Silver but not silver, another BA IT disaster
Dec 17, 2018, 2:19 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2016
Programs: BA
Posts: 14
Silver but not silver, another BA IT disaster
Morning all,
I didn’t post anything about this incident when it occurred as I thought it was just a one off and got sorted, however..
A few months ago my Avios and BAEC accounts were merged, when this happened I was issued a new account number (the old one stopped working), and my year start dates changed from February to September, resetting my balance to zero.
Cue several hours of phone calls and countless emails later as I was going to hit bronze imminently, I eventually got a response by email and they upgraded my account to bronze, however still only showing 5tp, I asked the obvious question as I had already booked one of the AMS CPT deals from here, will I get upgraded to silver correctly when those tier points come in? They answered yes.
I’m sure no one will be surprised to hear that no, I was not.
I sent a follow up email as requested if this didn’t happen, still nothing. I had also booked a OneWorld onward flight from AMS several hours after my arrival to be safe, and the flight was more expensive than competitors but I considered the lounge access worth it.
So today I called the exec club line at 8am uk time, (while waiting for my bag at AMS) the first agent I spoke to informed me that this was how the tiers worked and that once you hit bronze those tier points were lost and you then needed 600 more to reach silver, so 900 in total. He wouldn’t be reasoned with so I quickly went onto a supervisor who was equally as useless, he did tell me that he had put the request in though for this to be reviewed by the “back room team” , who will decide on whether I should be upgraded or not in a few days..
So here I am, at AMS, not in the lounge and very annoyed.
I didn’t post anything about this incident when it occurred as I thought it was just a one off and got sorted, however..
A few months ago my Avios and BAEC accounts were merged, when this happened I was issued a new account number (the old one stopped working), and my year start dates changed from February to September, resetting my balance to zero.
Cue several hours of phone calls and countless emails later as I was going to hit bronze imminently, I eventually got a response by email and they upgraded my account to bronze, however still only showing 5tp, I asked the obvious question as I had already booked one of the AMS CPT deals from here, will I get upgraded to silver correctly when those tier points come in? They answered yes.
I’m sure no one will be surprised to hear that no, I was not.
I sent a follow up email as requested if this didn’t happen, still nothing. I had also booked a OneWorld onward flight from AMS several hours after my arrival to be safe, and the flight was more expensive than competitors but I considered the lounge access worth it.
So today I called the exec club line at 8am uk time, (while waiting for my bag at AMS) the first agent I spoke to informed me that this was how the tiers worked and that once you hit bronze those tier points were lost and you then needed 600 more to reach silver, so 900 in total. He wouldn’t be reasoned with so I quickly went onto a supervisor who was equally as useless, he did tell me that he had put the request in though for this to be reviewed by the “back room team” , who will decide on whether I should be upgraded or not in a few days..
So here I am, at AMS, not in the lounge and very annoyed.
Dec 17, 2018, 2:38 am
#2
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,804
I've had 2 coffees but I think I need some more to make this out. But am I correct in thinking:
- You had more than 5 TPs "alive" at the time of the merger on the old account
- That the South Africa trip should have pushed you over the line - but when was that due to happen? After completion of the final leg?
- And you are now in economy on some other airline, still bronze, no lounge.
So firstly they should not have stopped the previous account, since that would have potentially decoupled all sorts of features such as timelines and lifetime TPs. The change of dates seems to explain the difficulties you now have.
If the hit Silver point was on the last flight then you would not have lounge access now, it's never been that fast. The key question, which isn't totally clear here, is did you earn 600 TPs in the year previous, based on the old account's dates? If so you have a case, but sending an email / webform isn't the way to resolve this, and it's likely to be a slow process. It would seem better to re-enable your old account and put everything back into there. This would take some time to resolve.
- You had more than 5 TPs "alive" at the time of the merger on the old account
- That the South Africa trip should have pushed you over the line - but when was that due to happen? After completion of the final leg?
- And you are now in economy on some other airline, still bronze, no lounge.
So firstly they should not have stopped the previous account, since that would have potentially decoupled all sorts of features such as timelines and lifetime TPs. The change of dates seems to explain the difficulties you now have.
If the hit Silver point was on the last flight then you would not have lounge access now, it's never been that fast. The key question, which isn't totally clear here, is did you earn 600 TPs in the year previous, based on the old account's dates? If so you have a case, but sending an email / webform isn't the way to resolve this, and it's likely to be a slow process. It would seem better to re-enable your old account and put everything back into there. This would take some time to resolve.
Dec 17, 2018, 3:01 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2016
Programs: BA
Posts: 14
That’s correct, my year used to be February to February, this year in August I had 295tp, these got wiped off in September and I then earned 5 more,
They effectively gave me 5 tier points for free at this stage and my account was made bronze but only showing the 5tp.
The my first two legs of this trip CPT trip registered last Monday, making my current total on the app 380, but this is actually 680 with my old dates. (And the last two legs I took today will make that 880+ When they eventually register)
Ive spent so much time listening the the BA on hold music through this I’m not sure I can take much more.
On the plus side they did put my lifetime TPs over correctly, not sure about the timeline though.
They effectively gave me 5 tier points for free at this stage and my account was made bronze but only showing the 5tp.
The my first two legs of this trip CPT trip registered last Monday, making my current total on the app 380, but this is actually 680 with my old dates. (And the last two legs I took today will make that 880+ When they eventually register)
Ive spent so much time listening the the BA on hold music through this I’m not sure I can take much more.
On the plus side they did put my lifetime TPs over correctly, not sure about the timeline though.
Dec 17, 2018, 3:06 am
#4
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,804
I think it was always going to be unlikely that Silver would have magically kicked in quickly after the outbound SA trip - so as they say, I wouldn't have started from here. Had there been a decent gap between flights then this could have been resolved, but realistically I think this is something that you will need to patiently work on when you get back home. Moving accounts like this is unusual, it's the first time I've heard it happen like this since usually the main account's timeline will not be changed by BA.
Dec 17, 2018, 4:05 am
#6
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, EK Skywards (enhanced Blue !), Oman Air Sindbad Gold
Posts: 6,399
Whilst I feel for the OP who paid extra to book a more expensive flight in the hope of gaining access, the reality is that AMS offers some very pleasant areas (not to mention better quality refreshment facilities) outside of the lounge ; which I guess applies to many airports .....
Dec 17, 2018, 4:47 am
#7
Join Date: Jan 2016
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 62
When my accounts merged they set up a new account and tried to overlay it on my existing one. Cue loss of access, no workable login details and umpteen "Welcome to BAEC" emails. A decent agent sorted it out in the end and I now have the original account - complete with woeful lack of TPs this year, lifetime TPs, timeline etc. but with a new account number and my year-end date has moved from November to July next year. Hopefully OP gets this resolved although expect it will be a phone call or two rather than anything online.
Am now of course spending far too much time in the TP run thread debating a Gold run over a couple of weekends in July - possibly via the ARN/GOT-MIA fare. Daft of course, but can't seem to help myself...
Am now of course spending far too much time in the TP run thread debating a Gold run over a couple of weekends in July - possibly via the ARN/GOT-MIA fare. Daft of course, but can't seem to help myself...