bisonrav

Because if there has been wide scale "sign up your dog" abuse, it's much easier to implement a simple rule than go into the details of individual cases and make judgements. It may not seem fair, but it's the commercial reality. Honestly, I doubt Iberia are bothered about losing fliers who didn't previously have Iberia Plus accounts but signed up for multiple flights during a promotion. The PR effect is negligible outside the bubble of people who went hell for leather to max out the promotion - go around your office and ask if anyone else even knew about it. Even amongst the sub group who had existing accounts and booked flights to nowhere and got the 90K you'll find maybe sympathy but not much more than that.

Personally, if I received the email, I'd just call and cancel the flights. I think that's a reasonably generous gesture, as I suspect IB would be correct in saying the IB+ account number wasn't on the booking at the time it was made, which is what the T&Cs requested.

kingofbeans

Iberia should have limited the promo or thought out their T&Cs fully in the first place. This would prevent people signing up for new accounts, sending in details, etc.

If they did decide on a simple rule to limit the avios they need to pay out (e.g. no new accounts) they should communicate this clearly instead of just saying 'inconsistencies'. They also should not be requesting ID information by email at all, but especially not in these cases where they don't intend to even pay out the avios.

If Iberia can't pay out the avios then being open about it and not unnecessarily demanding things from people who won't receive avios seems right to me.

I have not broken any rules but have had significant time wasted, a few hundred pounds will be held up with Iberia and potentially for nothing despite following Iberia's rules (the IB+ account number was/is very definitely on these bookings). I'm not super mad about this, and I understand the issues from Iberia's side. I don't intend to take legal action and get that you win some, you lose some... but Iberia have done wrong here and it's been a disappointment to me and others, so sympathy is something I'd hope for. I get the impression that existing account holders who got their avios seem to be categorizing those who opened new accounts with domestic flights with those who signed up their dog which just doesn't seem fair.

Coathanger

Agree. It's definitely a game, and if one plays by the explicit rules then you should expect the advertised outcome.

Requesting ID and copies of the tickets seems a waste of everyone's time if their intention was never to pay out to any new accounts.

bisonrav

It's pretty obvious that it's not normal behaviour to create an account and book 10 one way tickets to Santander. That in itself is an "inconsistency". It's not realistic to believe a company would allocate resources to spend time looking in detail at bookings and trying to figure out motivations for tens of thousands of new accounts.

Ultimately this was a classic feeding frenzy - people saw other people doing things and apparently getting stuff, and did the same. Anyone with an ounce of rationality would realise that it was wide open, that there was mass takeup via a whole load of blogs and forums, and that the balance of probability was that IB might retrospectively act to limit the damage - this was noted at the time by several people including myself, but what happens during a feeding frenzy is that the voices of reason get shouted down in the rush to access the free stuff others seem to be getting.

Iberia are being reasonable in allowing refunds outside the normal conditions of purchase - I suspect they don't have to do that. People obviously can spend months pursuing some sort of legal claim against a big company with deep pockets and their own legal team (they won't have proceeded with the action they're taking without advice). I personally wouldn't. Best to move on and look for the next opportunity.

ChocolateFactory

treinta

dgilligan02

For new accounts. what seems to be the time frame between sending in your passport/tickets/email confirms and getting back the "inconsistencies" and offer of refund email? That's where I'm currently at in this process...acceptance...just waiting to close it out.

Any for those who took the refund offer, is Iberia processing the refunds promptly (sorry haven't read the whole thread)?

afirm

I've been away for a few days, so I didn't send a copy of my passport and the tickets until yesterday. I'm just waiting for the answer, and I suppose I will get the inconsistency email. Regarding that I can prove that I have a IB flight from SCL to MAD arriving just before my flight to SVQ. I'm also booked on the same return flight from SVQ.
I have five tickets in each direction, not sure if that will help me.

Anyway, I don't care too much. Wasn't over the moon about this promotion but decided to do it. As long as I get the possibility to cancel I'm ok. But sure, I'd take the 90.000 Avios anyday.

marcelocrribeiro

The only way for Iberia to be right in this situation is regarding people who created fake accounts as I'm sure somewhere under Iberia Plus T&C's says that it must be a real person..

Regarding buying 10 one way .tickets that you won't fly they don't have the right to cancel. They can't say we were acting in bad faith as I had initially purchased 4 tickets and after reading many tweets from them saying you didn't have to fly and all you had to do was purchase any flights iIwent ahead and purchased another 6 flights.

Either way on a brazilian Facebook group people are starting to receive emails from Iberia asking to send additional documentation. One person only sent the etickets and passport, but they asked for a copy of the actual reservation email this is where it shows the actual IB+ number.

worldtravels

It's pretty straight forward to me.

Iberia set this up with their eyes wide open. It is their program, their rules. If you enrolled in the promotion and followed the rules, you get the miles.

I will not be requesting a refund anytime soon.

marcelocrribeiro

Agree 100% with you.

And to be honest I won't even stop flying with them if they have better pricing for a specific trip or anything like that as long as they post my Avios eventually.

My wish to save money on plane tickets is higher than my proud hahahah

petey2428

Doesn't Iberia have like a catch-all phrase in the T&C that says something along the line of they can refuse service to anyone suspected of fraudulent behavior? I thought most airlines have some clause like that.

Edit:
"The Programme reserves the right to recall your card, cancel your account and hold you responsible if you make improper or fraudulent use of the Programme or do not comply with the rules and procedures contained in these General Conditions."

They could easily argue that booking 10 one-way flights with no intention of flying them is an improper use of the program. Yes, they said that you don't have to fly them to get avios, but I mean, let's be realistic and acknowledge that we are exploiting this overly generous promo. If you actually book a valid round trip or two but couldn't make the flight due to some change in schedule then that's understandable. However, when are you booking 10 cheapest one-way tickets, it's not hard to argue that you're exploiting the spirit of the promo and are making an improper use of the program.

This promo was never risk free. When you play the game, sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. It's good enough that Iberia is offering a refund though. They could easily burn you and make it hard to get refunds.

marcelo3233

I'm not trying to say that you don't have a point there or that Iberia won't try this route, but they have awarded the miles for older accounts who did just that. I personally know 5 people with old accounts who purchased 10 cheap one-way tickets for consecutive days and have already received and redeemed their avios. So there is a precedent where they awarded Avios for that type of purchase so I think is unlikely they will go down that way, or at least do it successfully.

The only difference is that we have a brand new account, but again, nothing in the T&C stated that we were not eligible.

It's not my fault that I tried (following the promo terms) to maximize my benefits by purchasing cheap tickets multiple times. In the past when mileage run was still very popular a lot of people flew long flights for very cheap solely to get award points, and in that case the airline still had to supply the pasenger with food and all amenities and expenses since the passenger actually took the flight. Some of the most popular mileage runs (inlcuding AA error fare in 2015) were almost just as beneficial to the customer and not so beneficial to the company as this promo.

Here in Brazil it's somewhat common big e-commerces partner with airlines to offer 10-15 points per $ spent on products. One time I purchased 3 smartphones that ended up getting me 100K points with LATAM and I sold all smartphones for just about the same price resulting in 100K for free! And this wasn't a one time promo where they realized it wasn't beneficial.. This happens all the type and there is even one giving 6 points per R$ for Avianca right now.

So in my opinion I totally understand Iberia trying to deny the Avios for poeple who created multiple accounts and it's nice of them to offer a refund (they didn't have to). But for anyone else who followed the rules then it's a must for them to give us the points.

flylonghaul

If Iberia decided to not allow refunds for these tickets they would be leaving themselves open to massive backlash, and I assume they are aware that likely the majority of people would follow up by launching payment disputes with their card providers due to advertised items/services not being provided. And in that case Iberia haven't helped themselves by reiterating in their email that we will still be given the Avios once the information is provided.
Yes this promo was insanely good value, but at the same time, they made it very clear that there were no restrictions on the cost, length or even the requirement to fly the booked flights, and aside from the issues with individuals having multiple accounts, the rest of us are playing by their rules.

I have also sent the requested information to Iberia, so just waiting to hear back now. So far no inconsistency emails, and bookings are still live.

jamieraedouglass

At this point I'm getting rather discouraged. Do you think they will post any more points? Or even respond to emails?

I was not a new account, no points ever posted and was never locked out. Their twitter team did verify Thursday that my reference numbers registered with the promotion.