Don’t get caught out by this sneaky Airmiles con

Millions of customers risk losing all their hard-earned Airmiles thanks to a sneaky trick from the company that runs the scheme.

Airmiles has issued a “use it or lose it” warning to customers who have not accrued any additional miles in the last two years, telling them to start collecting in the next six months or their account will be closed.

Furthermore, customers wishing to redeem their free flights have been told they must pay a £30 handling fee if they have not accrued any points within the past year.

Con Airmiles
Around eight million Brits are members of the Airmiles scheme, which allows shoppers to collect points when they purchase goods and services which can then be redeemed for free flights.

The company is now writing letters to 1.7 million customers who have accrued more than 500 Airmiles but failed to collect any in the past 24 months that they risk losing them if they fail to collect at least one more mile in the coming six months.

The loyalty scheme has unsurprisingly come in for criticism over the issue, but Airmiles insists the measures are laid out in its terms and conditions.

Choose an Airmiles credit card
While there’s no doubting this is a less-than-generous act from the ‘loyalty scheme’, the good news for regular Airmiles collectors is that they won’t be affected.

If you’re looking to maximise the number of miles you can accumulate, why not consider opening an Airmiles-affiliated credit card.

Using these for everyday purchases and paying off the debt instantly is probably the fastest way to a free flight.

Two reward credit cards to consider
The British Airways Amex reward card will give you one Airmile for almost every £1 spent, and also allows you to collect up to 3,000 bonus miles in the first three months.

Alternately, the Virgin Atlantic Amex card gives you 3,000 bonus miles the first time you use the card and one Flying Club mile for each £1 spent thereafter.

Finally, it’s worth reiterating that the above cards are only a good idea if you are able to pay off the debt immediately, otherwise the sky high interest rates will more than outweigh the benefit of extra Airmiles.

The British Airways offering is particularly dangerous, with its 19.9% APR.

Your Comments

8700 miles collected over years is taking me hours of telephone calls to spend them. THey are not totally worthless but they have little value. You cant use them when you want, theres many restrictions. 8700 miles is worth about 300 € no more. The difficulty in spending this small amount is not worth the effort. If a discount is offered instead of airmiles TAKE IT ALWAYS and forget Airmiles (Report abuse)david jackson

I collect air miles and have done so for a number of years. Strikingly the UK air miles company is one of the most ungenerous possible in every respect and doesn't measure up in any way to the USA version, although even the American version is beginning to ape it's UK counterpart with the credit crunch. Over the past few years I have found cut price airlines or late purchase tickets are often cheaper than using up airmiles for transatlantic flights and whilst it is claimed on the site airlines other than BA are scanned for tickets this is hard to believe. You try getting flights to Detroit, for example. The only reason I collect them at all is the hope one day I'll have spent sufficient mega thousands of pounds to entirely fund a transatlantic flight. That done I shall abandon the scheme entirely and rely entirely on internet surfing to produce the best deal. (Report abuse)Diomalco