5 star hotel in Kazakhstan for a week, starting the next day. I immediately logged in to my BAEC account and changed the password.
I tried multiple times to call the BAEC number without success. In the end I used Twitter, mentioning BA and recounting my story. My account was locked on the 26th August, and remains locked. I have tried phoning BA multiple times (I always wait forever and then get disconnected). Using Twitter Direct Messages, I finally get through to an operator and the message is always the same - "We're afraid our Executive Club team are unable to unlock your Executive Club account until they've completed their investigation". I've been waiting three months now, have lost 100,000 Avios points and I need access to my account soon for flights that are coming up that were booked before things went to total custard.
I suspect that this is a massive breach which BA are trying very hard to keep quiet.
Nov 29, 2022, 4:14 am
#983
Join Date: Jan 2022
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 1,474
Sorry about the fradulent booking and the locking of your account. I don't have any advice. Strange that you can't get a hold of anyone on the phone. Although, if you do get through, I fear it might be the same advice that they can't say anything until they complete their investigation.
It's not a massive breach. If there had been one as far back as August, this forum (not to mention the press) would have exploded.
It's not a massive breach. If there had been one as far back as August, this forum (not to mention the press) would have exploded.
Nov 29, 2022, 4:29 am
#985
Join Date: Jul 2019
Programs: BAEC Bronze, Mucci recipient
Posts: 1,786
Late to the party, but I thought I'd share my story.
At the end of August, I found my inbox flooded with over six hundred random emails. I was about to block delete them, but thought I should just check through them. In the middle of them, I found one email from BA confirming that just under 100,000 Avios points had been used to book a 5 star hotel in Kazakhstan for a week, starting the next day. I immediately logged in to my BAEC account and changed the password.
I tried multiple times to call the BAEC number without success. In the end I used Twitter, mentioning BA and recounting my story. My account was locked on the 26th August, and remains locked. I have tried phoning BA multiple times (I always wait forever and then get disconnected). Using Twitter Direct Messages, I finally get through to an operator and the message is always the same - "We're afraid our Executive Club team are unable to unlock your Executive Club account until they've completed their investigation". I've been waiting three months now, have lost 100,000 Avios points and I need access to my account soon for flights that are coming up that were booked before things went to total custard.
I suspect that this is a massive breach which BA are trying very hard to keep quiet.
At the end of August, I found my inbox flooded with over six hundred random emails. I was about to block delete them, but thought I should just check through them. In the middle of them, I found one email from BA confirming that just under 100,000 Avios points had been used to book a 5 star hotel in Kazakhstan for a week, starting the next day. I immediately logged in to my BAEC account and changed the password.
I tried multiple times to call the BAEC number without success. In the end I used Twitter, mentioning BA and recounting my story. My account was locked on the 26th August, and remains locked. I have tried phoning BA multiple times (I always wait forever and then get disconnected). Using Twitter Direct Messages, I finally get through to an operator and the message is always the same - "We're afraid our Executive Club team are unable to unlock your Executive Club account until they've completed their investigation". I've been waiting three months now, have lost 100,000 Avios points and I need access to my account soon for flights that are coming up that were booked before things went to total custard.
I suspect that this is a massive breach which BA are trying very hard to keep quiet.
Unfortunately with regard to your issue you are just going to have to wait until BAEC finishes conducting its investigation. I have no insight into how long that takes but I hope your account is unblocked soon.