In this post:
Cruz emails British Airways customers
At the moment there seems to be a daily deluge of random companies CEO’s emailing me to tell me about what they are doing in terms of COVID-19 service and some extending loyalty benefits. BA’s CEO Alex Cruz had been strangely quiet. Yesterday BAEC members started to receive an email from Mr Cruz. You can see the letter I received here:
Whilst I think it is good that we have finally had some communication from Alex, it tells us precisely nothing. It would be better if they were honest and said we have started to look at making concessions for status and will continue to review it. Or maybe even gave some ideas of what they were thinking. Or appreciated our loyalty perhaps. Or explain why you can’t get a refund on line…..
I do like the new BA video that they released like many other airlines seem to be doing.
What do you think of the email? Let us know in the comments below or on social media.
Iberia offers voucher bonus for a limited period
Like all the other airlines, Iberia are keen to keep as much cash as possible. Some airlines are doing this by removing all reference to refunds online or making you call to get one. Others are trying to bribe people with an extra incentive. Finnair, Aer Lingus and Qatar are already offering an extra 10%. As two of the IAG airlines are offering this, it would make sense for BA also to do this. However, BA employees don’t believe this is likely to happen any time soon.
If you are likely to want to travel as soon as you can when it is safe and know you will send it, it may be worth considering. Also worth thinking about is how likely the airline is to survive. In terms of IAG, I would say they are one of the safer bets in terms of airline groups and I also can’t see the Spanish government not bailing them out either.
To get the voucher you need to apply by 15 April. A voucher will be sent for the amount of each of your tickets by email in a maximum period of 5 business days without you having to worry for nothing else. They can be used one or more times until you have used all the credit on it. You can whenever you want until 30 June 2021 (last return on 30 June 30 2021).
The voucher is valid for direct or connecting flights where at least one of the routes is operated by Iberia, Iberia Express or Iberia Regional Air Nostrum.
You can’t use it for combined purchases of flight+hotel or flight+car. You also are not able to purchase tickets with Avios and the charges on it but it is applicable for purchases of discounted tickets with Avios.
You can find the Iberia offer page here.
American Express extends all BA Companion vouchers new and old
Tomorrow we will be looking at whether you should cancel any of your American Express cards. We had previously reported that BA and Amex were extending all existing companion vouchers by six months. This has now been formally announced to include new vouchers as well. You can check your vouchers’ validity in your BA Executive Club account.
To ensure you have the opportunity to use any Companion Vouchers earned through your British Airways American Express® Card, a six month extension will be applied to both existing and new vouchers as per below:
• If you already have a Companion Voucher(s) in your British Airways Executive Club, this extension has automatically been applied. You can view any existing vouchers you may have by logging into your Executive Club Account.
• If you earn a new voucher by 30 June 2020, British Airways will automatically extend your expiration date by six-months in addition to the original validity. So a Premium Plus card voucher would have 2.5 years and the free card would have 1.5 years validity.
To view your spend tracker and see how close you are to earning your Companion Voucher, just log in to your American Express Account and find the Membership section.
Marriott offers an extra year of status to members
The majority of hotel chains now seem to be doing the right thing and extending status, points expiry and more. Marriott has now offered a much better package than before with a decent flexibility booking policy too.
Bookings
For guests with existing reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates that are non-refundable or not changeable, Marriott will allow full changes or cancellation without a charge up to 24 hours prior to arrival, as long as the change or cancellation is made by 30 June 2020. However, if you make a change you may have to pay any rate differences.
For guests making new reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates, between 3 March and 30 June 2020, the reservation can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival date.
Status and points
- Status Extension: The status you earned in Marriott Bonvoy in 2019 and currently are will be extended to February 2022.
- Points Expiration: To provide you ample time to redeem points, the expiration of points will be paused until February 2021. At that time, your points will only expire if your account has been inactive for at least 24 months. (see our article here on how to stop them expiring)
Enjoy our content? Help support Turning Left for Less by doing your Amazon shopping through our link. There is no cost to the reader and it helps me continue to run the blog during the current crisis of very little blog income through advertising or affiliates.
16 comments
I quite liked Alex Cruz’s letter it didn’t promise anything and it sounded bizarrely genuine but I hope that they do offer their loyal (devoted tier points followers) some more help to retain status beyond the end of June
I’d agree with your comment about the script from Alex Cruz. It’s the sort of thing a politician might write (remind me what the advantages of Brexit are please, Boris. Oh. Precisely).
My experience of BA has been good. I had a trip booked via BA Holidays to Venice in March, and that was refunded to my AMEX card automatically with about 2 week’s lag, and I have received vouchers for travel on my two return trips to Málaga, booked for April. Given the huge number of bookings BA has to handle, the uncertainty of whether countries were open or closed, the other financial and logistical problems the airline has to face, I believe it has done well.
Hope it cancels the Boeing order. This is a European airline and should be ordering European aircraft.
BA have long had a bias towards Boeing twin aisle aircraft, ignoring the limited number of A380s. The A350 reversed that, and is indeed my favourite aircraft, low noise and good air. I think the mix of A350, B787 and B77X going forward will work well. It gives them a good mix of size/range.
I appreciated the email from BA. I do not know how they can promise to extend tier levels when we don’t know how long the travel restrictions will be in place.
The 6 month extension to AMEX companion vouchers is an excellent start.
Regarding your upcoming article re cancelling AMEX cards – if you have an outstanding voucher and cancel the card you loose the voucher.
Yesterday I had my 5th booking for a flight and car hire canceled. This time I am to be given a refund without having to ask for it.
I think BA are doing a difficult job well at this time and have been impressed by the calmness and helpfulness of their staff when I have spoken to them.
I’m Gold and I didn’t get the email! Did it go to all or just a select group?
They are going out in batches so you should still get one. Every status level should get one.
Wonder will the aircraft get a proper clean now they are all parked up?
Discretionary spend like that has a zero chance
Have you seen any information about flights cancelled where a Lloyd’s upgrade voucher was used? I assume I’ll get my Avios back but I don’t know about the voucher. Flight has just been cancelled but no communication from Avios, only BA.
I believe you get your voucher back although I have seen nothing official.
I am Blue (been a BA member since 1995.) and got the Alex C letter which I thought was ok but really said nothing. However I have a question re Companion Voucher. I have booked a trip from London to Santiago (Chile) flying out on 29 Nov 20 using my points and a companion voucher. Would the voucher I have used also get extend so I could travel a few months later ?
i cannot immagin BA not extending its membership for at least the same period as the lock down ie if we are in lockdown for six months then cardsand membership would be extended that amount of time. lets asume this is from march until june then it would be reasonable to expect an extentions period of july until november if your card expires in august. this would allow you to use or collect avios you would otherwise have lost. just a thought ps sorry for my bad typing small buttons big fingers. btw i am gold try only to fly ba, but without status i would switch to vergin now it has more routes and code shares…… but i do enjoy ba and its lounges….
I totally agree with your comments. It was nice I suppose to finally hear from Alex (but I rarely read these “oh so sincere” emails that I’ve received from dozens of companies, as they also seem pretty self serving). I’m
Gold which will expire in August, and with the short planning windows which will exist if and when we can travel again, it will be very difficult to re-up at Gold (I already have a confirmed booking and plans for another trip in July which would have achieved that).
It’s not simply a matter of “booking a trip on BA”….earning enough tier points for me involves arranging holiday from work, car hire, hotels/lodging….there’s a lot involved. Like all the rest of you!!
BA needs to join the customer friendly approach and provide blanket extension of status for a minimum of 6 months beyond the normal expiration dates, a year would be more realistic and highly appreciated
Does anyone know how the batches are being created, from the post above it’s clearly not tier by tier. I like the video but the email that you have shown to me personally is pointless, they could spend more time communicating what they are actually doing to help customers, no matter what status level they are currently. I personally would prefer a reduced amount of tier points needed rather than extensions as it is very easy to try competitors this way. But 30% and only for April, May and June. Is a bit much. one would assume they are going to have to do it for all for the whole year, after all surely BA would only play fairly.
Keep safe guys and girls✈️✈️✈️
Still waiting for this elusive email for the top man of BA, looks like it only went to TLFL so they can send it out to all. I’m still waiting for it from the gold team. Sadly this is very typical, and clearly half hearted of BA at the moment, and yes of course I have checked my spam and junk folders.
I know a lot of people that have had this. It’s strange that you have not had it yet.
Comments are closed.