British Airways sending legal letters to people requesting compensation for the data breach

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• Jamie says:

  15 Nov15 November 04:55

  Sorry O/T has anyone experienced applying for an amex and then 2 weeks later the points for the spend goes up? Have you tried to obtain that promo instead of the one you applied for and have amex granted the extra points?

  Basically I applied for an Australia amex and it was 50k Membership rewards for a $3k AUD spend (I was referred by my husband, so he got referral points plus i get an extra 10k), I was approved on 1st November. Today they brought out the same card with 100k Membership rewards and a $1500 spend..yes i know how annoying!!

  Do you know if they are able to wave this? I called up but they are telling me no, but on the other hand is it worth my time trying to get a few extra points. Thanks All

  • Nick says:

    15 Nov15 November 08:59

    No. You signed up to a deal you were happy with and accepted the T&C which were clear. By all means ask nicely and hope, but it’s entirely down to goodwill and if they say no you just have to smile graciously and say ‘thanks anyway’.

    • Jamie says:

      16 Nov16 November 02:53

      It was a no!

• Alejandro says:

  15 Nov15 November 05:42

  OT – What are the ways to stop Flying Blue miles from expiring? Thank you

  • Cat says:

    15 Nov15 November 06:44

    The only way is a flight every 2 years, I believe (unless you have status, possibly?). My FB miles are due to expire in April, so I booked a one-way flight to Paris in Feb half term, and I’m taking the Eurostar back (to use up my voucher from the Club Eurostar changeover). I’m planning to take the overnight train south and maybe spend the night at the MGallery in Carcassonne, because I’ve always wanted to stay there, and it will stop my Accor points from expiring too!

    • Alex Sm says:

      16 Nov16 November 08:44

      A very well-thought plan, bravo!

    • David Dunphy says:

      16 Nov16 November 17:28

      A flight every two years or transferring in from Amex MR both reset the dates. Having status also keeps your miles from expiring, including Platinum for Life. Gaining Platinum in Flying Blue became much easier this year with the changes they have made, meaning it is possible for an outlay of under £2k per year (flights only) and less with the Amex travel offers that come up regularly.

      • Alan says:

        16 Nov16 November 22:10

        Interesting, definitely used to require a flight. I recently received some service recovery points from Delta into my KLM a/c and noticed they reset expiry too.

  • Marcw says:

    15 Nov15 November 07:41

    I think they’ve changed the rules and pretty much any activity is valid. I’ve revently moved some Amex points to FlyingBlue, which extended expiry date.
    I have still, however a problem with my partners account. Miles expiring by the end of the month.

  • Mikeact says:

    15 Nov15 November 09:50

    Only if you’re Platinum for Life…they do not expire.

• Jen says:

  15 Nov15 November 05:45

  I received this today but I’m not sure what the last sentence means. I have transferred mine to BA.
  Any ideas?

  Dear Customer,

  We would like to remind you that the Avios you earned in the promotion last June had special terms and conditions, as we pointed out at the time. As such, please note that the promotional Avios obtained during that campaign will no longer be available in your account if you do not redeem them in the Iberia Plus programme before 1 December 2018.

  We would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that the programme does not include the transfer of Avios, as indicated in the general terms and conditions.

  Yours sincerely,
  The Iberia Plus Team

  • Shoestring says:

    15 Nov15 November 06:51

    1st para: any unredeemed Avios in your a/c will be removed on Dec 2nd

    2nd para: you can’t transfer them out of IB (eg to BAEC). Oh yes you can. Original T&C was varied. But as mentioned in the article, think if IAG can find a way to grab back any points transferred to BAEC. The Avios loyalty progs of IB and BAEC are rumoured to be combining platforms in the near future, ie all your points will be in one pool, possibly. In which case a -90K balance in IB would aggregate with your BAEC points total, meaning you lose the 90K points???

    • Jen says:

      15 Nov15 November 07:20

      I wonder what would happen in that case, if you got rid of your IB account?

      • Shoestring says:

        15 Nov15 November 07:33

        Then there would be no IB a/c to combine. When you closed it down, the -90K points balance would disappear.

        You’d need to instruct IB to close a/c, they ask for a scan of your passport apparently to check ID & the process takes 1 month.

      • David says:

        15 Nov15 November 07:57

        But would they let you close it with a 90k negative balance? If I tried to close a bank account that was £900 overdrawn, I assume they wouldn’t let me walk away…

        • Rob says:

          15 Nov15 November 08:44

          Avios have no cash value – the T&C’s will almost certainly contain a line to this effect.

      • Chris says:

        15 Nov15 November 12:19

        Well, to address the below you’d want to do that before December, then the negative Balance issue is moot..

    • BJ says:

      15 Nov15 November 07:46

      Oh no Harry, it’s that IB+ 90k thingy again 🙂

      • Oh Matron! says:

        15 Nov15 November 08:26

        I didn’t partake in the promo, but, as with everything else IAG related this year, I’ve got my popcorn and I’m going to enjoy watching this unfold…

• Paul says:

  15 Nov15 November 06:43

  Did anyone give BA explicit consent to share their data with the lawyers?

  I really hope that the ICO make an example of them.

  • James says:

    15 Nov15 November 06:51

    Perhaps the lawyers just got all of our personal data off the dark web thanks to BA.

    • ankomonkey says:

      15 Nov15 November 08:23

      🙂

    • Will says:

      15 Nov15 November 09:56

      I can’t remember the exact phrasing but GDPR allows a business to use your data to carry out its business in relation to you. Hard to see how this is a breach as they’ve instructed a professional to act on their behalf to respond to your request. That’s entirely fair in the spirit of GDPR.

  • Anna says:

    15 Nov15 November 07:00

    Good point.
    I’d be interested to know what the letter said. On one hand it would be hoped and expected that such a lauded legal firm would give correct information to the customer, but on the other, why does BA not want to use its in house legal team if it’s the simple case that no compensation is due?

    • MDA says:

      15 Nov15 November 07:15

      Can we request to see the letter? (if your in comms with the person)
      BA are trying to intimidate victims

    • Rob says:

      15 Nov15 November 08:46

      There was nothing incorrect about the contents of the letter.

  • Bigles55 says:

    15 Nov15 November 07:38

    Don’t be stupid. If you send a letter threatening action to a firm or person they are perfectly entitled to share it with their lawyers.

    • Andy says:

      15 Nov15 November 08:29

      There’s a difference between sending in a complaint requesting compensation, and threatening action. Do we know for sure that’s what the people receiving the letters have been doing?

      • Mr(s) Entitled says:

        15 Nov15 November 09:30

        “There’s a difference between sending in a complaint requesting compensation, and threatening action.”

        Perhaps, but even requesting compensation could require the input of a legal expert to help establish it grounds. We can’t look to take offense at every opportunity. Recipients can always share the said contents of the letter with their own legal representative. Some may already have joined a ‘class action’. It works both ways.

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    15 Nov15 November 09:52

    I don’t see why you’d need to do the processing on a consent basis. It would be straightforward to create a compelling argument for legitimate interest processing.

• Dan from London says:

  15 Nov15 November 06:45

  I’ve got 1500 avios left in my iberia account, is there anything I can spend them on?

  • Matt says:

    15 Nov15 November 07:19

    Transfer them to BA?

  • Anthony says:

    15 Nov15 November 08:04

    I used up my promotional points by booking a week long car hire over Christmas via the Iberia website. OK so not the greatest value but Budget cars are available at reasonable Avios rates. Overall a more useful outcome than letting the points get sucked back to IBERIA.

  • Jamie says:

    15 Nov15 November 10:15

    A small packet of nuts on your next BA flight?

• Cat says:

  15 Nov15 November 06:48

  Was everyone who booked in the data breach period affected? I didn’t do my research as thoroughly as I should have done at the time and I only heard about it from AMEX, not BA. I definitely made an Avios redemption on BA for a Cathay flight within the time period.

  • @mkcol says:

    15 Nov15 November 08:37

    If you were affected by the BA security breach then you would have been emailed, is how I understand it.
    I didn’t get contact the first time around, but did on the second round.

    • Cat says:

      15 Nov15 November 22:09

      Thanks @mkcol

• James says:

  15 Nov15 November 06:49

  Iberia.

  I have my return biz class flight to South Africa booked and am very much looking forward to trying out the Iberia service.

  I hope that they run this promotion again in the near future, although I suspect they won’t be.

  • Anna says:

    15 Nov15 November 07:03

    I don’t think they will ever make it that easy again, which is a shame because one day when I don’t have my current commitments I would love to have a hop around Europe on the cheap flights I would book!

    • Simon says:

      15 Nov15 November 07:57

      Agree, great offer though it was, and one I took advantage of, the idea of planning the flights to organise a European or Spanish tour would have been even better

      • TM says:

        15 Nov15 November 10:37

        Yes – I also thought when I was booking I could have planned it better. Instead I just jumped at any £20 flights that came up.

• Nick G says:

  15 Nov15 November 07:00

  Thanks rob for the article!

  If I book BA flights via Iberia but need to change destination does anyone know the fee change cost? I’ve read it’s €25 but not sure if that’s right?

  • Polly says:

    15 Nov15 November 07:08

    Read robs Iberia article, much stricter change rules than on baec website.

    • Matt says:

      15 Nov15 November 07:22

      You can only change the date. Class or destination cannot be changed so you’d have to cancel and re-book. It’s €25 for changes/cancellations yes.

      • Relaxo says:

        15 Nov15 November 08:48

        I got all my money back when I cancelled my SA flights. I had redeemed for Blue class ( I think that’s what it’s called) economy tickets. Costed more in miles than the basic economy but also said free changes.

      • Londoner says:

        15 Nov15 November 09:26

        They say 25 euro but if you book on the UK site they will tell you that it’s actually £ 25, despite the terms and conditions saying euro.

        With all the incompetent people working at the call center I didn’t bother trying for the small amount.

        They did however charge me £ 100 in taxes for a flight that should’ve been £ 60. Booked over phone as it didn’t allow online due to “credit card issues”, but none of the 7 cards I tried would work. They wouldn’t waive the booking fee either (making it £ 60).
        Agent hung up on me after almost finishing the booking but charged me £ 100. Call center kept saying it was correct and it was airport taxes alone, but gave in when I showed them another booking between the same airports with much lower taxes. When they finally (after an hour or so) fixed it, they said that the taxes showed as 60 on Chrome but 100 on Internet Explorer. Don’t really believe them, but it thats the case make sure to use chrome for bookings.

        Spent my 180.000 on a F return to the US and Mexico.

      • ADS says:

        16 Nov16 November 15:39

        i tried to change destination on an IB redemption – but IB said they had to cancel it and the points would reappear within 24-72 hours.

        after nearly 72 hours i got an email to say there was a problem and to call a Spanish number.

        when i phoned up it turned out that the initial staff member hadn’t cancelled it properly, and that it would be another 24 hours.

        when i phone back after 24 hours they said that it would be up to 72 hours for the points to reappear. when i (politely) pointed out that this would be 6 days after i initially cancelled – they hung up.

        this is not the first time that they have hung up on me.

        and that’s if you can get somebody who speaks decent english.

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