Avios - can I sell them?

Korkyb

Hi all

I have over 120,000 Avios in my account and like many people I (unfortunately) have other financial considerations other than jetting off somewhere warm.

Is there any way I can use this asset other than the flights, hotels and so on that I can get through Avios.

I've noticed that Avios appear to be being sold on ebay but am unsure how this would work.

The only way I could see would be to hand over all my account details to the buyer. (which wouldn't be an issue).

Any advice would be appreciated.

Takecareofthepennies

You cannot officially sell Avios. BA / Avios would take a pretty dim view of that and probably close your Avios account.

You can, however, book flights for other people without having to travel with them ...

malkie76

You can't sell them because they are property of BA at all times.
Transfer them to Avios.com as there are more spending opportunities with them.

Korkyb

Thanks very much chaps.

I'll keep a hold of them just now.

fuzzgun19

How are the people on ebay doing it?

Can you transfer them to someone else's account?

What's the difference between Avios and BA Avios?

jpsartre

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

Can you transfer them to someone else's account?

Yes, for a fee and there's a cap of 24k Avios that you can transfer.

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

What's the difference between Avios and BA Avios?

No difference. You can have Avios in either your Avios account or your BAEC account. You can transfer between the accounts as wish.

NFH

malkie76 wrote: »

You can't sell them because they are property of BA at all times.

Is this stated somewhere? I understood that Avios have a nominal value of a tiny fraction of a penny?

fuzzgun19

jpsartre wrote: »

Yes, for a fee and there's a cap of 24k Avios that you can transfer.


No difference. You can have Avios in either your Avios account or your BAEC account. You can transfer between the accounts as wish.

Thanks.

I saw an ebay listing saying this -

I have a household account with 120,000 Avios Points. By Bidding on this auction you may add upto 2 people to the account and spend the 120,000 points how you wish. You will have 6 Months to spend the points before I remove you from the account

Would this be safe to do?

I've had about 150k of Avios in my account for years, and don't think I'll be using them.

Caz3121

from the Exec Club Ts&Cs
21.2. Any purported purchase, sale, transfer, unauthorised use (including bartering), procurement or redemption of Avios Points issued or awarded to another person or any other use of Avios Points contrary to these Terms and Conditions will constitute a fundamental breach by the Member of these Terms and Conditions and the Conditions of Use relating to Purchase Avios and Transfer Avios and therefore the contract between British Airways and the Member.
21.3. Each Member acknowledges that a breach pursuant to Clause 21.2 above may also constitute an inducement to breach the contract between British Airways and the Member, intentional damage to the business of British Airways, conspiracy and criminal offences under applicable local or national law. Any breach pursuant to Clause 21.2 will constitute Fraud and/or Misconduct and will be dealt with in accordance with Clause 21.


There have been a few threads on Flyertalk where people have had their accounts audited and lost all their miles

fuzzgun19

jpsartre wrote: »

Yes, for a fee and there's a cap of 24k Avios that you can transfer.

No difference. You can have Avios in either your Avios account or your BAEC account. You can transfer between the accounts as wish.

Ok, this says I can transfer for a fee?

Caz3121 wrote: »

from the Exec Club Ts&Cs
21.2. Any purported purchase, sale, transfer, unauthorised use (including bartering), procurement or redemption of Avios Points issued or awarded to another person or any other use of Avios Points contrary to these Terms and Conditions will constitute a fundamental breach by the Member of these Terms and Conditions and the Conditions of Use relating to Purchase Avios and Transfer Avios and therefore the contract between British Airways and the Member.
21.3. Each Member acknowledges that a breach pursuant to Clause 21.2 above may also constitute an inducement to breach the contract between British Airways and the Member, intentional damage to the business of British Airways, conspiracy and criminal offences under applicable local or national law. Any breach pursuant to Clause 21.2 will constitute Fraud and/or Misconduct and will be dealt with in accordance with Clause 21.

There have been a few threads on Flyertalk where people have had their accounts audited and lost all their miles

...and this says you can't transfer.. am I missing something?

jpsartre

As I said, you can transfer up to 24k Avios for a fee. Basically they don't want you to sell your Avios. The info is here:

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/transfermilesinfo/public/en_gb

As for selling access to your household acccount, it's safe for you in the sense that the buyer bears the risk. The worst that can happen is that BA closes your account which it sounds like you were going to do anyway. Of course, you might be left with an angry buyer in case that happens.