I fly a lot and collect Avios points with British Airways. I’ve been a loyal customer for almost two decades and at last count I had almost 650,000 points.
However, five months ago, BA cut me off from my Executive Club account – the website customers must use to collect and spend their Avios points.
In October 2022, I received an email stating that the company had “noted what could possibly be unusual activity.”
It said it had temporarily blocked access to my account “to protect me” and give it time to investigate, and that someone would get back to me within two weeks.
Points problem: Frequent flyer KA had accumulated hundreds of thousands of Avios before his account was blocked by British Airways
I hadn’t heard anything back in December so I made a formal complaint on the BA website. No one from BA got in touch until March when I was simply told someone would be in touch once the investigation was complete.
I have not committed any fraud and I have not done anything that violates the terms of the Executive Club. All I can think of is that I changed the email address associated with my account.
I have tried calling BA customer service several times. Each time I’m told it’s something only the account maintenance team can handle, but I can’t contact them directly and have to wait for an email or letter.
I feel like I’m being fobbed off without any kind of explanation. K.A., Manchester
Helen Crane from This is Money replies: To the uninitiated, losing some Loyalty Points might not seem like a big deal.
But collecting Avios points is an Olympic sport among frequent flyers and with almost 650,000 you are a top athlete.
According to points website The Point Calculator, your points can be worth more than £13,000 if you spend them on business or first class flights, or more than £16,000 if you spend them on upgrades. With those sums of money involved, I understand why you would be so eager to get them back.
As always, the monetary value of your points will depend on how you spend them – and you will usually incur additional fees. Anyone interested might want to read our guide to getting the most out of your Avios.
But besides money, it is also a matter of loyalty. Serious Avios collectors will shun flights on cheaper airlines to fly with BA and keep increasing their points. I don’t know how much you’ve spent over the years with the company building those points, but I’d bet it runs into the tens, if not hundreds of thousands.
BA benefits greatly from customers like you, and it must keep to the bargain and treat them fairly.
I understand that lucrative points programs are susceptible to fraud and that BA needs to guard against it – but leaving you on the air for months with no explanation as to why your account was closed was unacceptable.
In addition, the service you received when you tried to sort it out was far from first class. You told me the call center was overseas – not a very nice look for the British airline – and the staff were mostly unhelpful.
At one point you were told your account would be reinstated in two hours, but this never happened and you suspect it was just a lie to get you off the phone.
I contacted BA to find out what was going on.
It told me that it regularly checks Executive Club accounts for suspicious activity and that is why your account has been locked. You may have changed your email address, but BA has not confirmed this.
When this happens, BA says it will usually contact the customer shortly after to tell them what to do to get the account up and running again. This normally means providing proof of address and proof of identity.
But due to a human error, that didn’t work out in your case and that’s why the long delay occurred.
A BA spokesperson said: “We are in contact with the customer to apologize for the inconvenience caused and to reinstate their Executive Club account.”
Unfortunately more delays followed as you told me that BA did not re-open your account more than a week after you sent the required documents.
But I’m happy to say that after speaking to it again, your account was back up and running almost immediately.
Loyalty program customers need to be confident that they’re getting the promised rewards, otherwise they’re just pointless. But with your balance restored, you are no longer that.
I’ve got your back: reader Michael was happy to get a £75 voucher for a new backpack, when shopkeeper Tumi couldn’t repair his old one
Good service? Tumi has it in the bag
It’s been a while since I received any positive news, so I was happy when reader Michael sent an email praising the luggage seller Tumi.
He bought a backpack from the company about 15 years ago, but recently the zipper broke.
Michael contacted Tumi to ask if it could be repaired (top marks for eco-friendliness), but unfortunately due to the age of the bag he no longer had the correct parts.
It did, however, earn him a £75 voucher – 50 per cent of the original purchase price – to spend on a new one.
“I have to say that I have rarely come across such top-notch customer service,” he said.
It sounds like Tumi has won a long-term customer.
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