Gold Circle...

Noxegon

When I travel Aer Lingus I invariably book the "plus" fare for Gold Circle.

Yet, anecdotally, it seems that three out of every four flights I take don't have Gold Circle points credited correctly despite the number appearing on my boarding pass - and I have to subsequently claim.

Is it just me or is the Gold Circle computer system horribly broken?

Cosmo Kramer

Hopefully they'll have it fixed in time for them to be converted into Avios points...

goingnowhere

Noxegon wrote: »

When I travel Aer Lingus I invariably book the "plus" fare for Gold Circle.

Yet, anecdotally, it seems that three out of every four flights I take don't have Gold Circle points credited correctly despite the number appearing on my boarding pass - and I have to subsequently claim.

Is it just me or is the Gold Circle computer system horribly broken?

For departures from Dublin Plus Fares credit automatically, from outstations they do not credit

Contact Gold Circle for retrospective credit

faceman

I don't think I've ever seen short haul flight points credited automatically. For me only long haul does.

goingnowhere

Ensure the membership number is added at the time of making the booking

I have consistently got automatic credit for plus fares when departing Dublin. I have never got credit for a plus fare from any other origin

Noxegon

goingnowhere wrote: »

Contact Gold Circle for retrospective credit

The point (pun not intended) is that I shouldn't have to. Yet I seem to have to do it almost every time.

IMHO this constitutes extreme dishonesty on the part of Aer Lingus - charging you for something that more often than not they don't provide without a reminder.

Tenger

Noxegon wrote: »

The point (pun not intended) is that I shouldn't have to. Yet I seem to have to do it almost every time.

IMHO this constitutes extreme dishonesty on the part of Aer Lingus - charging you for something that more often than not they don't provide without a reminder.

I see your point of view. This situation is the result of EI not upgrading the GC systems over the years. With all the varied fare classes they have I think it would be far easier to reward you with 1 point per Euro, Simple and straightforward rather than awarding points based on fare class and type.

EI did announced in September that an overall of the GC system will happen in 2015. Personally I think it should have happened in 2012 or even 2008!1

eusap

I also find when i book plus fares i get the credit for the outbound flight but not the inbound flight, if you look closely at your booking confirmation it sometimes shows your gold circle number as 777123456 for the outbound but 123456 as the inbound. This may be the cause of the problem

MICKEYG

It really is incredible how bad this whole process is. Combined with not giving points for a lot of flights you wonder do EI really see the value in keeping their their frequent flyers happy.

L1011

MICKEYG wrote: »

It really is incredible how bad this whole process is. Combined with not giving points for a lot of flights you wonder do EI really see the value in keeping their their frequent flyers happy.

Its pretty clear the entire scheme is targeted at TATL passengers, and primarly those up front at that.

I've long since found it impossible to keep any status at all and its not like I don't travel much!

goingnowhere

I'm sitting on Prestige for the second year in a row and have never paid to travel business class, in fact lucky to do one long haul flight with any carrier in a year.

If you fly to LHR due the airport charges at LHR the fare portion of the ticket is normally very low, no points.

My boarding card always has the GC number on it as I play by the rules
1. Ensure number is added at time of booking
2. Present card or number at check in

There are certain Airports where no matter how careful I am, I never get points automatically. Barcelona & Munich being two I have noticed recently.

Missing points are a common bug bear in all frequent flyer programs

mcquill

Known problem, this is the response I received after contacting about four Dus-Dub flights missing on plus fare. Dub-Dus registered fine.

Thank you for your query. I can confirm the points for the flights in question have now been credited to your account. The balance on your account is now XXXX points.

We have now resolved the Plus fares issue to / from the vast majority of airports and we hope to have all airports resolved in the very near future.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.

This is in fact a long-standing problem that affects a small number of our older accounts, and unfortunately we have not received any indication from our I.T. department as to when the problem will be rectified.

Your account e-statement will always contain the correct balance. Any time that you require an e-statement please feel free to email us or call 0818 365 900 (Mon-Fri 09.00-17.00), and we will be happy to assist.

Alternatively, if you would like to re-register for the programme and create a new membership number on our website using a separate email address, we can then merge the two accounts, and this will solve the problem.

Please contact us at the above email address or telephone number if you require any further assistance.

Noxegon

L1011 wrote: »

Its pretty clear the entire scheme is targeted at TATL passengers, and primarly those up front at that.

Well indeed. My parents fly to New York several times a year in economy and from time to time they end up on a fare that doesn't include any points. Seems absolutely demented to me...

LXFlyer

goingnowhere wrote: »

I'm sitting on Prestige for the second year in a row and have never paid to travel business class, in fact lucky to do one long haul flight with any carrier in a year.

If you fly to LHR due the airport charges at LHR the fare portion of the ticket is normally very low, no points.

My boarding card always has the GC number on it as I play by the rules
1. Ensure number is added at time of booking
2. Present card or number at check in

There are certain Airports where no matter how careful I am, I never get points automatically. Barcelona & Munich being two I have noticed recently.

Missing points are a common bug bear in all frequent flyer programs

Perhaps you could put into context roughly how many flights you are taking then per annum, and which fare type you're paying?

goingnowhere

I took 57 flights so far (1 to go Monday). All economy

3 BA
1 United (surprisingly good points generator UA)
2 EI transatlantic
51 EI Europe (1/3 UK, rest EU)

Booking 1-3 weeks ahead, rarely get points to/from LHR. I'd say about 25% not points generating on average.

I made enough points without recourse to plus fares. Don't check baggage so its really dead money, but if on the edge as to redemption or tier status and needed a few more if it was personal travel I would

I do know someone who managed to get Elite status with EI without ever paying to fly business class on any carrier