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Why you shouldn’t appeal your British Airways compensation

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A friend of mine recently flew British Airways First Class.  After a litany of issues, including BA only loading one fish plate for a cabin of nine people and only loading one bottle of a particular wine, he wrote to complain.

10,000 Avios was offered.  He felt that was not suitable and wrote back to say so.  This is what happened (note that the person is BA Gold):

Apparently he can have the 10,000 Avios back if, at any point in the next 12 months, he changes his mind and decides that it is suitable compensation.

PS.  I have, in the past, received a written complaint from BA for referring to Avios as ‘Avios points’, which apparently they are not.  It seems no-one told the app development team.


How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

Nectar American Express

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

American Express Platinum card Amex

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express card

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Comments (159)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • Tilly says:

    OT – seen BA have up to 40% off sale on CW/CE holidays until Monday. Any good?

  • Andrew says:

    Many years ago on BA flight to Manchester, I left a brand new and expensive book on the aircraft. When I returned home I called the BA office in Manchester and spoke to someone who confirmed it was in their offices in Manchester. The following day I called again to confirm BA s postal address so I could send a padded envelope . The response was “what book ” ? I wrote to BA customer services to report the theft of my book from their offices and received a very sharp response advising that BA do not employ thieves and the matter was closed !

    • Zild says:

      Back in my early days of flying I received an upgrade to business class on Air France. I left the last chapter of my book to read on the connecting flight to LHR, but accidentally left the book in one of the numerous extra business class storage holes when transferring. Had to buy the whole book again just to read the last chapter, but I just think of it as a very cheap upgrade to business class!

  • Zild says:

    On first reading that screenshot I thought BA had stripped the customer of his tier points in a fit of rage! 😀

  • Graham Walsh says:

    Flying LHR to DUB with Aer Lingus a few year ago, I left my Surface Laptop in the back of the seat. I also moved seats to an exit row too. Arrived at customer offices about 1hr after landing and I got a phone call as I was walking in. It was Aer Lingus asking my name and did I leave my laptop on board. Thankfully I was able to collect it from them the following day when heading home. £0 cost.

    A colleague left his laptop at OSL airport when going through security. I picked it up for him the following day at the airport lost property and had to pay around £15 for collecting it.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.