Gold Guest List beginner's guide
#1366
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: London
Programs: Don't even mention it. Grrrrrrr.
Posts: 968
I'm currently a common-or-garden GCH, and with my TP year coming to an end next month I was looking at ending up in the region of 4,300TPs. Additional travel has just cropped up which means I'll now pick up 600 TPs in the first 14 days of my new collection year. I can't see a clear consensus on the forum (and no threads that I could find since 2015) on whether the 5,000 TP first-time qualification for GGL is ever subject to the 14 day extension for a new tier. GUF1/2s clearly are ineligible, but does anyone have any recent experience of BAEC applying the grace period to GGL qualification?
Thanks
Thanks
Whilst there is a 14 day grace period available at lower levels, it does not apply to GGL and there have been no recorded instances of it being offered at GGL level.
#1367
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: BAEC Silver, IHG Diamond
Posts: 7,781
Decided to get the Hilton Diamond status sorted out as I have a couple of upcoming trips and the 2000 bonus points might be useful (although the IHG points might work better for me - need to crunch the figures).
Rang the GGL line a couple of days ago. Didn't know my HH number off the top of my head.
Sone emails this morning that don't seem to mention diamond but look as if I've a completely new account now. They've possibly used the new email address from my BAEC account (changed it after changing internet providers) rather than by name.
Anyone else had this? Only got 980 points left on my original silver status account after a few redemptions but not sure if there's a way for BA or Hilton to transfer, merge, or update the correct account.
Rang the GGL line a couple of days ago. Didn't know my HH number off the top of my head.
Sone emails this morning that don't seem to mention diamond but look as if I've a completely new account now. They've possibly used the new email address from my BAEC account (changed it after changing internet providers) rather than by name.
Anyone else had this? Only got 980 points left on my original silver status account after a few redemptions but not sure if there's a way for BA or Hilton to transfer, merge, or update the correct account.
#1369
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Northants, UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 111
I am in the same position so called the Gold line and asked them. I actually have a flight booked to depart before my collection year expires but the return is after. I asked them if they would extend my collection year to cover the return leg (that would put me over 5000 pts)...only a few days. They said that in principle they would make the extension if I called again afterwards. To be honest, I don't trust them so am booking other fights!
#1370
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,997
I am in the same position so called the Gold line and asked them. I actually have a flight booked to depart before my collection year expires but the return is after. I asked them if they would extend my collection year to cover the return leg (that would put me over 5000 pts)...only a few days. They said that in principle they would make the extension if I called again afterwards. To be honest, I don't trust them so am booking other fights!
#1371
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: London
Programs: BA GGLFL, EK Gold
Posts: 111
Very fast response on partner Gold card
I tried to apply for a replacement partner Gold card for my wife on January 2nd (her old card expired on December 31st). There was an IT glitch on the BA website (imagine!) which made it impossible nominate her (I could get everyone else on the household account and family and friends, but not her, rather bizarrely), so I called the GGL line. Not only did they answer pretty quickly but the person I spoke to could see my wife's name, clicked the box to nominate her and lo and behold, three days later an envelope with a new card (valid to end December 2020) and two shiny luggage tags. Excellent work!
#1372
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC GGL/GFl, HH Diamond, BW Diamond, Virgin Voyages Deep Blue Extra, Blue Peter Badge Holder
Posts: 3,937
Decided to get the Hilton Diamond status sorted out as I have a couple of upcoming trips and the 2000 bonus points might be useful (although the IHG points might work better for me - need to crunch the figures).
Rang the GGL line a couple of days ago. Didn't know my HH number off the top of my head.
Sone emails this morning that don't seem to mention diamond but look as if I've a completely new account now. They've possibly used the new email address from my BAEC account (changed it after changing internet providers) rather than by name.
Anyone else had this? Only got 980 points left on my original silver status account after a few redemptions but not sure if there's a way for BA or Hilton to transfer, merge, or update the correct account.
Rang the GGL line a couple of days ago. Didn't know my HH number off the top of my head.
Sone emails this morning that don't seem to mention diamond but look as if I've a completely new account now. They've possibly used the new email address from my BAEC account (changed it after changing internet providers) rather than by name.
Anyone else had this? Only got 980 points left on my original silver status account after a few redemptions but not sure if there's a way for BA or Hilton to transfer, merge, or update the correct account.
#1373
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 262
Thought I would share my recent experience of trying to "correct" an alleged bug in BA's systems where nomination for a partner card between end of Tier Point Collection Year and Membership Year End results in 12 months of Silver (or Gold) rather than 2 years.
Reputedly (in this forum), a simple call to the GGL would sort this out ... in reality nothing could be further from the truth
Last year, I nominated a member of my HHA for a Silver card. I did this on the first day of their new membership year (09/09) while they still had a Bronze card with expiry of 31/10. This was because they were due to fly during October and I wanted them to have lounge access etc. It all worked fine, card arrived in time and as expected had an expiry date of 31/10/18. Hence, taking note of the experiences related on here, I made a note for a year later (today) to call the GGL line and get the expiry extended a further 12 months.
Unfortunately, despite what might have happened in the past, this does not work (or perhaps no longer works).
A long telephone call followed my an exchange of emails referencing the GGL Ts&Cs (https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...-list-benefits) resulted in a final position from BA as follows:
"... I do agree that in the Terms and Conditions that section 8.3 state that 'For Nominees who are existing Executive Club members, the discretionary British Airways Silver/Gold Card period shall begin from the date of acceptance by British Airways of the Nominee and last until the Nominee’s Membership Year End date and for the 12 month period thereafter.' However, in the terms and conditions Definitions section, the term 'Membership Year End' actually refers to and means the expiry date on the membership card.
As you nominated XXX after the 'Tier Point Collection Year' ended but not before the defined 'Membership Year End' XXX actually had the card for the agreed length of time. From 09th September 17 until 30th September 2017 (from nomination to year end) and then the subsequent membership year, bringing the expiry of the card to September 2018. The only way that XXX would have gotten the status until 2019 would be if you nominated him after 30th September.
I understand that there are online forums where this is thought to be a bug in the BA system but I can assure you this is not the case and the system will always nominate the member for the correct period of time."
And when you go back and read through the entire Ts&Cs the above statement is indeed true
So people should beware of relying upon anecdote, however well meant, as the published Ts&Cs are the canonical source !
Not a massive deal in this particular case as the person in question currently has zero Oneworld bookings but though people would like to know.
Takeaway: Nominate the day after their current membership card expires to get the longest time at Silver (or Gold)
Moral of the story: RTFM
Reputedly (in this forum), a simple call to the GGL would sort this out ... in reality nothing could be further from the truth
Last year, I nominated a member of my HHA for a Silver card. I did this on the first day of their new membership year (09/09) while they still had a Bronze card with expiry of 31/10. This was because they were due to fly during October and I wanted them to have lounge access etc. It all worked fine, card arrived in time and as expected had an expiry date of 31/10/18. Hence, taking note of the experiences related on here, I made a note for a year later (today) to call the GGL line and get the expiry extended a further 12 months.
Unfortunately, despite what might have happened in the past, this does not work (or perhaps no longer works).
A long telephone call followed my an exchange of emails referencing the GGL Ts&Cs (https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...-list-benefits) resulted in a final position from BA as follows:
"... I do agree that in the Terms and Conditions that section 8.3 state that 'For Nominees who are existing Executive Club members, the discretionary British Airways Silver/Gold Card period shall begin from the date of acceptance by British Airways of the Nominee and last until the Nominee’s Membership Year End date and for the 12 month period thereafter.' However, in the terms and conditions Definitions section, the term 'Membership Year End' actually refers to and means the expiry date on the membership card.
As you nominated XXX after the 'Tier Point Collection Year' ended but not before the defined 'Membership Year End' XXX actually had the card for the agreed length of time. From 09th September 17 until 30th September 2017 (from nomination to year end) and then the subsequent membership year, bringing the expiry of the card to September 2018. The only way that XXX would have gotten the status until 2019 would be if you nominated him after 30th September.
I understand that there are online forums where this is thought to be a bug in the BA system but I can assure you this is not the case and the system will always nominate the member for the correct period of time."
And when you go back and read through the entire Ts&Cs the above statement is indeed true
So people should beware of relying upon anecdote, however well meant, as the published Ts&Cs are the canonical source !
Not a massive deal in this particular case as the person in question currently has zero Oneworld bookings but though people would like to know.
Takeaway: Nominate the day after their current membership card expires to get the longest time at Silver (or Gold)
Moral of the story: RTFM
Really everywhere in the literature except that place in the Ts & Cs quoted by Fitch above, the Membership Year is defined in a way that makes it synonymous with the tier point collection year. I even wonder whether it's a mistake in the Ts & Cs, but if it's been put there deliberately to screw over people like Fitch (and me) who are relying on 8.3, then the unintended consequence seems to be that my daughter is entitled to more like three years of Gold than two. Does that analysis seem sound?
#1374
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,997
The date on the card is always the end of the first full month after the end of the TP year so her gold card would expire on 30 September 2020.
#1375
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 112
I tried to apply for a replacement partner Gold card for my wife on January 2nd (her old card expired on December 31st). There was an IT glitch on the BA website (imagine!) which made it impossible nominate her (I could get everyone else on the household account and family and friends, but not her, rather bizarrely), so I called the GGL line. Not only did they answer pretty quickly but the person I spoke to could see my wife's name, clicked the box to nominate her and lo and behold, three days later an envelope with a new card (valid to end December 2020) and two shiny luggage tags. Excellent work!
#1376
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 262
no, if you nominate her now she gets gold straight away for the rest of her current membership year (so to August 2019) and one full membership year after (so August 2019 to August 2020).
The date on the card is always the end of the first full month after the end of the TP year so her gold card would expire on 30 September 2020.
The date on the card is always the end of the first full month after the end of the TP year so her gold card would expire on 30 September 2020.
So now I'm saying that if they are strictly enforcing this definition of Membership Year End then my daughter, whose card expires over a year after her current tier point year ends, should be able to get until the expiry date of her card (about 20 months from now) plus another full year. This clearly isn't what's intended but if you look at the Ts & Cs as enforced in Fitch's case then that is the strictly correct interpretation.
#1377
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,997
Right, and that's what we all assumed until Fitch reported his conversation with BA, where they drew his attention to the fact that in the terms and conditions the "Membership Year End" is bizarrely defined as the expiry date on the card. This is in contrast to every other piece of literature and to what all of us think, which is that our membership year is synonymous with our tier point collection year and ends on the 8th of the month. This "gotcha" was used to deny Finch the extra year to which we all think he should be entitled, and it was hard for him to argue because strictly speaking that is indeed how it's defined in the GGL Ts & Cs.
So now I'm saying that if they are strictly enforcing this definition of Membership Year End then my daughter, whose card expires over a year after her current tier point year ends, should be able to get until the expiry date of her card (about 20 months from now) plus another full year. This clearly isn't what's intended but if you look at the Ts & Cs as enforced in Fitch's case then that is the strictly correct interpretation.
So now I'm saying that if they are strictly enforcing this definition of Membership Year End then my daughter, whose card expires over a year after her current tier point year ends, should be able to get until the expiry date of her card (about 20 months from now) plus another full year. This clearly isn't what's intended but if you look at the Ts & Cs as enforced in Fitch's case then that is the strictly correct interpretation.
For example, for your daughter it would be as if you nominated between 9 August 2018 and 30 September 2018 and your daughter only got gold until 30 September 2019. That is where the issue has risen.
if you nominate your daughter now her card should expire 30 September 2020. She would not get gold status until September 2021. This was always the case and nothing has changed. The “rest of the year + one full membership year” is from the day you nominate not the card expiry date.
Last edited by KARFA; Jan 8, 2019 at 12:40 pm
#1378
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 262
you are misunderstanding Fitch’s problem. He was getting less than “rest of current year + one full membership year” as he nominated between end of membership year and card expiry.
The “rest of the year + one full membership year” is from the day you nominate not the card expiry date.
The “rest of the year + one full membership year” is from the day you nominate not the card expiry date.
But now Fitch has been told differently. He was in exactly this position and put in the call to have his nominee's status extended by an extra year as he understood was his entitlement. But BA has thrown a curve ball at him: it turns out that further up in the Ts & Cs, the term "Membership Year End" is defined not as what we all think of it as being, i.e. the end of the tier point collection year, but as "the expiry date on the Membership Card". I had never even checked this before, but having now done so it is indeed correct, and the capitalisation of "Membership Year End" in 8.3 makes clear that the definition further up is the one that should be used. Hence, strictly speaking, the assumption we have been making and relying on is wrong. If you nominate in the 7-week period between the tier point reset date and the card expiry date, the "Membership Year End" referred to in Clause 8.3 is not nearly a year away but only 7ish weeks away. My understanding is that this has been used to deny Fitch's nominee the extra year to which we have always assumed he would be entitled, so that he gets only just over a year of status for his nominee.
So now, applying the same logic and using the definition of Membership Year End from the GGL Ts & Cs in conjunction with Clause 8.3, I say that my daughter is indeed entitled to nearly two years and eight months of Gold if I nominate her today. Her card expiry date is September 2020, and hence her Membership Year End as defined in the Ts and Cs is September 2020, and hence the status should last until then plus one extra year, i.e. until September 2021.
Last edited by vindaloo; Jan 8, 2019 at 1:16 pm Reason: Fixed typo
#1379
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,997
If you nominated your daughter today she isn’t and never would have got a card with an expiry date of 30 September 2021. That would amount to about 2.5 years of gold status!
as I said, if you nominate someone they get the status from today for the rest of the current membership year and one full membership year after. For your daughter that would be
rest of current membership year - 8 January 2019 -> 8 August 2019
one full membership year - 9 August 2019 ->8 August 2020
card expiry date - 30 September 2020.
the status IS NOT added on to the expiry date of her card she has atm. If you nominate her today she would never have got a gold card until September 2021.
EDIT: I am sorry for the several posts in reponse. I am trying my best to explain it to you, but I think you need to realise that your theory that your daughter would ever have got a gold card until September 2021 if nominated today is incorrect and nothing of what has been raised recently has changed that. Sorry.
as I said, if you nominate someone they get the status from today for the rest of the current membership year and one full membership year after. For your daughter that would be
rest of current membership year - 8 January 2019 -> 8 August 2019
one full membership year - 9 August 2019 ->8 August 2020
card expiry date - 30 September 2020.
the status IS NOT added on to the expiry date of her card she has atm. If you nominate her today she would never have got a gold card until September 2021.
EDIT: I am sorry for the several posts in reponse. I am trying my best to explain it to you, but I think you need to realise that your theory that your daughter would ever have got a gold card until September 2021 if nominated today is incorrect and nothing of what has been raised recently has changed that. Sorry.
Last edited by KARFA; Jan 8, 2019 at 1:27 pm
#1380
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 262
If you nominated your daughter today she isn’t and never would have got a card with an expiry date of 30 September 2021. That would amount to about 2.5 years of gold status!
as I said, if you nominate someone they get the status from today for the rest of the current membership year and one full membership year after. For your daughter that would be
rest of current membership year - 8 January 2019 -> 8 August 2019
one full membership year - 9 August 2019 ->8 August 2020
card expiry date - 30 September 2020.
the status IS NOT added on to the expiry date of her card she has atm. If you nominate her today she would never have got a gold card until September 2021.
EDIT: I am sorry for the several posts in reponse. I am trying my best to explain it to you, but I think you need to realise that your theory that your daughter would ever have got a gold card until September 2021 if nominated today is incorrect and nothing of what has been raised recently has changed that. Sorry.
as I said, if you nominate someone they get the status from today for the rest of the current membership year and one full membership year after. For your daughter that would be
rest of current membership year - 8 January 2019 -> 8 August 2019
one full membership year - 9 August 2019 ->8 August 2020
card expiry date - 30 September 2020.
the status IS NOT added on to the expiry date of her card she has atm. If you nominate her today she would never have got a gold card until September 2021.
EDIT: I am sorry for the several posts in reponse. I am trying my best to explain it to you, but I think you need to realise that your theory that your daughter would ever have got a gold card until September 2021 if nominated today is incorrect and nothing of what has been raised recently has changed that. Sorry.