British Airways is upgrading its Avios platform in November meaning a number of services are not available. In fact, it is actually IAG Loyalty behind the move which is related to moving all the various Avios schemes to one common platform. As far as I understand it, to the end-user it won’t look any different when it’s finished. But I would expect this to make it easier to transfer Avios between different airline accounts much easier using “Combine my Avios” as this can sometimes be tricky. So far, there has been nothing official from BA on what exactly will be the difference once the platforms are combined.
From 3 pm on 13 November 2021 until midnight 17 November 2021 (GMT), you’ll be unable to log in to your Executive Club account or spend your Avios. There are also several features that are already unavailable.
Phone lines are very, very busy at the moment so I would definitely not leave anything you want to do until the last minute in case there is an issue.
In this post:
What services are already unavailable?
Until 17 November inclusive it will not be possible to:
- Allocate your Executive Club partner cards if you are Gold Guest List
- Make a claim for missing Avios. If the closure means you miss the deadline, I would definitely be trying to reach British Airways afterward by phone or Twitter to claim them. Another alternative is Flyertalk that has a “BaMissingAvios” official poster you can contact.
- Add another Member to your Household Account
- Remove a Member from your Household Account
- Amend personal or contact details of any Members in the Household Account
- Set up a new Household Account
What else will you NOT be able to do from 13-17 November?
- Access your Executive Club account on ba.com or through any of the British Airways mobile apps
- Make changes to any booking paid for using Avios – so do not leave any refunds or changes until the last minute.
- Spend your Avios on flights, companion vouchers, cabin upgrades, hotels, car hire, bags and seats
- Buy food and drink onboard using Avios
- Shop through eStore
- Buy, gift or transfer Avios
But you can still do these things..
- Make a booking with cash
- Check-in online
- You can still contact BA if you are traveling on an Avios booking during 13-17 November and need to make a change. I expect the phone lines to be even busier during this period.
- Continue to collect Avios(except through estore), though the Avios may take a little longer to arrive in your account
- Earn Avios for food and drink purchased on board
Anything else you need to be aware of?
I’d expect sites such as SeatSpy and Reward Flight finder to not be able to show up-to-date information at the time of the shutdown. So I would not rely on those if you get an alert. On the plus side, no one else can access anything either!
There is no mention of adding your frequent flyer number to a booking and then booking seats. I am pretty sure (but not 100%) you will be able to add your BA number to a booking when you make it during 13-17 November. Whether it would then allow you to book seats for free according to status during this period is less clear. It depends on where it retrieves your status information from and whether it is linked to the redundant system. Again, I would generally avoid doing anything during this period if you don’t need to. Fortunately Black Friday is not until 26 November.
11 comments
I recently flew my family (10) LHR to Marseilles and back Business class.despite BA saying that they sanity’s their planes I could send you a photo that tells otherwise. Quiet Disgusting actually and BA have not responded at all
They do sanitise regularly but not between every flight on short haul. I found a few issues with cleanliness last year but this year so far has been ok. They normally will respond eventually but it can take weeks.
It is already completely impossible to get through to them on the phone…I have a missing companion voucher – I’m guessing there’s no point calling between now and 17 November :(. I’ve already wasted hours trying to contact them with no success.
Lou, is your missing companion voucher the result of a previous flight you booked using the voucher being cancelled? If so, I found out that this voucher – and the Avios I used – did not show on my account but were held within the original PNR meaning I had to call to make the new booking.
Perhaps this is one of the anomalies they are trying to sort out with the upgrade?
Have you tried calling Amex? They are much easier to get hold of and may be able to do something their end?
Hi Duncan – no it’s a voucher that I have earned for the first time with the Premier Plus card on Amex. I have spoken to Amex and they’ve given me the number but it has not been applied to my BA for a month now. I can’t get through to BA to find out where it’s gone. I have also emailed an Exec Club address that someone on the Facebook group gave me, and tried DM on Twitter.
OK. Sorry, I’ve no experience of that particular issue but it’s reassuring to know from AMEX that the voucher is there, somewhere, floating around in the ether. Just need someone with a long enough crook to grab it and put it in your account!!!! ????
I know this will sound stupid but have you tried logging out of your BAEC account and going back into it?
I’m permanently logged into min and sometimes they don’t show up until I logout of the account and back in. It shouldn’t be the case but this is BA IT we’re talking about which isn’t exactly known for being gold standard.
Yes I always log back in and out – and restart etc. I genuinely think it’s just not arrived. I will try again tomorrow / Thursday on the silver line (not that it is ever answered, so I’m not sure why they have one).
Thanks to TLFL I’m now aware of all these changes, however I’m still waiting for BA to let me know they are doing all this. My email setting allow emails from them directly but nothing, perhaps they are fixing this along with their customer services standards.
In their defense I’ve had no less than 4 from them over thee last 6-8 weeks telling me what they’ll be doing, what I won’t be able to do and how long for.
Perhaps i’m getting yours as well.
A good way to make sue you know everything they’re upto is to sign up to the BA Media Centre as they’re highly efficient in letting you know what’s going on. A slight caution though in that they will tell you EVERYTHING and unless you’re a major AVGeek or like Michele & myself then you may find the amount of comms they issue slightly onerous at times so i’d suggest some personal assessment on needs.
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