Iberia Avios Promo Update
I get it. Drama is fun. Being the first to post about a company backing out of a promotion is fun. But come on. Last night another blogger posted (I won’t link to it) about Iberia denying some people from getting their Avios (from this promotion), for two reasons. First, Iberia was denying a person because they are based in Thailand. Second, they were supposedly denying people if they didn’t book on the website of the country they are located in.
It’s In The Terms
Do you know of a company that is going to put a promotion out into the wild and not adhere to the terms? While the website corresponding to the country of booking is a little strange, the Thailand thing isn’t. That wasn’t one of the countries for the promotion. Plain and simple. They shouldn’t give Avios to that person.
Offering Refunds
It’s also apparent from this post that people who have received correspondence from Iberia denying them for the promotion have been given a road towards a refund. This would indicate (as I mentioned before) that at the very least people will get refunds. This is seemingly great news for those who tried to participate in a way that was outside the scope of the terms.
Locked Accounts
There are widespread reports of accounts being locked. Indeed my account is locked, but my wife’s is not. Neither account was new, so I’ll just wait it out for awhile. There are reports that Iberia is going to require documentation be sent in for new accounts to prove the person is real. I have no problem with that and will gladly show them my documentation despite my account being “seasoned”. I haven’t flown on a ticket from that account though, but neither has my wife from hers.
They Seem to Be Honoring the Promotion
Update: Bonus Avios are now posting to some accounts!
Finally, through their social media and other public communication, Iberia has never wavered from the fact that they will honor the promotion. Yes, they will honor the promotion within the scope and terms they set out, but I do believe they will honor it. Gilbert at God Save the Points has even confirmed today that they are honoring it.
Here is a quote GSTP got from Iberia, “The period to add those Avios was 10 days, so we haven’t reached the deadline yet. We are going to add them in the coming hours/days.” Iberia is counting business days and not actual days which makes sense. I suspect/hope the Avios will start hitting accounts soon.
What are your thoughts?
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I got my points and booked the wife and I to Europe in Bus. Class and then a flight that was on Iberia and then BA from Madrid to Dublin. My account is back to 1000 points. However, my wife’s account is open, but nothing has posted there.
i got my 90k points!
whew!
Thanks! Just checked and my wife’s posted as well!
Thank you for being a voice of reason. I think the real lesson to be learned is which people’s blog headlines can be trusted to click and which can’t
Remember the Heinz ketchup commercial? “Good things come to those that wait”. No rush at all. I am sure that next year this time I will be seeing a trip to Madrid, possibly then to Paris on my calendar.
Hi Shwan,
On the promotion page it doesn’t seem to talk about to …”book on the website of the country they are located in”…
“While the website corresponding to the country of booking is a little strange, the Thailand thing isn’t. That wasn’t one of the countries for the promotion.”
Actually the T&C on the website said nothing about geographical limitation – this was just popping up on a few blogs due to some of the Twitter reps mentioning this 😉
I’m the ‘Thailand’ guy – all bookings were made only on Iberia UK, Iberia US, and Iberia Spain websites and I myself currently am living in the UK but unfortunately as I move regularly globally my postal address is in Thailand; I assume more people may have similar complicated situations.
Thanks for sharing this Bob. I do hope you will be able to resolve this considering you should be able to show them proof of where you are located. I didn’t comment too much on the geographical location thing because as you say we haven’t seen anything concrete with that. Hopefully everyone who legitimately tried to participate (i.e. didn’t create fake accounts) will get their Avios.
Agreed (y) Definitely an interesting promo keeping us all on our toes! But as you mention the fact that they mentioned refunds are possible for those they ultimately deem ineligible is indeed a good stance; although I fear what that looks like in practice 😉