Is Avios planning to end points expiry?

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• Ben says:

  1 Mar1 March 07:02

  “Every word has been gone over carefully.”

  Not sure about that, looking at the glaringly obvious typo.

  • Peter K says:

    1 Mar1 March 07:16

    I assume you mean “rogrammes”. Stood out like a sore thumb to me.

  • ChrisC says:

    1 Mar1 March 07:28

    The typo isn’t in the IAG document.

• Mr(s) Entitled says:

  1 Mar1 March 07:25

  With a household account does activity in one underlying account protect against expiry in all accounts?

  • lumma says:

    1 Mar1 March 07:38

    It should for spending as it takes points from all accounts in a household. Earning I’m not so sure.

  • marcw says:

    1 Mar1 March 07:41

    No

  • ChrisC says:

    1 Mar1 March 07:57

    If there is an active silver or gold member then yes.

    From https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1481579-your-guide-household-accounts.html

    “Keeping Avios alive!

    If a Blue or Bronze member has had no activity in 36 consecutive months but they are part of an HHA which has a Gold or Silver member their Avios will be protected as long as there is an active Gold or Silver in the HHA. Other than that, make sure you keep an eye on this and ensure all accounts have some activity occasionally – of course, the easiest way to do that is a redemption due to the formula above.“

• Matt says:

  1 Mar1 March 07:40

  I think what they are saying is that in accounting terms Avios don’t “hard” expire – Or at least you could not put a date on it. If you make any future Avios the original Avios expiry date is extended. This can keep happening so therefore in accounting terms you could not put an exact expiry date to write them off.

  • marcw says:

    1 Mar1 March 07:44

    That’s the way I understand it too.

    • BLG says:

      1 Mar1 March 09:31

      +1

  • Genghis says:

    1 Mar1 March 10:19

    +1. Nothing has changed. I believe breakage needs to be calculated under IFRS 15 but the most prudent approach is to assume no breakage.

• HAM76 says:

  1 Mar1 March 07:43

  That’s not how I understand these sentences. Surely, all those Avios that IAG sold to Amex do not have an expiry date and can be issued by Amex at any time in the future. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Avios in our accounts won’t expire in the future.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    1 Mar1 March 07:48

    Agree. Similar to point above.

    For accounting purposes they all go on forever.

    • Bagoly says:

      1 Mar1 March 08:50

      i.e. the point is that it is out of IAG’s control whether they expire (leave aside that no doubt they have reserved the right to change the workings!).
      The fact that the (in)actions of some collectors might cause expiry is not something you can rely on in your accounting.

      Expiry after 36 months of no activity seems fair enough – not least to handle collectors who have died, or curtailed activities to the extent that they no longer travel.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        1 Mar1 March 10:15

        Exactly.

        Put simply the Burden of proof that there will be no liability after a certain period will be so higher that it’s easier to just treat every avios out there as a liability.

• Susan says:

  1 Mar1 March 08:10

  Is this a change from previous financial statements? Could this just be a difference between the need to recognise that there is effectively an open-ended liability – a gazillion avios could be kept live for 20+ years by earning just a handful – and the terms applied in the scheme that you still need to earn that one, unlike say Accor where there is a hard time-limit for redemption. I may be talking bollox – it’s a very long time since I needed to remember that debits go on the left.

  • Bagoly says:

    1 Mar1 March 08:45

    Excellent question: Full Year Results 2019 p46, Note 21 has exactly the same wording except that in all three places it is “Avios points” rather than “Avios”.
    So the brand police got that far this year!

  • ChrisBCN says:

    1 Mar1 March 12:53

    Susan, excellent. Seems this is a non-story.

• TeesTraveller says:

  1 Mar1 March 08:38

  Good spot to whoever noticed this. But why would IAG actually do this? Financially, there must be a nice little income stream coming in each year when the expired points drop off the balance sheet. OK it’s not cash but it still benefits the EBIT line.

  Maybe IAG have worked out that Mr & Mrs Smith get annoyed when the avios from their annual holiday expire and then book their next trip to Orlando with Virgin? Or just maybe points expiry is a nightmare to manage and it’s not worth the grief to antagonise customers and partners?

  • The real John says:

    1 Mar1 March 08:58

    If they take an annual holiday their avios would never expire.

    • TeesTraveller says:

      1 Mar1 March 09:39

      Ha, fair point! But you get my more general point about antagonising customers.

      • Chrisasaurus says:

        2 Mar2 March 11:16

        Customers that fly with you less than once in 36 months?

        Implication to me is they’re buying on price and will buy BA if cheapest, lost Avios or not

• Mikeact says:

  1 Mar1 March 09:30

  What is the cheapest way on the BA shopping portal nowadays, to beat the 36 month deadline?
  I have two ancient HHA accounts that need refreshing once again.

  • Lady London says:

    1 Mar1 March 12:30

    Screwfix have credited my moribund avios account within 48 hours every time on 6-8 purchases this year and last year.

    • Martin Louis says:

      1 Mar1 March 13:26

      I did an Argos purchase on Friday and and email from BA Shopping in Sunday saying the points were awarded. Showing as Pending in my app at the moment.

      Interestingly I double dipped on this purchase as I linked my Argos account to my new Nectar card. On the sales invoice is said I would earn 5x the Nectar points for this transaction within 30 days. Nothing showing on the app yet.

      Actually I just realised I tripled dipped as I paid on my BA Amex card!

      • ChrisC says:

        1 Mar1 March 17:53

        Nector points from Argos won’t appear in your account – that’s both base and bonuses – until the returns period has expired for the items you bought.

  • Lyn says:

    1 Mar1 March 16:05

    AbeBooks – an inexpensive used book should do it. Not sure that the avios will post particularly quickly though.

  • BT0001 says:

    2 Mar2 March 07:35

    I bought 2 pizzas and a side from Pizza Hut and earned 88 Avios

• TeesTraveller says:

  1 Mar1 March 09:41

  Ironically I just received an email from Iberia: “Don’t let your Avios expire. Make the most of them booking a flight before May, 31”

  My 186 avios will shortly be winging their way to BAEC.

  • The real John says:

    1 Mar1 March 12:03

    Be careful – after your IB account expires if you ever transfer avios back into IB from BA, the avios will instantly disappear, unless you have reactivated your IB account by earning some avios there

  • Lady London says:

    1 Mar1 March 12:32

    I wonder if Iberia will send me a “don’t let your -89,998 avios expire” this year.

    • Charlieface says:

      1 Mar1 March 15:22

      +1 for my wife, although only -9k

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