Avios Collection on Apple Education Store Purchase

[swpba]

Hope someone has experience on whether a purchase through the Apple education store is eligible for avios collection when using the BA shopping portal.

Terms and conditions state avios won’t be granted if using “university, or other higher education establishment”. I believe that this is different from the online Apple education store.

I have spoken to BA on the live chat but they were unable to give me a definitive answer.

Ideally looking for someone with direct experience of this rather than an interpretation of the terms and conditions given on the website/app.

Many thanks,

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

Given the problems some lots of people have had with the shopping portal I wouldn’t rely on ever seeing those avios.

I wouldn’t expect anyone on the the general BA live chat to have a clue about the shopping portal.

[RK228]

swpba wrote:

Terms and conditions state avios won’t be granted if using “university, or other higher education establishment”. I believe that this is different from the online Apple education store.

I believe this is the Education store on Apple’s website or at least that has always been my reading.

What else do you think it could be referring to on “Apple Store Online UK” if not the computers with education pricing based on enrolment or employment at university or other higher education institutions?

[swpba]

“What else do you think it could be referring to on “Apple Store Online UK” if not the computers with education pricing based on enrolment or employment at university or other higher education institutions?”

Purchasing through a university is possible similarly to an Apple employee purchasing through an employee scheme.

Terms should probably outline this directly as nothing is mentioned buying through the certified refurbished store either.

Just wondering if anyone had direct experience of this.

[RK228]

swpba wrote:

Purchasing through a university is possible similarly to an Apple employee purchasing through an employee scheme.

I’m not aware of such schemes for universities. In my experience, most academics that are purchasing a Mac themselves use the Apple Education Store online or the Apple Refurbished Store.

The Refurbished Store should earn Avios through the BA Shopping portal, unlike the Education Store.

[ScubaScuba]

It worked for me a couple of weeks ago. I bought a new iMac via the Apple education store, I got the education discount and a £120 gift card. Tracked and paid out 8k Avios very quickly

[RK228]

ScubaScuba wrote:

It worked for me a couple of weeks ago. I bought a new iMac via the Apple education store, I got the education discount and a £120 gift card. Tracked and paid out 8k Avios very quickly

Hmmm… I’m very surprised (as terms seem to preclude this in my reading), but also intrigued by this. I usually use the Refurbished shop, but the £120 gift card plus the chance of some Avios is compelling. Avios can always be reclaimed later though and there are sometimes ways of getting even better deals when purchasing in person at Apple stores (and I’d rather save the cash than get the Avios)…

[swpba]

The only experience of the schemes for universities is in the US and reviews of “refurbished sellers” in the UK such as Backmarket and MacFinder where people have purchased a machine and gone to setup it up only to find it being “governed by an academic institution” and therefore, not being able to access it. Rare but such cases are out there.

[RK228]

swpba wrote:

The only experience of the schemes for universities is in the US and reviews of “refurbished sellers” in the UK such as Backmarket and MacFinder where people have purchased a machine and gone to setup it up only to find it being “governed by an academic institution” and therefore, not being able to access it. Rare but such cases are out there.

I’m a university lecturer and I have a MacBook Air like this, but we don’t buy them. The University buys these and issues them to staff (perhaps the terms are actually just precluding purchases by universities themselves?). If I want to purchase one, I myself look at Apple Education and Refurbished stores though.

Which model are you looking at? I noticed last night that John Lewis had some models priced even cheaper than the Apple Education Store.

[swpba]

RK228 wrote:

swpba wrote:

The only experience of the schemes for universities is in the US and reviews of “refurbished sellers” in the UK such as Backmarket and MacFinder where people have purchased a machine and gone to setup it up only to find it being “governed by an academic institution” and therefore, not being able to access it. Rare but such cases are out there.

I’m a university lecturer and I have a MacBook Air like this, but we don’t buy them. The University buys these and issues them to staff (perhaps the terms are actually just precluding purchases by universities themselves?). If I want to purchase one, I myself look at Apple Education and Refurbished stores though.

Which model are you looking at? I noticed last night that John Lewis had some models priced even cheaper than the Apple Education Store.

Ok interesting. My only thinking was, if not included in the Avios redemption T&C why not specify it clearly.

I’ll take a look. Looking at the M3 Pro 14inch.

[RK228]

swpba wrote:

Ok interesting. My only thinking was, if not included in the Avios redemption T&C why not specify it clearly.

I’ll take a look. Looking at the M3 Pro 14inch.

Some MacBook Air models were up to £100 cheaper; I can’t remember concerning the MacBook Pros.

In the past, the physical stores would match online prices, so if you do see anything cheaper, it might be worth trying to get into an actual store and asking them to match the price and get the £120 voucher.

[swpba]

RK228 wrote:

swpba wrote:

Ok interesting. My only thinking was, if not included in the Avios redemption T&C why not specify it clearly.

I’ll take a look. Looking at the M3 Pro 14inch.

Some MacBook Air models were up to £100 cheaper; I can’t remember concerning the MacBook Pros.

In the past, the physical stores would match online prices, so if you do see anything cheaper, it might be worth trying to get into an actual store and asking them to match the price and get the £120 voucher.

Ah ok, appreciate the tip. JL is only £10 cheaper so not much in it.

[RK228]

swpba wrote:

Ah ok, appreciate the tip. JL is only £10 cheaper so not much in it.

If you’re not aware, the MacBook Pros are due for updating in October/November; I’d only buy now if you absolutely cannot wait. MacBook Airs were more recently updated.

[marshy11]

Don’t forget JL do a two year guarantee on Apple products.

FWIW I checked my purchase from the Education Store two years ago and it did track.

[swpba]

M3 Pro performance is plenty for my use case so not too fussed about waiting for any performance improvements that come with M4. But worth the consideration.

[RK228]

swpba wrote:

M3 Pro performance is plenty for my use case so not too fussed about waiting for any performance improvements that come with M4. But worth the consideration.

I’m not too fussed about M3, M4, etc. either, but rumours are that base levels of RAM will be increased too across the line (as some configurations in current line might not have enough for upcoming AI features). That would make a difference to me as I usually upgrade my RAM and it’s not cheap through Apple.