Gomac

1flyer

And for other purposes as well. It is crucial for financial and other accounting that they keep records of all Avios transactions.

Just because you delete your account doesn't allow IB to anonymize those transactions, that seems like a very naive view. I'm sure that due to both accounting standards as well as laws (e.g., tax laws), they are obliged to retain those records.

ChocolateFactory

It might be a good idea to at least change email addresses etc., so they mismatch across Avios.com/BA/IB.

kapooncha

Correct, I don't see what all the hoopla is about. People are overestimating the IT departments of these rewards programs. Haven't people learned from the past that these departments are filled with incompetence from top to bottom? Look at how hard it was for some to get the promotional avios to begin with.

kapooncha

It only matters if your BAEC is loaded with Avios as well. My balance there is very minimal so if IB wants to take them, oh well. If my BAEC account goes negative, I'll create a new account with new phone number, new email, and fake physical address (as this doesn't matter).

rrgg

Wow. Can we please stop the insults?

Yes ticketing on 11/30 is playing with fire. It's also not crazy to think some people would make a time zone mistake. Do you really need to attack people for this? I don't see anyone screaming that they were robbed.

I always considered this promotion a roulette wheel and expected to lose my $270 spent last summer on 10 flights. I'm glad in the end it worked out for me, and most.

bisonrav

corporate-wage-slave

A kindly reminder (it may not so kind next time....) to play the argument, not the player. And probably best to avoid reheating an argument already deployed, that doesn't advance matters either. Some posts that went over the line - or quoting from them - have been tidied up.

CWS/mod

tobsw

A few thoughts.

• We should be grateful to yllanes, craig and lupinechemist. They are very knowledgeable, especially in Iberia Plus. They provide plenty of useful information and, IME, always helpful.
• Everyone knew how complicated, challenging, stressful it can be when searching and booking partner awards. It has been warned many, many, many times in this forum. In fact, IbPlus veterans tend to avoid partner awards - simply because they are non-refundable, and usually cheaper if booked via BAEC (+ the hassle of booking it via IbPlus).
• Iberia Plus doe not excel for customer service. We knew that before, it has been discussed, informed, commented, million times in this forum. Your chances of getting what you want increases significantly whether you speak, or not, Spanish.
• Iberia Plus has also it strengths. Cheap, affordable, low-taxes,.. business redemptions. Who offers you 34k Avios o/w Business transatlantic? The problem, there are only limited places available and Iberia does not have a massive Northatlantic route network.

If you had the previous points in mind, you would have probably made the following assumptions:

• "Goodness, this promotion is being highlighted by all blogs, forums, websites,...." = meaning, many people are taking part in this promotion, especially those in the USA.
• Iberia Business seats are Avios cheap across the Atlantic....
• "It's gonna get very competitive finding that Business class seat across the Atlantic on the dates I want". That's exactly what happened.
• The good thing is, Iberia Plus releases new Business Class seats available with Avios EVERY DAY (360 days in Advance - something like that).
• In fact, you could have booked a nice transatlantic C trip for next Summer... if you had planned accordingly.
• Many many many people did that, that's why for pretty much the next year, no Transatlantic C seats available.

Now people are frustrated because:

• Iberia Plus honored the promotion, as expected (it is not the first time Iberia Plus runs a similar promotion).
• Iberia Plus gave plenty of time to redeem the Avios.
• Some left the booking process for the last day, taking a massive risk (imagine the Iberia Plus page goes off line for the whole day - it has happened before)..
• Fact was, all transatlantic C seats were not available for the whole year... and people started to panic, no back up plan, nothing, nada. Then they realise "blimey - searching for partner awards is a bloody nightmare". They are angry with themselves because they left it until the last day, and they express this anger in this forum.
• And Iberia Plus promised that if you didn't spend the Avios according to their T&Cs (which you agreed to when you signed up to the program), they would remove them from their account. And that's what they have done, including if you transferred out the Avios to other programs. (It could be argued, that the promotional Avios were still available after midnight CET - I guess if you approach Iberia Plus in a kind, professional manner, they would probably accept and honor your case; but this has to be done on a one to one basis).

Extra: to all those that asked Iberia Plus to remove your data from their database, it is wise to do so from Avios Group Limited as well, as you agreed with Iberia Plus that your data will be also shared with Avios GL when signing up to Iberia Plus.
And they specifically ask you, when users request it, to remove their data from Iberia and Avios GL

flyersky1

There's no hostility whatsoever. I was just pointing the fact that your theory is wrong. If they sweep at 2.00, my miles would disappear and they didn't. How about address this rather than accusing me of something that is only in your head. I understand you are quite knowledgeable and helpful in this forum, and I appreciate your help, but that doesn't make you right every time.

Yllanes

You hadn't said exactly when you redeemed or when you got the negative balance (you still haven't), so my hypothesis was as good as any with the data available. Obviously the change does not happen for everybody exactly at 02.00, it takes some time and fluctuates.

In any case, whether this was just the regular daily batch job or a special script they ran a few hours later does not really matter.

MasterGeek

I am not a corporate apologist. Whatever IB writes in their terms and conditions holds no legal value until it is challenged in court. They can write they will take users kidney if balance is negative and most people will click the "I agree" button, but it doesn't mean it's enforceable.

craigthemif

Many good points, but IIRC Avios Group Limited is the subsidiary of IAG that also manages BAEC. I suspect that there are relatively few people who are willing to abandon BOTH IB+ and BAEC. (or trust that their brand new accounts will never end up audited) IIRC IHG caught a fair few duplicate accounts because people used the same credit card across more than one IHG account.

keitherson

Many people screwed up waiting until the very last minute to redeem, for no apparent reason, or they took a risk transferring to BA, very well knowing the explicit terms and conditions.

And they would rather blame the airline (that fully honored the promotion), blame the agents (who are overwhelmed with dealing with overentitled crybabies), or blame the IT system (which was always terrible), rather than blame themselves.

And now they are trying to escape all responsibility by closing their Avios/IB+ accounts, claiming GDPR, etc? Good luck in life..

flyersky1

It actually does matter. The whole point that you and some others are missing is that the points were still in my account which I believe is the best indication from Iberia that the promotion was not over given the vague T&C. If the T&C had said promotion is over at midnight ECT but it takes a few hours for our outdated IT systems to take back the points, that would have been fine, but they didn't. I acted in good faith. It's not my business to know how IB's IT systems work. I saw the points and assumed they are available to use. To most normal people when T&C say by Dec 1, it means by the end of the day Dec 1, not before the day has started.

Another question that still has not been addressed by the experts on this board is what would they do, if this is not a glitch and my balance stays negative. Since I didn't transfer the Avios to BA, they surely can't go after my BA account balance? Would they cancel my ticket in this case?