BAPP Welcome Bonus displayed differently

[live0love]

Hello all,

I applied BAPP for the 70k avios earlier in Feb. After activating it, i found the welcome bonus attached to my account is only 35k. Checking with customer support, i got an answer like below.

“I would request you to kindly make spend for the first 3 months of card membership with 3k and after your spending do reach back to us and we will give you confirmation regarding 70k bonus.”

is this normal?

[NorthernLass]

That’s not a satisfactory response at all! There are a couple of threads on here where other readers have detailed similar issues – it looks as though Amex don’t really know what’s going on either and are receiving a lot of enquiries and complaints about it. Have a look down the list of American Express threads for ones which mention the 70k/35k topic.

[BJ]

Many comnents on this in HFP over the last few weeks so hace a look. If you are showing the 35k tracker you almost certainly signed up for that offer, even if unwittingly so but thath isn’t amex fault. Those who properly signed up for the 70k offer are showing the 70k tracker.

[Cranzle]

live0love wrote:

Hello all,

I applied BAPP for the 70k avios earlier in Feb. After activating it, i found the welcome bonus attached to my account is only 35k. Checking with customer support, i got an answer like below.

“I would request you to kindly make spend for the first 3 months of card membership with 3k and after your spending do reach back to us and we will give you confirmation regarding 70k bonus.”

is this normal?

On the face of it, it’s possible you may have applied using the wrong link. There are a few threads covering this topic on this site. The tracker does seem to work correctly for those who have applied using the correct link (and there is only one correct link I believe).

Also, this type of matter is best dealt with by telephone speaking with someone from the Brighton offices.

[Royback]

NorthernLass wrote:

That’s not a satisfactory response at all! There are a couple of threads on here where other readers have detailed similar issues – it looks as though Amex don’t really know what’s going on either and are receiving a lot of enquiries and complaints about it. Have a look down the list of American Express threads for ones which mention the 70k/35k topic.

My wife has nothing tracking in her app. Not even 35k. Does it appear immediately?

[JDB]

Amex certainly does know what’s going on, but there are issues between them and BA about the different offers. Neither has decided how this will be resolved, ie whether they will fight or pay the 70k.

The problem is that a whole lot of people who signed up at 35k are now claiming they signed up for 70k so it has becoming increasingly expensive to resolve generously.

It’s also clear from the threads re the BA eStore where some say nothing ever tracks whereas others report that purchases do track and it’s a good source of points that many people use various filters/blockers (or a work computer) or navigate away during the process such that they killed the tracking for the 70k offer. Unless Amex/BA go for the generous option, it will be difficult to prove the 70k is owed as Amex will provide evidence of the tracking they received.

[BJ]

@Royback, trackers do not always appear but this does not mean there is a problem. You might want to call amex to confirm you are eligible for a SUB to put your mind at rest.

[Cranzle]

JDB wrote:

Amex certainly does know what’s going on, but there are issues between them and BA about the different offers. Neither has decided how this will be resolved, ie whether they will fight or pay the 70k.

The problem is that a whole lot of people who signed up at 35k are now claiming they signed up for 70k so it has becoming increasingly expensive to resolve generously.

It’s also clear from the threads re the BA eStore where some say nothing ever tracks whereas others report that purchases do track and it’s a good source of points that many people use various filters/blockers (or a work computer) or navigate away during the process such that they killed the tracking for the 70k offer. Unless Amex/BA go for the generous option, it will be difficult to prove the 70k is owed as Amex will provide evidence of the tracking they received.

The simple resolution would be to clearly show and confirm & display any signup offer bonus during the signup process and email confirmation straight away. But they don’t. Instead, they rely on link tracking, which is unfair to the customer and in the case of BA eStore, Qu1dC0 and TCB, it’s often the same retailers that claim no purchase was made or that qualification criteria wasn’t met (e.g. Currys)

[Cranzle]

Royback wrote:

NorthernLass wrote:

That’s not a satisfactory response at all! There are a couple of threads on here where other readers have detailed similar issues – it looks as though Amex don’t really know what’s going on either and are receiving a lot of enquiries and complaints about it. Have a look down the list of American Express threads for ones which mention the 70k/35k topic.

My wife has nothing tracking in her app. Not even 35k. Does it appear immediately?

Yes

[BJ]

The tracker mostly appears immediately but sometimes not until later, sometimes not at all, and sometimes it can even come and go. Regardless of this, spend is usually tracked and people get their SUB as expected on reaching the spend target. I’ve been an amex customer most of my life, encountered very few issues and on the rare occasions I did amex was happy to put it right.

[live0love]

Thank you all for the replies.
Yeh the link tracking is a mess. I used the link from BA website(showing 70k for sure, but not the one from the logged-in My-Account page) and a friend of mine applied from AMEX promo email. neither of us received SUB correctly.

We simply not happy about the whole experience and also customer support avoid the answer of either ‘i applied with the wrong link’ or ‘it’s a technical issue on amex side’.

Will give them a call.

[JDB]

live0love wrote:

Thank you all for the replies.
Yeh the link tracking is a mess. I used the link from BA website(showing 70k for sure, but not the one from the logged-in My-Account page) and a friend of mine applied from AMEX promo email. neither of us received SUB correctly.

We simply not happy about the whole experience and also customer support avoid the answer of either ‘i applied with the wrong link’ or ‘it’s a technical issue on amex side’.

Will give them a call.

Did your friend receive a promo email from Amex with the 70k offer?

[VALittleRed]

Just to add my two cents worth, my friend applied from the BA site where it was 70k and clicked the link and I was very clear to him to apply from the BA site, which he did and unfortunately only showing the 35k. So not sure where the linking went wrong but doesn’t seem fair he wouldn’t get the 70k. Bad that they don’t show the bonus on the application page.

[live0love]

JDB wrote:

live0love wrote:

Thank you all for the replies.
Yeh the link tracking is a mess. I used the link from BA website(showing 70k for sure, but not the one from the logged-in My-Account page) and a friend of mine applied from AMEX promo email. neither of us received SUB correctly.

We simply not happy about the whole experience and also customer support avoid the answer of either ‘i applied with the wrong link’ or ‘it’s a technical issue on amex side’.

Will give them a call.

Did your friend receive a promo email from Amex with the 70k offer?

correction: the email was sent from ba. executiveclub@crm.ba.com
> Subject: Be quick to bag a bonus of 70,000 Avios
For a limited time, with the British Airways American Express® Premium Plus Card, we’re offering our biggest welcome ever, with a massive 70,000 bonus Avios1 when you spend £3,000 in your first three months. But be quick, it’s only available until 21 February 2023.

[ekposh]

For what it’s worth, my tracker appeared online with 70k immediately but it took approx 1 month to appear on the app.

But if the tracker only shows 35k, I’d certainly be concerned.