Frequent fliers may lose out if they don't keep up on the rules

Q. I recently purchased 24,000 frequent flier miles for $700-plus in hopes of securing a free companion ticket in one of British Airways recent promotions. Well, I goofed up and missed the deadline. When I tried to use the miles in my account to purchase tickets post-promotion, I found that using my mileage (including the ones I just purchased) for a "free" ticket was going to be more expensive (even without taxes, fees, etc.) than if I had purchased the ticket outright.

When I contacted British Airways regarding this fact - as in why would anyone purchase miles if it is more costly than paying for a ticket outright - they basically said that's the way it is, and that I signed off on it, too bad.

Andrea Gabriel
Wayland

A. British Airways vice president John Lampl had his company's customer service folks look into this situation only to conclude as you said: Too bad.

Not much in the way of sympathy, apology, suggestion, or anything else other than it's your mistake, so you'll have to live with it. Lampl explained fare sales can drop prices even below various miles redemption deals and it's up to consumers to be aware of the deals they are making.

"It pays for people to keep up to date on BA.com as there are often fares that are extremely cheap when compared to regular airfares," he said. "And when there are airfare sales, it's better to get new points."

You undoubtedly have already come to realize this, but once you click the little boxes, put in detailed personal information, and hit send, for the most part, you've entered the land of no return. That having been said, goodwill goes an awfully long way.

When someone makes an honest mistake, it would benefit companies to try their best to fix the situation. That would make the customer happy, who in turn would probably tell their friends, who might then remember that company in a favorable light, and so on.

Particularly in this economy, it would be terribly refreshing to be able to say that presented with your set of circumstances, British Airways found a way to straighten this out, get your miles back, and allow you to buy the cheaper tickets.

Such a happy outcome is rarely the case, unfortunately.

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