Aerlingus AerClub/Avios

Pedro deNada

Yes and they only punch in half the points due. Aerlingus are dishonest, cheating, crooked and untrustworthy in the way they are handling this.
Its a case study in poor customer relations.
reputation in terms of ten different aspects:
• perceptions of control
• quality
• stakeholders
• reputation versus brand
• reputation as an asset
• the value of reputation
• reporting on reputation
• ownership
• trust
• damage.
Just got refused by a 'Gorgon' glasses at the Aerlingus lounge at Heathrow last night despite the expiry on gold card being Jul 17.
Intend to rock up at the lounge every trip with AL until the card expires in protest (staff seem stressed by it), Mr Kavanagh should man the desks like Michael O'Leary did or used to and get out of his ivory tower office. 'Customer service not part of his job', the man should resign

AndyBoBandy

My Gold Circle card got me into the lounge yesterday at LBA, the girl said they weren't instructed to stop accepting them!
I'd say though with LHR being an actual EI lounge, they are more up to date on what not to accept.

I think a fairer way to do it would have been to let anyone with a Gold Circle card (who didn't make status on Aer Club) continue to use it until it either expired or they made Aer Club status, there couldn't of been that many.
The whole idea of the old club was if you earned enough in a 12 month period, it qualified you for 12 months of membership, I renewed every August, so last August when I qualified, it should have been for 12 months, as it's always been, instead I was turfed out 2 months into what should have been a 12 month membership,
Had they continued to honour existing GC memberships until expiry, it would have only taken what? 11 months (I presume last GC cards were issued in October?) for all the existing members who didn't make Aer Club to either make Aer Club status (which most will do), or run down their (earned) membership to expiry.

The_Wanderer

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

My Gold Circle card got me into the lounge yesterday at LBA, the girl said they weren't instructed to stop accepting them!
I'd say though with LHR being an actual EI lounge, they are more up to date on what not to accept.

I think a fairer way to do it would have been to let anyone with a Gold Circle card (who didn't make status on Aer Club) continue to use it until it either expired or they made Aer Club status, there couldn't of been that many.
The whole idea of the old club was if you earned enough in a 12 month period, it qualified you for 12 months of membership, I renewed every August, so last August when I qualified, it should have been for 12 months, as it's always been, instead I was turfed out 2 months into what should have been a 12 month membership,
Had they continued to honour existing GC memberships until expiry, it would have only taken what? 11 months (I presume last GC cards were issued in October?) for all the existing members who didn't make Aer Club to either make Aer Club status (which most will do), or run down their (earned) membership to expiry.

Couldn't agree more with this. Would have kept customers happy and retain loyalty.

I got my first GC card in April 2016 and it would have been nice to have it valid to April 2017. If the Aer Club launch hadn't been such a shambles and launched when it was promised to launch, I would have got status off the back off a SFO trip in Sept / Oct 2015.

Even getting that card proved interesting when EI claimed I was 200 points short of the 2400 GC points mark. A strongly worded email with a statement list (which EI had provided!) showed them the error of their ways and a welcome email duly appeared a few days later (with no mention of their error).

dudara

My online account is still showing me as Green Tier (I'm Platinum), plus no points or tier credits have been applied since the migration. I had always intended to give them a bit of time to sort it out, but it's nearly two months now.

Deagol

dudara wrote: »

My online account is still showing me as Green Tier (I'm Platinum), plus no points or tier credits have been applied since the migration. I had always intended to give them a bit of time to sort it out, but it's nearly two months now.

I rang and complained last week about points / tier points missing since mid-December and said the same thing. It's no longer a matter of time, it's just getting ridiculous. Agent said they are sending all requests up to the IT department to look into individually so it could take some time.... I can see this dragging on for months.

jesus_thats_gre

dudara wrote: »

My online account is still showing me as Green Tier (I'm Platinum), plus no points or tier credits have been applied since the migration. I had always intended to give them a bit of time to sort it out, but it's nearly two months now.

Same here.

Have already transferred the Avios welcome and Gold Circle conversion points to by BA account. Have 1 Aer Lingus flight booked to Milan (BA code share was stupidly priced via my travel agent for some reason) and every other flight is booked via BA - includes a number of flights operated by Aer Lingus to London.

I always overlooked minor deficiencies (of which there are many) in order to remain loyal to them but won't be returning to them anytime soon - even for US flights.

jesus_thats_gre

Deagol wrote: »

I rang and complained last week about points / tier points missing since mid-December and said the same thing. It's no longer a matter of time, it's just getting ridiculous. Agent said they are sending all requests up to the IT department to look into individually so it could take some time.... I can see this dragging on for months.

I work in IT so I am inclined be forgiving when stuff like this happens but there is no excuse given the program was delayed by 12 months. I struggle to imagine how bad things were before they pushed it out.

AndyBoBandy

I received tier credits for my flight from Dublin on Wednesday, but as of yet no tier credits received for my return flight the following day,

This is exactly how it was in Gold Circle, you'd get your departing flight points 99% of the time, the points for the return flight were always hit & miss, so much so that about 2 years ago I started to keep a hold of all my boarding cards (or at least a photo of them), until I saw the points credited to my account, which a lot of the time they would never show up, and I'd have to add missing flights almost weekly!

I assume they are relying on out station IT to keep the overall system up to date, but surely they'd have it sorted by now!!

Has anyone ever come across the level of missing flights/points from a real airline loyalty scheme than what they encounter from Aer Lingus?

The_Wanderer

Flights to/from LGW last weekend have credited for me.

Although still trying to figure out how they break down the avios points.

Locker10a

They are recruiting some new blood to join the marketing department to specifically deal with AerClub, please god may who ever gets the job shake things up actually take it seriously

AndyBoBandy

Locker10a wrote: »

They are recruiting some new blood to join the marketing department to specifically deal with AerClub, please god may who ever gets the job shake things up actually take it seriously

Doubtful, I'd say it's to find more cost to cut somewhere!!

We can kiss goodbye to the salt & pepper in the lounge!!

goingnowhere

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Has anyone ever come across the level of missing flights/points from a real airline loyalty scheme than what they encounter from Aer Lingus?

Same issue as always

Rules
If you are departing Ireland, UK, USA or Canada, the points appear nearly always (checked on as the Astral DCS)
Departing from a Spanish airport where Iberia do the ground handling, should appear (check in on the legacy IAG/BA system)
Elsewhere, don't even bother it never works

If comparison if you fly BA, everyone is checked in on the FLY system at 99% of airports, only a handful are not hooked up. Great but FLY likes to crash and go slow causing chaos. EI's check in IT might be ancient but the staff wizz through the process and its is solid .

RMDrive

Locker10a wrote: »

They are recruiting some new blood to join the marketing department to specifically deal with AerClub, please god may who ever gets the job shake things up actually take it seriously

But it's not marketing that's needed. I don't need any more fancy brochures or e-mails telling me how much better off I am under AC. What I wanted was a FF programme that didn't shaft me and that rewarded me for spending with AE. Instead I got ..... this unholy mess.

AndyBoBandy

Today would be a great day for Aer Lingus to come out and announce that they've made a hash of the Aer Club roll out, and are giving all previous members who were Gold or higher at the time or the changeover Silver status!!

L1011

KL 4 quid per person cheaper than EI (who are themselves >30 quid cheaper than FR for the times I want) to AMS. Is maybe getting some tier credits at some point in the future worth the 8 quid? Although I think the few thousand flyingblue miles I won a few years ago have long since expired as a starting point...

Locker10a

L1011 wrote: »

KL 4 quid per person cheaper than EI (who are themselves >30 quid cheaper than FR for the times I want) to AMS. Is maybe getting some tier credits at some point in the future worth the 8 quid? Although I think the few thousand flyingblue miles I won a few years ago have long since expired as a starting point...

It depends, I mean if EI are in general more use to you then id probably go with them for the avios, even if AerClub doesn't function very well, the few credits/avios you might get are better than getting nothing. Thats how i would personally look at it anyway

Dont be at yourself

Pro-tip, if frequently traveling to the UK: you will earn more Avios booking each leg separately, as when paying for the return flight in GBP, you earn 4 avios per pound (compared to 3 for every €).

AndyBoBandy

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Pro-tip, if frequently traveling to the UK: you will earn more Avios booking each leg separately, as when paying for the return flight in GBP, you earn 4 avios per pound (compared to 3 for every €).

maybe if Avios were actually worth something! To me they're pretty useless, I've 12,000 of them, maybe I could get a flight with them down the line, but I'll still be paying taxes & fee's.

All I want are tier credits in order to get back in asap so I have priority check in, fast track security & the lounge available to me without paying for them.

Van.Bosch

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

maybe if Avios were actually worth something! To me they're pretty useless, I've 12,000 of them, maybe I could get a flight with them down the line, but I'll still be paying taxes & fee's.

All I want are tier credits in order to get back in asap so I have priority check in, fast track security & the lounge available to me without paying for them.

Using them on BA short haul to buy food/drinks may be a decent option, hopefully EI allow this down the line

goingnowhere

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Using them on BA short haul to buy food/drinks may be a decent option, hopefully EI allow this down the line

The current EPOS machines are being replaced in March so you never know

AndyBoBandy

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Using them on BA short haul to buy food/drinks may be a decent option, hopefully EI allow this down the line

Again, feck all use to me as 99% of my travel is work related, so I'm on expenses anyway for any onboard drinks/snacks.

Gold Circle points were great for 3 things mainly;
Ugrades to business on Trans-Atlantic flights (by far the best value use of points, as 4,000 points would turn your €300/400 ticket into a €1,400 ticket)

Seat upgrades to business (seat only) on A330's flying European routes (750 points per 1 way upgrade) I spent 3,000 points last summer upgrading myself and herself out and back from Faro, which worked out brilliantly, especially as we were traveling with an 18 month old.

Arrnots & Brown Thomas vouchers - These were always a great stocking filler at Christmas.

I also got a nice 750gb HD about 2/3 years ago from them, but in general the gift zone wasn't that exciting.


Using points for flights always seemed a waste as the actual fare could have been quite low anyway (the cheap ones were the only ones available anyway), and you'd still pay taxes & fees which kind of defeated the purpose in my opinion.

L1011

By the time I went to book, KL were 25 quid cheaper per person and the bags are discounted to €15 for having a loyalty card *at all*. That's that traffic lost to EI and probably again in June.

Tenger

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Using them on BA short haul to buy food/drinks may be a decent option, hopefully EI allow this down the line

I read that in the BA press realease last year and think its a great idea. Using the Avios app on your phone to 'pay' for items. Cant see EI moving so fast anytime soon however (would love to be wrong on that)
Maybe focus on awarding them properly first......

hurleronditch

Tenger wrote: »

Van.Bosch wrote: »

Using them on BA short haul to buy food/drinks may be a decent option, hopefully EI allow this down the line

I read that in the BA press realease last year and think its a great idea. Using the Avios app on your phone to 'pay' for items. Cant see EI moving so fast anytime soon however (would love to be wrong on that)
Maybe focus on awarding them properly first......

You can freely move Avios to and from BA exec Club, so if you want to do this just open an account with BA, and shovel some across.
I picked up a load of starwoods points through work trips recently, opened a BA account, moved my starwoods in there and then across into Aerclub. About 17000 avios for nothing really (about 4 nights total stay, you can also link to Uber)

OverRide

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Again, feck all use to me as 99% of my travel is work related, so I'm on expenses anyway for any onboard drinks/snacks.

Gold Circle points were great for 3 things mainly;
Ugrades to business on Trans-Atlantic flights (by far the best value use of points, as 4,000 points would turn your €300/400 ticket into a €1,400 ticket)

Seat upgrades to business (seat only) on A330's flying European routes (750 points per 1 way upgrade) I spent 3,000 points last summer upgrading myself and herself out and back from Faro, which worked out brilliantly, especially as we were traveling with an 18 month old.

Arrnots & Brown Thomas vouchers - These were always a great stocking filler at Christmas.

I also got a nice 750gb HD about 2/3 years ago from them, but in general the gift zone wasn't that exciting.


Using points for flights always seemed a waste as the actual fare could have been quite low anyway (the cheap ones were the only ones available anyway), and you'd still pay taxes & fees which kind of defeated the purpose in my opinion.

If you transfer your 12k avios to BA,you've enough for a return flight in Club to London on BA or Madrid on IB for a small fee
So they're not useless if you want a weekend away
Much better than wasting them on a bag of overpriced crisps

prochida

Aer lingus loyalty is a joke. I was a GC member but had been logging my trips to BA instead of to EI recently and was downgraded to applicant member. Then when the delayed Aer Club started my 5600+ points were wiped out and not credited to Avios.

I was awarded 250 points. I am sure they will be a "welcome" addition to the 700k avios points that go with my BA Gold status.

And dont even think of using avios points on Aer lingus

I just checked the same flight on aerlingus dot com and avios dot com

EI 722 22 Feb Cork to Heathrow one way

Aerlingus is €40.99 but it would be more expensive at 4000 points and €47.59 on avios.com

Excellent own goal by Aer Lingus loyalty

MayoSalmon

prochida wrote:

Aer lingus loyalty is a joke. I was a GC member but had been logging my trips to BA instead of to EI recently and was downgraded to applicant member. Then when the delayed Aer Club started my 5600+ points were wiped out and not credited to Avios.

Should of logged them to EI, you would of kept your status and they would have transferred over. If you couldn't do this fair enough but you had over 12 months to spend the GC points before they expired upon launch of AerClub....

prochida

I had a choice to log to BA and move from silver to gold or log to GC and barely make status,

geekington

In Dublin airport and they confirmed to me that Silver members will have access to all lounges again from Feb 13th. So your lounge access will be the same as it was on the previous Gold Circle level

AndyBoBandy

geekington wrote: »

In Dublin airport and they confirmed to me that Silver members will have access to all lounges again from Feb 13th. So your lounge access will be the same as it was on the previous Gold Circle level

My old Gold Circle card (with late 2017 expiry date) got me into the lounge in Leeds 2 weeks ago! I'd imagine by Feb 13th they'll have instructed all (non EI) lounges to only accept Aer Club cards from Silver and up