London Calling

Hi. New to contributing to the boards but long time reader.

I would be very grateful for any suggestions please

We (family of 5) were originally routed ARN-LHR-LAX-LHR-ARN in WTP. The AA6215 flight on the 18/8 (flying as BA281 metal 787 ) from LHR-LAX was cancelled and we were were moved to VS for LHR-LAX in PEX. All other sectors were fine and were credited.

I wrote to BAEC and requested ORC for the IRROPS and they informed me that needed to contact AA. After 3 weeks I have received an email from BAEC advising that AA have denied Avios and Tier Points credit.

I have since spoken to BAEC and they have told me that although they would have awarded the Avios and TP on a BA ticket, they cannot help me further as AA have denied. Helpful for the future maybe .....but not so much for today.

Disappointingly this loss of 90TP impacts my achieving Gold for the year (currently 1410TP but only 2 weeks and I could possibly squeeze a LHR-HEL CW trip but I am not sure that I should have to?) and it affects my son who has 760TP but needs the 4th BA flight to get Silver.

Any suggestions if I can push this further....do I ring BAEC again? or AA? or is this a loss I have to accept?

Thank you in advance

UKtravelbear

This is a loss you have to accept.

With an AA ticket it is down to AA what TPs they award (or not).

windowontheAside

I've seen various threads on here over the years complaining that AA don't give ORC. It does seem to be a thing. BA are pretty good about it, but AA routinely seem to refuse it.

Often1

AA is generally very good and quick at granting ORC. But, it will only do so when it is AA metal which has caused the reroute. The cancelled flight here was on BA metal and it is BA which must make this right. The problem is, of course, that BA has no means of crediting AA miles. Why it can't credit TP's when it was a BA-operated flight is simply staff not wanting to act.

Elevate with BA and make it clear that it was BA metal. Use the BA flight number.

London Calling

Thank you for your comments

Disappointing that this discrepancy exists between two main members of OW. So I have learnt that I should book BA directly in the future....and may need to accept this loss

However there is an injustice here - the flight routing was taken in order to achieve status with BAEC - the routing was altered by BA and now BA have made little attempt to help.

I will elevate with BA as suggested............

kingcole974

vinnyc

Is that so? I agree that miles are very dependent on the airline that operates the flight, because miles have a commercial value (in order to purchase award tickets) and the operating airline "pays"/credits to the other FFP. However, Tier Points are an internal "currency" specific to the airline running the frequent flyer/loyalty program for the purpose of awarding "elite status" with the FFP airline (granted that it does, to some extent, have a monetary/commercial value when you consider using partner lounges that invoice back to your FFP airline, but that's a stretch).
Therefore, it is up to to the FFP airline to decide whether or not they can/want to give the Tier Points. Agents can easily override the system by adding/removing TP, you just need to have a supervisor approve.
Unless I am totally wrong in my naive assumption, you should escalate this to the higher levels of BAEC and have a Senior Customer Specialist reply to you.
Keep us updated and good luck!

-vinnyc

corporate-wage-slave

And you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!

Welcome to Flyertalk London Calling and welcome to the BA forum, and remember to keep us at the top of your dial. I'm afraid you have indeed had the correct information and all you can do is to accept it for what it is. You may be able to get something out of VS' scheme after the event.

London Calling

Thanks to all.

I have escalated within the Executive Club and cross fingers - for myself (90TP to get to Gold) and my son (needs 4th BA flight to be made Silver).

I have also involved CS as the communication between CS and BAEC is woeful. Apparently case numbers can't be shared so each time I ring BAEC I have a 30 minute preamble to re-explain the situation. Done it 3 times today and twice last week. And after all that....as a lowly Silver......I still cannot get a Team Leader to look at this again.....yet.

Thanks to corporate-wage-slave. Re-activated my VS account and will try to claim for the travelled segment. I know that this is a BA forum, but the VS PEX product was very good especially on a 787 that flies!

Again....very grateful for all the advice

rlnnpt

wanderingjock

AdBoy

These will likely be honoured. Just be sure to retain all original boarding passes and AA ticket numbers.

Often1

Ultimately, it is BA which decides who gets what status. TP's and the like are simply an internal BA metric which BA can adapt any way it wishes. They have no value outside of BA.

Avios are a OW-wide "currency" and it does matter how carriers exchange them. If the avios are less important, make it clear that what you want is the status and could care less how BA makes that happen.

vinnyc

orbitmic

I think that you make it sound a lot easier/more common than it is. Yes, TPs are an internal currency (as are avios for that matter), but in my experience, agents have no discretion whatsoever on awarding them, neither have supervisors. TPs are strictly awarded for flights flown or where an airline authorises ORC and I am not aware of any other circumstance where this happens. Avios are, if anything a bit easier - those for flights have to be authorised by the airline which code is on the flight but they can also be awarded as recovery (TPs can't) so things could potentially be evened out on that score.

My guess, however, is that unfortunately for the OP, his only chance is to indeed hope that status is renewed for them both despite the TPs not being corrected. There is absolutely no guarantee that this will be accepted and there is no recourse if they say no, but it is certainly worth asking!