Aerlingus AerClub/Avios

mx5ire

Thats it exactly, why 'spend' a heap of points to save 50 Eur - not worth it, get a BT voucher or something instead. TA upgrades were very useful. Cannot do that now of course as you cannot upgrade with Avios, what a crock. Now i have to steel myself to call them about my 0 Tier point balance and ridiculously variable Avios points awards for myself and the other half....it shouldn't be this difficult.

Dardania

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

mx5ire wrote: »

I seem to recall still having the same issue back in the GC days - a 'free' flight still cost lots of taxes and fees.

It just never seemed worth it for me, the fares were reasonably low as it was, the taxes & fee's were always the killer, so you'd never feel you were getting a 'free' flight with them.

for me the best value for them was always the upgrade to business on TA, or to premium seating on the Malaga/Faro routes on the A330

roughly speaking, how many avios do those upgrades cost?

i'm slowly stockpiling avios (think I've around 13,000 by now) due to any oneworld flight being crediting to BAEC, and where I can use something from the eStore, I do: https://shopping.avios.com/en/?from=CollectHome_eStoreModule (hotels.com being a great one)

Tenger

I understand the frustration here. Perhaps is it a problem that the Aerclub points can only be used for the 'ticket' part of the overall cost. And airport charges have to be paid by the passenger?

Am just wondering, those 2 examples above seem ludicrous.

AndyBoBandy

Dardania wrote: »

roughly speaking, how many avios do those upgrades cost?

i'm slowly stockpiling avios (think I've around 13,000 by now) due to any oneworld flight being crediting to BAEC, and where I can use something from the eStore, I do: https://shopping.avios.com/en/?from=CollectHome_eStoreModule (hotels.com being a great one)

In GC, it was 4,000 GC points for a 1 way upgrade to East Coast U.S. (8,000 Avios)
The seat upgrades to Magala/Faro were 750 GC points per seat one way (1,500 Avios)

It's a pity they don't allow Avios to be spent on upgrades anymore though!!

orionm_73

They might be better 'value' if buying last minute tickets when the cash price is much higher eg last minute booking. But have to agree that they otherwise seem very poor value.

Jamie2k9

I think it works out better value if your booking close in flights and better for long haul services rather than short haul ones.

steve-o

Tenger wrote: »

I understand the frustration here. Perhaps is it a problem that the Aerclub points can only be used for the 'ticket' part of the overall cost. And airport charges have to be paid by the passenger?

Am just wondering, those 2 examples above seem ludicrous.

Actual taxes and airport charges for a return trip to Berlin are €47. Similar cost to Gatwick and €62 to Heathrow. The rest are invented fees that go straight into Aer Lingus's pocket.

And there's nothing to stop them absorbing some of the taxes and charges if they choose to (which BA do).

MayoSalmon

mx5ire wrote:

I was assured that as my membership expires in April 18 so my tier points were valid until then. So after getting back to 300 odd by the end of last week, i check today and i'm at 0.

No your tier points are valid from 12 months prior to your tier expiry date so because your expiry date is 12 months from May 1st they were correctly reset.

mx5ire

That makes no sense, none. They cut off my GC Elite status 6 months early, transitioned me to AerClub at a lower tier losing the accumulated and unused flights and upgrades, then after 6 months of Aerclub they reset my tier points to 0. How are you expected to move up tiers if they only give you 6 months to earn the tier points? And their classifications of how many tier points you earn on TA flights is nonsense too - Y class should get 50 each way - i got 25. Not that it matters, they are gone now.

And even more bizarre, my wife on Green status when it should be Silver due to missing flights, is not losing any Tier points ? It seems to be open ended at Green. What an utter crock of a programme. There are more and more people on Twitter each with similar grips and issues, and i see Conor Pope floated a question out there about loyalty programmes, good and bad etc. Guess which one is getting less than stellar reviews ?
My next work trips will be on BA for Avios or just back to United. We do have choices - Smart takes their (work funded but expensive) business trips elsewhere.

MayoSalmon

mx5ire wrote:

How are you expected to move up tiers if they only give you 6 months to earn the tier points?

You get 12 months, 01 May 2017 - 31 April 2018 in your case.

hurleronditch

Dardania wrote: »

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

mx5ire wrote: »

I seem to recall still having the same issue back in the GC days - a 'free' flight still cost lots of taxes and fees.

It just never seemed worth it for me, the fares were reasonably low as it was, the taxes & fee's were always the killer, so you'd never feel you were getting a 'free' flight with them.

for me the best value for them was always the upgrade to business on TA, or to premium seating on the Malaga/Faro routes on the A330

roughly speaking, how many avios do those upgrades cost?

i'm slowly stockpiling avios (think I've around 13,000 by now) due to any oneworld flight being crediting to BAEC, and where I can use something from the eStore, I do: https://shopping.avios.com/en/?from=CollectHome_eStoreModule (hotels.com being a great one)

Unfortunately just because EI converted Points in at 2:1 doesn't mean flights cost 2:1 back. A one way off peak east coast US flight is 13k avoid plus taxes, and the same flight business is 40k. Peak is 20k and 60k. To the best of my knowledge to upgrade an existing booking you just pay the difference, so 27k or 40k. No idea on the Biz seats on the 330 to AGP/FAO.

Has anyone actually booked flights on the Avios website yet?
I have been trying to and it just won't let me get past the confirm details page, it keeps asking me for more details, when i have already filled in all the details. Handily their workaround is to say "call our helpdesk" which means an hour on hold, and then they charge you 15 euro each way per booking to do it, adding to the already exorbitant fees and charges added to the adios you shell out.

The best i have gotten out of it is that t allows you to book one way transatlantic reasonably. Everything else it is a shambles.

RMDrive

MayoSalmon wrote: »

You get 12 months, 01 May 2017 - 31 April 2018 in your case.

How about the last 12 months? Does he get from 01 May 2016 to 31 April 2017 to accumulate enough to move to a higher tier? No, of course not.

What aer lingus have done is fine for those who are working to hold on to their current tier; for those whose flight pattern is such that they are looking to move up a tier, it a shambles (just like pretty much everything else in this aer club launch).

Unfortunately I had this confirmed by some one in the AC office this morning. If your AC card says that it's valid until end 31 July 2018, then your tier points will reset on 31 July 2017, therefore only giving you 9 months to achieve a higher tier.

mx5ire

So that's exactly what i am getting at. They gave me the wrong info when i called them on 07 April, and i posted that update here, i.e. i would NOT lose my Tier points at end of April. Inaccurate information like that drives me nuts, why couldn't they just tell me that back on 07 April ?

And this is the key issue for me - there isn't a previous 12, or even 6 months. If its a new club or scheme, then that's what it should be, a clean slate for 12 months at the start date. My Elite GC membership ran to end of April 17, and i lost all the associated benefit on 21 Nov 16 when AerClub started. Now if i can only start to accumulate Tier Points from 21 Nov, then they only gave me 5 and a bit months to do so, before wiping the slate clean and i have to start again. So the few flights that i did have since 21 Nov 16 are now effectively wasted. I was only 1 Tier point short of re-qualifying for Silver, so that's 300 Tier Points down the tube. 

All of our memberships should have started 21 Nov 16, and run for a year, end of story. Leave the Avios valid for 2 years maybe, or active so long as you fly every quarter etc etc. And speaking of avios, still no sign of partner flights yet.

AndyBoBandy

mine is telling me I have until end of November 2018 to earn 91 tier credits to get to Platinum tier, thats 19 months away!

my silver start date was feb 2017

mx5ire

Are you sure its telling you that its until Nov 18 - by that i mean will you actually have the Tier Points until then ? Prob wourth calling them, not that the infor you get will be correct. Its as transparent as a lead box, i would have patiently watched as my current Tier Points increased until my Platinum membership expiry in April 18 if i hadn't heard here on Boards about Tier Credits being deleted a year before membership expiry - which is actually the GC Elite membership expiry date. 

They are taking away the  GC membership benefits but very quietly leaving the GC membership timelines in place - What an utter kick in the teeth to loyal flyers and members. A lot of the folk on Twitter complaining about points being reset to 0 - now i fully understand why its happening.

AndyBoBandy

The thing is I've earned all my tier credits since January, with the exception of the 60 'welcome' tier credits they gave me when I got shafted down to green, as I'd only earned 1,900 GC points in the AerClub (are you in or out) collection period of Nov 15 to Nov 16 (despite always earning at least 2,400 in my yearly (Aug to Aug) GC membership).

So I'm hopeful their not going to disappear anytime soon.

alancostello

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

mine is telling me I have until end of November 2018 to earn 91 tier credits to get to Platinum tier, thats 19 months away!

my silver start date was feb 2017

I similarly have until November 18 to get to the next tier, but I'm not banking on it and remain skeptical.

mx5ire

Well based on the mechanics of how it operates to date, if you guys are showing Nov 18 as the end of your membership - then i reckon you can say goodbye to those tier points in Nov 17.

I have just checked a screenshot of my account, and the exact wording under the Platinum Tier circle, and the adjoining circle listing my tier credit points says "You need to earn 776 Tier Credits by 30/04/18 to reach Concierge tier". Therefore i assumed - as most people would given no notification to the contrary - that my tier points would remain until 30/04/18. 

What a farce.

AndyBoBandy

mx5ire wrote: »

Well based on the mechanics of how it operates to date, if you guys are showing Nov 18 as the end of your membership - then i reckon you can say goodbye to those tier points in Nov 17.

I can live that, I only need 91 tier credits to make platinum which i'll knock out in 2 trips in the coming week or 2, and if I do go back to 0 tier credits in Nov 17, I'll still have a full year of membership (with benefits most importantly) to get another 301 tier credits to remain in, albeit at Silver (unless I earn 601+)

would all still be a tiny bit better if they actually explained that, but at this stage, that would be like walking into a bank and asking the manager for €400,000 in cash.

mx5ire

Yeah - my work travel is quiet at the moment so i was banking on a trip next month to get me back to at least Silver by the time i expire in April 18. So now i need to actually earn another 301 from scratch. You couldn't make this cr*p up 

I was on hols in NYC 2 weeks back, and on the 2nd night i received a mail from Hilton telling me that i just gone up to the next tier. No waiting, no arguing, no checking my account, no phone calls, no twitter - i.e. how a programme should work.

notuslimited

@mx5ire

Following your previous update regarding when points would be cancelled I spoke to a guy in EI AC admin last week who confirmed to me that Tier Points would be reset to Zero as per the date on your card....not on a date 12 months before. At the moment I have 1152 Tier Points since Aer Club started and would be a bit peeved if they go to zero at end May 2017 (for me). It's not so much that they go to zero, it's just the lack of transparency and knowledge on the part of EI which is very annoying.

AndyBoBandy

A monthly statement would be great,

The monthly GC statement used to tell you if you had GC points about to expire that month*, so you knew to use or lose them.

*in infinitely small print at the bottom of the statement.

mx5ire

@notuslimited: 

Thanks for the update. As soon as i can get myself in the right frame of mind i will call them and query it - but to be honest i fully expect to be told that my tier points are gone. At least with your points you should still be fully re-qualified but as you say, its the lack of clarity and transparency that is most frustrating.

RMDrive

notuslimited wrote: »

@mx5ire

Following your previous update regarding when points would be cancelled I spoke to a guy in EI AC admin last week who confirmed to me that Tier Points would be reset to Zero as per the date on your card....not on a date 12 months before. At the moment I have 1152 Tier Points since Aer Club started and would be a bit peeved if they go to zero at end May 2017 (for me). It's not so much that they go to zero, it's just the lack of transparency and knowledge on the part of EI which is very annoying.

Which directly contradicts what they told me this morning. Are you sure they didn't say that it would reset per the date on your old Goldcircle card? I ask because that's what I was told as well.

notuslimited

RMDrive wrote: »

notuslimited wrote: »

@mx5ire

Following your previous update regarding when points would be cancelled I spoke to a guy in EI AC admin last week who confirmed to me that Tier Points would be reset to Zero as per the date on your card....not on a date 12 months before. At the moment I have 1152 Tier Points since Aer Club started and would be a bit peeved if they go to zero at end May 2017 (for me). It's not so much that they go to zero, it's just the lack of transparency and knowledge on the part of EI which is very annoying.

Which directly contradicts what they told me this morning. Are you sure they didn't say that it would reset per the date on your old Goldcircle card? I ask because that's what I was told as well.

I am absolutely sure. In fact, the guy left me hanging while he went to check. If the info I received turns out to be incorrect, I will just put it down to the complete and utter balls-up Aer Club has been from the start. A case study in how not to roll out a new IT system. Despite other people's experiences my flights are still not posting correctly.

Gareth Keenan

notuslimited wrote: »

I am absolutely sure. In fact, the guy left me hanging while he went to check. If the info I received turns out to be incorrect, I will just put it down to the complete and utter balls-up Aer Club has been from the start. A case study in how not to roll out a new IT system. Despite other people's experiences my flights are still not posting correctly.

I had this experience as well - I called them based on mx5ire's post from last month (thanks again for the PM) and was given the same info that TPs earned from Nov were incorrectly cancelled on 31/3, and to await an email to confirm. Still haven't had a resolution one way or the other though.

mx5ire

That is good information to know. So either you are losing the Tier credits a full year before your membership expires, as per the operational IT system, or you are not, as per the staff in Aerclub. Though i would not be holding my breath on waiting for an email, i would turn blue. I have not received any direct communication from Aerclub in relation to my account, and my repeated queries.

I might just call them in the morning and explain what people are saying here about the tier points. It is frustrating though, back in the GC days you could at least call & explain missing points & flights and they could adjust them there and then.

AndyBoBandy

mx5ire wrote: »

back in the GC days you could at least call & explain missing points & flights and they could adjust them there and then.

Ah to be back in the GC days, where a direct line to a human was available, and your problem was usually solved within 5 minutes.

You felt like you mattered to Aer Lingus back then. now!!!!! :mad::mad::mad:

ButtersSuki

Every month I call the AerClub number to ask about my missing avios points and my new card.

Every month I get a different answer. I have 9 coast to coast internal flights on United since November 21, as well as a couple of BA flights in Europe. Yesterday I was told I hadn't actually inputted the missing flight details (despite doing so at least twice - and I have screen shots to prove it).

Despite losing all my points in November and still not having them recredited, I qualified/requalified from scratch in February to silver and early April to Platinum. Do I have my card yet? No. They claim it's been posted out twice. Nothing has arrived. On my last flight I asked at check in could I use the lounge as I had was over the threshold into silver and was told "not without your card". I asked can you see my tier credits on the screen and she said she could "but without your card blah blah blah".

On March 13th I spoke to what I thought was a good customer service person. They promised they'd escalate everything and have someone call me. Nothing since. Yesterday I asked to speak to a supervisor (politely). Supervisor refused to talk to me - I think that says it all.

Truly a complete f@ck show.

AndyBoBandy

ButtersSuki wrote: »

On my last flight I asked at check in could I use the lounge as I had was over the threshold into silver and was told "not without your card". I asked can you see my tier credits on the screen and she said she could "but without your card blah blah blah".

I was told I could use the lounge without my card once the app on my phone showed me as Silver (the girl in the lounge told me this as I had qualified for Silver bot my card took 2 weeks to arrive.