NASTY AIRMILES changes!!
Jan 26, 2009, 1:24 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Lewes
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NASTY AIRMILES changes!!
AIRMILES, part of the British Airways family, have made a number of changes to it's Terms and Conditions.....
If you havn't had AIRMILES credited to an account for a year, booking with them will result in a fee of £30.
Worse, IMHO, -If you havn't had any miles credited for two years, you lose ALL the AIRMILES in the account.
I appreciate that the airline had rubbish financials out today, and it may be trying to limit it's liability, avoid servicing costs of dormant accounts etc.... But I will be complaining!!!
If you havn't had AIRMILES credited to an account for a year, booking with them will result in a fee of £30.
Worse, IMHO, -If you havn't had any miles credited for two years, you lose ALL the AIRMILES in the account.
I appreciate that the airline had rubbish financials out today, and it may be trying to limit it's liability, avoid servicing costs of dormant accounts etc.... But I will be complaining!!!
Jan 26, 2009, 1:27 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: UK
Programs: IC Hotels Spire, BA Gold
Posts: 8,668
AIRMILES, part of the British Airways family, have made a number of changes to it's Terms and Conditions.....
If you havn't had AIRMILES credited to an account for a year, booking with them will result in a fee of £30.
Worse, IMHO, -If you havn't had any miles credited for two years, you lose ALL the AIRMILES in the account.
I appreciate that the airline had rubbish financials out today, and it may be trying to limit it's liability, avoid servicing costs of dormant accounts etc.... But I will be complaining!!!
If you havn't had AIRMILES credited to an account for a year, booking with them will result in a fee of £30.
Worse, IMHO, -If you havn't had any miles credited for two years, you lose ALL the AIRMILES in the account.
I appreciate that the airline had rubbish financials out today, and it may be trying to limit it's liability, avoid servicing costs of dormant accounts etc.... But I will be complaining!!!
But I didn't know about the second one - how are account holders being informed of these changes?
Jan 26, 2009, 1:37 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Lewes
Programs: HiltonH. Gold Starwood Gold BA BLUES! Mucci.
Posts: 4,833
I havn't been e-mailed about the change, but I looked at the "deals of the week" today and the change is on the AIRMILES homepage....
It is very clear, you can't keep the account alive by spend activity, only by crediting AIRMILES to the account.
It is very clear, you can't keep the account alive by spend activity, only by crediting AIRMILES to the account.
Jan 26, 2009, 1:49 pm
#4
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Surrey, UK
Programs: BA Gold....er now Silver...er now Bronze....er now Blue
Posts: 3,507
very easy to resolve - buy a DVD or something via their shopping portal and Roberts your uncle. A few miles credited.
Jan 26, 2009, 1:58 pm
#5
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Brick Lane... much better than smelly Shoreditch!
Programs: BAEC, Blue for now.
Posts: 807
I thought BA Sold Airmiles a long time ago.
Jan 26, 2009, 2:01 pm
#6
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Location: London
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No. Every few years they try, and every few years they disagree with a different private equity house about how to value the unredeemed miles.
Closing accounts after 2 years will make it a LOT easier to sell the business. For a start, Air Miles can then bank the full profit from originally selling those particular miles to Tesco etc without having to show any corresponding liability.
Closing accounts after 2 years will make it a LOT easier to sell the business. For a start, Air Miles can then bank the full profit from originally selling those particular miles to Tesco etc without having to show any corresponding liability.
Jan 26, 2009, 3:08 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Lewes
Programs: HiltonH. Gold Starwood Gold BA BLUES! Mucci.
Posts: 4,833
Raffles is of course "on the money" with his analysis of this change, and whilst I understand irmsters view that it is very easy to credit a few miles to an account, there will be many people, some with quite large AIRMILES balances, who are just sitting on them.... believing that they will be able to use them at some stage in the future.... which they won't!!
Jan 26, 2009, 3:32 pm
#8
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Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK and Southern France
Posts: 18,364
Thanks for the heads up. I am the typical kind of person who would have been affected by that. My account has been dormant for years (in fact, the address on my profile is one that I left over 4 years ago).
On the spend side, as far as I can see, it is not possible to book oneway flights with airmiles, is it?
Oh, and another question: any info as to when the new policy kicks into place? My account has not been zeroed out even though I have not credited anything in the last couple of years.
On the spend side, as far as I can see, it is not possible to book oneway flights with airmiles, is it?
Oh, and another question: any info as to when the new policy kicks into place? My account has not been zeroed out even though I have not credited anything in the last couple of years.
Last edited by NickB; Jan 26, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Jan 26, 2009, 4:26 pm
#9
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: london uk
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,046
Thanks from me too for the warning. They really ought to make the change more clear to collectors - but that's the way the game's played I suppose.
Jan 26, 2009, 5:07 pm
#10
Join Date: Jan 2009
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NickB
You are quite correct, one way flights are not possible with Air Miles (other than the obvious of buying a return and binning the return sector)
You are quite correct, one way flights are not possible with Air Miles (other than the obvious of buying a return and binning the return sector)
Jan 27, 2009, 2:51 am
#11
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
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Thanks for the warning! I can see a good use for the smaller of my two Tesco Clubcard vouchers once a year.
Jan 27, 2009, 3:15 am
#12
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 11,969
I would have thought an easy way to keep the account going is to get the credit card and put a transaction through at least every year or so.
Jan 27, 2009, 3:54 am
#13
Join Date: Apr 2003
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Thanks to the OP for the heads-up: I would have missed this. Time to buy a book I've been promising myself from Waterstones!
Jan 27, 2009, 6:47 am
#14
Join Date: Dec 2004
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Not in the programme, but don't you also have to book a hotel with them to redeem against flights?
Jan 27, 2009, 7:06 am
#15
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And you can always do what I did with my 1,500 miles - book the cheapest dump they have in Berlin and then book yourself in somewhere decent where you have status!