This Message From British Airways Got Lost In Translation

by joeheg

Back in 2016, I signed up for the British Airways credit card from Chase. I earned 85,000 Avios for spending $10,000. At the time, I was convinced this was an awesome deal because I could use Avios to book short-haul flights on American for 5,000 points each.

Shortly thereafter, British Airways increased the number of points to book short flights in the U.S. (on American and Alaska) to 7,500 points. I didn’t mind because it was still a good deal. Then American Airlines dried up all of the saver award space, only allowing awards on connecting flights which would cost twice as many Avios. As Morgan Freeman says:

35obt4

I was able to use some Avios for a red-eye flight on Alaska that had saver space available. That redemption extended the life of my points for another three years. Now that it’s two years since that booking, British Airways is reminding me that my Avios will expire in a year without any account activity. However, I don’t think this is what they meant to say.

Screen Shot 2020-07-04 at 4.33.55 PM

As it stands, your false Avios are due to expire in the next 12 months, due to inactivity.

The good news is it doesn’t take much to keep them active – you just need to do something Avios related.

I know I’ve had a hard time finding an use for them but I still thought my Avios were real!

I know that the United Kingdom and the United States are two nations separated by a common language but I thought the definition of the word “false” was universally accepted.

Whatever they call my points, I was glad to see British Airways send me a message letting me know my points would expire in another year. I’ll find a way to keep my false Avios active until we’re traveling again and I can find a use for them.

Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and get emailed notifications of when we post. Or maybe you’d like to join our Facebook group – we have 14,000+ members and we talk and ask questions about travel (including Disney parks), creative ways to earn frequent flyer miles and hotel points, how to save money on or for your trips, get access to travel articles you may not see otherwise, etc. Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!

This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

2 comments

Too Many July 6, 2020 - 5:43 pm

More than likely that “false” Avios was actually a placeholder that was supposed to reference your Avios balance on the backend system which appears to have been pointing or looking up the wrong location.

Reply
Chase Davenport July 7, 2020 - 1:20 am

There’s supposed to be a number where it says false.

Reply

Leave a Comment