Avios booking cancelled without notification - what can I expect Iberia to do?
Jul 31, 2019, 3:49 am
#46
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 58
I just realized I never followed-up on your suggestions, Prospero. The Amex account I believe IB tried to charge the tax to is closed and it would have been closed at the time they tried to run the charge, so I don't think there would be any record of pending transactions or authorization requests on it.
I went back and looked at the confirmation email IB sent once again, and none of the language you quoted about needing to contact them was in it. In fact, in addition to showing the amount of Avios and tax charged (making it look like a receipt to untrained eyes), it even had a hot link saying "Get Boarding Pass >" - yet another reason I saw no cause for concern, as you would not expect to see that if all you had was a reservation and not a ticket. Lastly, I searched my email for any messages from "Travel Document," the address your warning about contacting IB came from. I did have one email from that address, but it was actually a confirmation from Air Tahiti Nui of another award flight I took about a month ago. It doesn't surprise me that there was no warning from IB, though, because as I mentioned above, they actually told me it is their policy not to contact customers when a partial payment on a credit card fails to go through, just like... zero other companies on the face of the Earth!
I appreciate you trying to help, though.
I went back and looked at the confirmation email IB sent once again, and none of the language you quoted about needing to contact them was in it. In fact, in addition to showing the amount of Avios and tax charged (making it look like a receipt to untrained eyes), it even had a hot link saying "Get Boarding Pass >" - yet another reason I saw no cause for concern, as you would not expect to see that if all you had was a reservation and not a ticket. Lastly, I searched my email for any messages from "Travel Document," the address your warning about contacting IB came from. I did have one email from that address, but it was actually a confirmation from Air Tahiti Nui of another award flight I took about a month ago. It doesn't surprise me that there was no warning from IB, though, because as I mentioned above, they actually told me it is their policy not to contact customers when a partial payment on a credit card fails to go through, just like... zero other companies on the face of the Earth!
I appreciate you trying to help, though.
Jul 31, 2019, 6:43 am
#47
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: AMS
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Gold, TK M&S Nobody
Posts: 2,471
I hate to derail the "consumer revenge" bubble, but aren't all Avios held by Avios Group [being a separate subsidiary of IAG]? Transferring them will do squat to IB themselves [and the dispute here might actually be with Avios Group anyway].
Jul 31, 2019, 7:13 am
#48
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 58
I was wondering if that’s how Avios work. If that’s the case, wouldn’t that mean that IB really did lose a sale in this situation - i.e., that the monetary value of my Avios aren’t transferred from Avios Group to IB until I use them for an award with IB? Because if that’s true, it makes it all the more mystifying why IB seemed unconcerned about canceling this transaction- it hurt them too.
Jul 31, 2019, 7:34 am
#49
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: BAEC, Ib+, Accor, HHonors
Posts: 609
I think that was the initial plan for IAG and how many people see it. In reality, the issue is way more complicated and the way I see it is IbPlus is closer to Iberia than Avios AGL. I *think* there are some legal issues with converting the whole IbPlus program into the Avios Group, mainly due to Avios ownership. It seems, Iberia Plus Avios are owned by the user... not the program (Spanish Santander Bank had a juicy sign-up bonus of 30 k Avios for an IB Credit Card... but whenever the Avios hit your account, you were also charge a 21% in taxes, based on Santander Avios valuation - pretty low tbh).
Jul 31, 2019, 12:47 pm
#50
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,584
I just realized I never followed-up on your suggestions, Prospero. The Amex account I believe IB tried to charge the tax to is closed and it would have been closed at the time they tried to run the charge, so I don't think there would be any record of pending transactions or authorization requests on it.
I went back and looked at the confirmation email IB sent once again, and none of the language you quoted about needing to contact them was in it. In fact, in addition to showing the amount of Avios and tax charged (making it look like a receipt to untrained eyes), it even had a hot link saying "Get Boarding Pass >" - yet another reason I saw no cause for concern, as you would not expect to see that if all you had was a reservation and not a ticket. Lastly, I searched my email for any messages from "Travel Document," the address your warning about contacting IB came from. I did have one email from that address, but it was actually a confirmation from Air Tahiti Nui of another award flight I took about a month ago. It doesn't surprise me that there was no warning from IB, though, because as I mentioned above, they actually told me it is their policy not to contact customers when a partial payment on a credit card fails to go through, just like... zero other companies on the face of the Earth!
I appreciate you trying to help, though.
I went back and looked at the confirmation email IB sent once again, and none of the language you quoted about needing to contact them was in it. In fact, in addition to showing the amount of Avios and tax charged (making it look like a receipt to untrained eyes), it even had a hot link saying "Get Boarding Pass >" - yet another reason I saw no cause for concern, as you would not expect to see that if all you had was a reservation and not a ticket. Lastly, I searched my email for any messages from "Travel Document," the address your warning about contacting IB came from. I did have one email from that address, but it was actually a confirmation from Air Tahiti Nui of another award flight I took about a month ago. It doesn't surprise me that there was no warning from IB, though, because as I mentioned above, they actually told me it is their policy not to contact customers when a partial payment on a credit card fails to go through, just like... zero other companies on the face of the Earth!
I appreciate you trying to help, though.
Jul 31, 2019, 1:06 pm
#51
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges and Environmentally Friendly Travel
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 22,212
I just realized I never followed-up on your suggestions, Prospero. The Amex account I believe IB tried to charge the tax to is closed and it would have been closed at the time they tried to run the charge, so I don't think there would be any record of pending transactions or authorization requests on it.
Given that you are an AA EXP, I'm a little surprised that you did not attempt to change the FFN number on your IB Plus redemption to your AAdvantage number, so that you could have selected Main Cabin Extra seats on your AA flights. Had you done so, that might have given you an earlier warning that there was a problem with your redemption.
Jul 31, 2019, 1:16 pm
#52
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Jul 31, 2019, 2:18 pm
#53
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Yorkshire, UK
Posts: 234
This is very similar to my horrendous experience with IB; except we had confirmed ticket numbers.
IB cancelled the tickets, for reasons still unknown, 7 months before the flight and never told us. We lost £3000 buying new flights which IB have now refunded, but the situation was a nightmare nonetheless.
https://travellingjake.me/2019/06/15...nes-nightmare/
IB cancelled the tickets, for reasons still unknown, 7 months before the flight and never told us. We lost £3000 buying new flights which IB have now refunded, but the situation was a nightmare nonetheless.
https://travellingjake.me/2019/06/15...nes-nightmare/
Aug 2, 2019, 12:22 am
#54
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Aug 2, 2019, 12:59 pm
#55
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Yorkshire, UK
Posts: 234