Update: Iberia points are now posting.
Iberia recently offered a promotion where you could get 9,000 Avios points for every flight you booked, up to a maximum of 90,000 points. The real deal was that Iberia had some exceptionally cheap flights and other outlets confirmed with Iberia directly that you didn’t even need to actually fly the routes to get the bonus Avios (but you would forfeit the Avios you get from flying). The points were supposed to post within 10 days of purchase, the offer started on June 21st so points should be posting by now. Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of issues, let’s talk through what they are and any possible solutions.
- Points not posting. As far as I know nobody has had their points post yet, even if they purchased tickets more than 10 days ago.
- Can’t log in. It seems that a lot of people with newer accounts can’t log into their accounts, older accounts don’t seem to be hit as bad.
- Error ‘Iberia block code 03’. This was resolved by calling in.
- Incorrect username/password (even when the username & password are correct). Try logging in via incognito mode.
- Account deleted. I’ve only seen one report of this, not sure what causes it.
- Iberia # deleted on flights. This is a known issue, more on that here.
My Thoughts
At this stage I think Iberia is trying to crack down on people with multiple accounts and that’s why you’re seeing newer accounts locked. I honestly have very low expectations for this promotion working as advertised, I’ll add any other issues people encounter into this post.
Are you sitting down?
Ready for this?
I *still* don’t have my Iberia points.
Yesterday, I wrote to them, for the 8th time or so, more peeved than I’ve been before: “It’s been three months since I’ve made my flight purchases. It’s been one month since I’ve heard from you. There are only 2.5 months left before these promotional Avios, which I still have not received, are set to expire. Can I please get an update? I’m stunned it’s taken 3 months figure out for my account!!! What on Earth takes 3 months to settle in regards to this promotional Avios?”
Today, I got a response: “In relation with the 9,000 Avios campaign for flights booked on iberia.com, we have reviewed your request and the information you supplied. We have sent the information to the relevant department for the awarding of the promotional Avios, since the information in your bookings is correct, you should see these credit in your account very shortly, but given the high volume of requests of this same nature that we are having right now, it will take a few more days.”
UN
BE
LIEVE
ABLE
Don’t know what you are talking about. I logged into my account and my 90k posted from the offer.
Cool, this post is from yesterday before points posted.
There are multiple reports coming from FT and /r/churning that points are now posting but many people are still locked out of their Iberia accounts pending verification of identity.
called Iberia they sent a link to reset the password. login now works but no Avios.
iberia is gonna have a lot of empty flights and a lot of unhappy mileage customers
Don’t think they are too worried about that. Mileage customers are likely people who wouldn’t be normally buying tickets on their flights anyway.
I think if you weren’t considering this a gamble then you set expectations too high. I am hopeful for a positive outcome but fully prepared for the disappointment.
When these points start posting the people who will be burned are the ones who did not snatch up the award seats fast enough. Some people will definitely be caught out with points that are set to expire and no redemption they can use. The delay in points posting really sucks for the people who jumped in on this first, because if the points post for everyone at the same time its going to be a mad rush to redeem.
Just an FYI that phone reps in the Iberia Plus US office are instructing those with new accounts that they were temporarily locked, and that you need to provide a picture of your passport or ID info that corresponds with the account. So yes, its a verification to ensure people didn’t create fake new accounts. The rep I spoke with said they fully intend to provide the bonus Avios once verified.
“I’m surprised by this!”
– Someone unfamiliar with Iberia who completed this promotion, probably
exactly. only idiots did this without knowing the risks. all the bloggers busted out very clear warnings about the huge potential issues. no surprise at all.