Privilege Club Membership Suspended

[Mr H]

I tried to log into my Privilege Club account - set up earlier this year and I think it should have 1,000 Avios points in it. The website said that the combination of name, password and email address was invalid. I tried to reset the password and it said the email address was not recognised, but when I tried to set up a new account using my email address it said the address was already in use.

I called customer care and they said my account had been suspended. I guess this would explain why I was unable to get Wifi on my recent QR flights. The customer care was unable to say why my account had been suspended and had no solution.

I am not aware of having done anything even remotely dodgy with the account. I tried to link it to my BA account to get a bonus of 1,000 Avios and that was painful because BA and QR were initially unable to reconcile my personal details, but BA said they had sorted it out at their end.

It would be very inconvenient to be permanently barred from QR as I want to be able to transfer Avios into a QR account from Citi Prestige, and thence into BA.

Has this happened to anyone else? Any thoughts and advice welcome.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The only thing I can find is this post on FT: Privilege Club account suspended after redemption - FlyerTalk Forums

Different circumstances to yours, but maybe an email to their FF program to ask what’s the issue? And how to resolve it.

 

[andye]

It would be a bit harsh to be suspended for not liking Qsuites

 

[Mr H]

It would be a bit harsh to be suspended for not liking Qsuites

Indeed. And I pretty much have to fly QR on redemptions as they are the only OW airline that goes where I want to go. I have four more joyless flights with them next year.

That tale on FT does indicate how suspicion can be aroused. In my case I had really done nothing more than open a PC account and try to link it to BA - which caused a world of pain due to middle names being on one account and not the other.

I will try to find out how this can be resolved, but the call centre just said they had no information.

I really wish I could get what others see in QR.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Indeed. And I pretty much have to fly QR on redemptions as they are the only OW airline that goes where I want to go. I have four more joyless flights with them next year.

That tale on FT does indicate how suspicion can be aroused. In my case I had really done nothing more than open a PC account and try to link it to BA - which caused a world of pain due to middle names being on one account and not the other.

I will try to find out how this can be resolved, but the call centre just said they had no information.

I really wish I could get what others see in QR.

Maybe it’s to do with the middle names? They might want you to verify your ID ‘in person’.

I suspect it might be like most call centres these days… limited knowledge of the rest airline’s procedures. QR PC direct might have the answers.

 

[Mr H]

Maybe it’s to do with the middle names? They might want you to verify your ID ‘in person’.

I suspect it might be like most call centres these days… limited knowledge of the rest airline’s procedures. QR PC direct might have the answers.

QR are apparently sending an internal email to the specialist team (sounds familiar from QF?) and will find out whether there are any options to fix it. It would be tiresome (and expensive) to have to rock up at the airport. I cannot see how they would need to see ID in person for a new and unused account that they had already opened. But I do remember the difficulty I had boarding one of their planes in Milan when I already had a boarding pass…

 

[Mr H]

QR are apparently sending an internal email to the specialist team (sounds familiar from QF?) and will find out whether there are any options to fix it. It would be tiresome (and expensive) to have to rock up at the airport. I cannot see how they would need to see ID in person for a new and unused account that they had already opened. But I do remember the difficulty I had boarding one of their planes in Milan when I already had a boarding pass…

I had been told to call back today but they haven't had a response from the specialist team. They have sent a reminder email and suggested I will be able to get a response within 48-72 hours (sounds familiar from QF?). Because there is no QR office in Australia they cannot resolve this in any other way. The call centre guy did say he couldn't see any reason why the account should have been suspended because it is a new account with no transactions. But as it is linked to my passport details, it is not possible to close the account and open a new one.

 

[Mr H]

Still no news. Being told to call back every 24 hours with the promise that it will have been fixed. The agent today told me he couldn't see what the problem was since my account has zero Avios in it so I am not losing anything.

As my name and email address are associated with a suspended account, I can't open a new one and there seems to be little prospect of getting my account unsuspended - so it looks like Avios is not for me.

 

[Mr H]

The Privilege Club Team told me today that I am officially in limbo. The accounts team will not say why my account is suspended and the privilege club team cannot do anything because my account is suspended. The privilege club agent today confirmed what I suspected - the accounts team is not even replying to their emails. So I am barred from Privilege Club for ever with no way to have the suspension lifted. For a brand new account that had no activity - all I had done was try to link it to my BA account.

This really is the ****est airline.

 

[JayTee]

The Privilege Club Team told me today that I am officially in limbo. The accounts team will not say why my account is suspended and the privilege club team cannot do anything because my account is suspended. The privilege club agent today confirmed what I suspected - the accounts team is not even replying to their emails. So I am barred from Privilege Club for ever with no way to have the suspension lifted. For a brand new account that had no activity - all I had done was try to link it to my BA account.

This really is the ****est airline.

still no update?

 

[Mr H]

still no update?

No. The customer facing team told me that there is nothing they can do and that they don’t expect the situation will change because the team who have suspended my account seem to have taken a conscious decision not to respond. I don’t care. I do not like their product and only wanted to transfer Citibank points to BA through QR. I have now transferred my points to SQ, so all I am losing is an hour’s free wifi whenever I’m on a QR flight. Big deal. They can keep their coughty lounges, tacky slidey doors and flavour free food.

 

[JayTee]

No. The customer facing team told me that there is nothing they can do and that they don’t expect the situation will change because the team who have suspended my account seem to have taken a conscious decision not to respond. I don’t care. I do not like their product and only wanted to transfer Citibank points to BA through QR. I have now transferred my points to SQ, so all I am losing is an hour’s free wifi whenever I’m on a QR flight. Big deal. They can keep their coughty lounges, tacky slidey doors and flavour free food.

That’s such a shame.

It sux not knowing . Can I ask , what date did you sign up and how long after did the suspend your account ?

 

[Mr H]

That’s such a shame.

It sux not knowing . Can I ask , what date did you sign up and how long after did the suspend your account ?

Joined on 30 March. Could not access on flight wifi with my Privilege Club number in September, so obviously suspended some time before then. I had no communication from QR about it.

 

[RooFlyer]

I have a similar experience, but not with QR and not relevant to the situation so I hope you don’t mind me putting it down. Like many here, I was a collector of Avianca Life Miles and used them for redemptions from time to time.

With my last redemption, for the cash component I used my 28 degrees credit card. And for some reason the credit card queried the charge. This was sorted out very quickly - same day - but when I went to check my seat a couple weeks later I saw the ticket have been suspended.

Very difficult to talk and speak to the agent, but eventually I found out that they didn’t really like their charge. being queried and I needed to supply a statement from my card and myself saying that the charge would not be challenged again.

A bit, surprisingly, CitiBank quickly and readily gave me a statement in the form words I wanted, and I added to this, and I sent it off to Avianca, and expected the situation to be resolved.

Long story short, the contact centre just kept telling me over months and months with emails that the review was still underway and they couldn’t do anything about it. Brick wall, couldn’t - wouldn’t - be escalated, I had to be patient.

It never was resolved, I never got a response, and the award booking had to be given up.

Once large corporations like airlines get in their mind they don’t want to help you, there’s absolutely nothing we can do except move on and hopefully not make the same mistake again. I abandoned Avianca Life Miles of course.

 

[Mr H]

I have a similar experience, but not with QR and not relevant to the situation so I hope you don’t mind me putting it down....

Thanks for sharing. I am moving on. It is reassuring to find another member who believes that this is an impasse that will never be resolved and was not down to some kind of dumb action on my part. Just bad luck and a large corporation that will not admit it has made a mistake. Glad it wasn't a program/airline that I really care about.

 

[JayTee]

Joined on 30 March. Could not access on flight wifi with my Privilege Club number in September, so obviously suspended some time before then. I had no communication from QR about it.

after joining, did you redeem a flight using Avios ? If so, how long after you joined did this happen?

 

[Mr H]

after joining, did you redeem a flight using Avios ? If so, how long after you joined did this happen?

No - brand new account and I had tried to link it to my BA account to benefit from an offer of 1,000 Avios for doing so. No other activity.

 

[JayTee]

No - brand new account and I had tried to link it to my BA account to benefit from an offer of 1,000 Avios for doing so. No other activity.

yeah, there is something weird when the linking of accounts takes place. Is your full name and DOB etc the same on both accounts?..

 

[Mr H]

yeah, there is something weird when the linking of accounts takes place. Is your full name and DOB etc the same on both accounts?..

It went wrong and I had to get BA to add my middle names. But as I have said upthread, I am over it. QR is useful for the destinations they go to, but I don't like their product. All fur coat and no knickers.

 

[Mr H]

Just thought I would call again for giggles. My account remains suspended, no reply from the investigations team, no reason for the suspension and no movement. The chap on the phone said he would escalate and promised a reply within 24-48 hours (sharing a script with Qantas, it seems).