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Dear Katie,
My marriage ended very painfully and the past few years have been a very difficult and upsetting time for me. My ex-husband and I are now divorced, having split our assets through solicitors, and we are not on speaking terms.
We used to have a British Airways American Express joint credit card, which we used to collect Avios points. As part of our settlement we kept our own Avios points, yet our points are still being held jointly in one of British Airways’ family and friends-style “household accounts”.
I have contacted British Airways on several occasions to ask it to remove me from this household account, but I am still trapped. I asked on more than one occasion to speak to senior managers in the call centres, who seem to say it is policy and they physically cannot remove me. They say I have to ask my ex to remove me from the account.
It seems madness, but having then searched the internet it seems there are others in this situation. I am not prepared to contact my ex-husband so he has access to seeing whatever points I obtain and what flights I’m going on.
This is a totally unacceptable invasion of privacy. I am not in contact with my ex-husband, and I never want to be. Surely British Airways should be able to do this without me having to pay thousands to get solicitors involved again?
– Anon
Dear reader,
You met your husband when you were much younger, and were married after several years together. However, your marriage was short-lived.
In 2019, while on a work trip abroad, you say you received a phone call from the doctor informing you that you were infected with a sexually transmitted disease. Upon returning home, you confronted your husband to ask if he had cheated on you.
His initial response, you said, was that maybe it was you who had cheated. But then he confessed he had had a one-night stand, you said. However, it turned out he was lying and had actually had an affair, you said. You were left heartbroken and, quite understandably, never want to see or hear from him ever again.
Having been through the ordeal of this divorce, you are dumbfounded that a company the size of British Airways could not perform the simple task of separating yours and your husband’s accounts. As a frequent flyer, you feel you have been disrespected and let down by the airline, which has failed to recognise the sensitivity of this situation.
I must say, I too am surprised it hasn’t been able to assist, as it appears to be in breach of its own terms.
British Airways Executive Club’s terms and conditions state: “Members who are part of a household account, but who are not the primary member of the household account, can request at any time to be removed by contacting the executive club in writing (including email). This is with the exception of under-18s, who cannot be removed without an adult’s consent.”
Despite being a successful career woman, here you were being treated like a minor. No wonder you were furious.
Luckily when I got involved, British Airways jumped into action and began the process of separating your accounts. Initially it looked as though you had lost all your Avios points as a result of the transfer, but later they appeared again. A senior manager phoned you to explain what was happening, though you say she wasn’t awfully apologetic.
British Airways is investigating why it took my involvement for the transfer to happen, and said initially it looked to be as a result of “human error”.
Given that there are apparently others out there in similar situations, I seriously hope the airline will be more careful to enact such requests in future, instead of ignoring them.
As an extra gesture to say sorry British Airways offered you free use of the first-class lounge next time you fly. You say this is no good to you as you will be travelling with colleagues and making use of the business lounge, so swanning off to the first-class lounge on a freebie would be an embarrassment.
I quite understand and have asked it to top you up with some Avios instead.
A British Airways spokesman said: “We’ve apologised to our customer and we’re in touch to resolve the matter.”
