hearingdouble

I will do, and will report back -- but it won't be for a month or two I'm afraid, sorry. If you try it out in the meanwhile, similarly let us all know how you get on!

Wozza2404

They cancelled a booking for me last year around 27 hours after I made it, but as this isn't a published benefit I certainly wouldn't be banking on it.

vindaloo

I know this was discussed more than once further up thread but I don’t think we got a definitive answer. If I nominate a brand new BAEC member for a partner card before they take their first flight, what happens? Do they get the status for one year or two? And does it start from when I nominate them or when they take their first flight? Any data points gratefully received!

LondonCanuck

Assuming your partner is properly linked in F&F or HHA accounts, it is instantaneous when you nominate. They get the status for AT LEAST one year, but depending on their membership year reset, it can be more than one, sometimes approaching two. When they take a flight has nothing to do with their membership year benefits timing.

Tobias-UK

Do they have a "Membership Year ends" and/o a "Card Expiry" date on their BAEC account? They will find it by logging in and navigating to "Manage My Account". If you can let us know the dates (if any) we might be able to give you an accurate answer.

vindaloo

Right, but the point (I think) is that your membership year reset is normally fixed only when you take your first flight, so in the case of a new BAEC member if the nomination takes place before the member has flown then does the mere act of being nominated trigger the year rollover date to be set, and if so is it set to the 8th of the month just passed (so they would get nearly two years) or the 8th of the month just coming (so they would get only just over one year). If the year rollover date isn't set until they take their first flight, the same question applies: is the date the 8th of the month just gone or the one coming up? Again, the difference is worth 11 extra months of status.

joelyp

I created a new account for someone I wanted to nominate (they had no BAEC account already), then waited to nominate until after membership year expiry anniversary (8th of the following month), and nominated. Just short of 2 years awarded.

ermen

Yes that is the best way to do it (i.e. create an account before nominating).

I believe if you nominate someone who does not have a BAEC account, you only get slightly over a year in that circumstance?

Seems like what the nomination process does is "crystalise" the TP year end date that is shown on a member's BAEC account, with status given till the end of that relevant year + a further year to try to "retain" that status (like a normal account).

joelyp

That's my understanding - if you nominate someone who does not have a BAEC account already, it will be similar to nominating just before the end of someone's TP year - they get little more than a year.

vindaloo

Right, so I created a BAEC account for her this morning and it shows with a year end of February 2019. She has a flight today, so I guess that will crystallise the year end and I should wait until 9 February (forgoing her inbound flight also) so as to get the extra 11 months.

And in general if you want to nominate a new member then the only way they can get nearly two years of status is by taking their first flight before you nominate them. That crystallises the year end date as the next 8th of the month, and you nominate them just after that. In my case, since my nominee is flying outbound today and inbound on 7 February, there's no way to give her status for either of those flights without wasting 11 months of status, so I should sign her up and make sure she credits these two flights, and then nominate her on or after 9 February.

vindaloo

In fact (just correctly myself) the difference is 12 months of status, not 11, because the year end date will be the same either way.

ermen

if your wife takes a flight today, it will crystalise 8 Feb 19.
Then u can immediately grant her status, which then pushes it to 30 March 20 (card expiry).

Just did this (for Jan) for my wife and card expires in 2020.

The logic in my head is

1/ 8 Feb 19 TP year end was to give her a chance to "earn" gold. She did that early by you giving her status

2/ 8 Feb 20 TP year end is to give her the chance to "retain" status. Even if she doesnt do anything she should keep the card till the end of this relevant TP collection year + a little longer.
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vindaloo

You did this on a brand new BAEC account? I guess I can see the logic here. The first "year" of membership is actually a little over a year, being from whenever you take your first flight or are nominated to a partner card until one year after the next 8th of the month. That year you have slightly more than a year to earn status the hard way, and however you get your status it is valid until the end of the membership year plus the year after.

The only remaining catch, if that's correct, is trying to argue the case further down the line. Anecdotally it sounds as though nominating someone in the first seven weeks or so of their membership year doesn't work properly with BA's IT system, and you end up having to request the extra year of status when it expires prematurely. In the case where it's an existing BAEC member whose year has just rolled over you at least have the Ts and Cs on your side, but in the case of a new member whose first "year" is actually more than a year, I wonder whether there might be problems when you complain that 14 months of status for your nominee isn't enough and you want another 12!

ermen

Actually the only problem with BA IT system seems to be iff you are nominating between a TP year end and card expiry year end. In your case that would be IF the BA TP year ends 8 Feb 2018 and card expires 31 Mar 2018. But in your case, as it is a new account, the TP year end is 8 Feb 2019 with card expiry 31 Mar 2019, hence no IT confusion.

This is what happened in my case
1/ Signed wife up for BAEC Sep 2017
2/ First flight Dec 2017 (TP year end crystallised as 8 Jan 2019 2 days after posting, with blue card expiry 28 Feb 2019)
3/ gave gold card around 15 Jan 2018
4/ card was upgraded to Gold with expiry 28 Feb 2020 (so no IT issue for me)

I cannot see why though there would be a problem granting say on 2 Feb when you are within the TP year expiring 8 Feb 19. But your risk tolerance may vary (there have been cases in the GGL benefits timing thread IIRC of people getting 2 yrs on existing new accounts - so not without precedent really)

vindaloo

That's extremely useful, thank you.