Not impressed with diamondclub.org so far ….
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
Last weekend, bmi finally died. The last bmi flight landed at Heathrow (see photo below), the bmi credit cards were closed to new applicants and www.flybmi.com was closed down.
If you still have any bmi Destination Miles, you now need to go to www.diamondclub.org to check how many. Going forward, once any outstanding Hilton, estore etc miles have cleared, the only way you will be able to add to your DC miles is from the bmi credit cards. And they are closed to new applicants.
The only way to spend your miles now is to transfer them to British Airways Executive Club, turning them into Avios.
The www.diamondclub.org website launched last weekend. And it is a bit of a mess.
A lot of people have found that they cannot access it, although if your membership number is not working, try using the email address associated with your old bmi account. Some people have also found that they have a random amount of miles or are seeing other peoples transactions on their account. To be fair, I see none of this. My account looks correct at zero miles – although some credit card miles will be dropping in very soon.
There are two issues, though, which have cropped up during this process.
The first is Family Membership.
bmi allowed you to link up to six other accounts to your account, and transfer the miles to yours. My Mum has had a bmi credit card for a couple of years, and every month I would transfer her miles into my account.
The new website does not recognise family memberships. Going forward, my Mum’s credit card miles will have to stay in her DC account and be transferred into her BA account. At least she has an active BA account – if she didn’t, I would have been getting rid of her credit card immediately.
The 2nd issue is potentially more serious and reflects BA’s rules on refunds.
BA had previously stated that, for UK DC members, there would be no problem cancelling redemption flights going forward. (After all, people will have redemptions booked all the way up to August 2013 using their bmi miles.) The new website FAQ, though, says this:
I made a booking using my destinations miles for travel after 31 December 2012, will this booking be protected?
Yes. Any flight bookings made using destinations miles will be honoured but changes or refunds are not permitted.
It beggars belief that this can be true. I’m not sure it is even legal. Is BA seriously saying that if my Dubai trip at Easter on Austrian Airlines is cancelled (even if it is Austrian that cancels the flights) then I get NOTHING back? Not my 180,000 DC miles, and not the £1,500+ of airport taxes I paid?
This surely cannot be true, and also goes against BA’s previous policy. But then BA also said that you would be able to transfer INTO Diamond Club from Avios in order to redeem on Virgin Atlantic, and they went back on that. So who knows? We do know that the BA representative on Flyertalk has not responded to this issue, six days after she was asked about it.
If this really is the case, though, then I will need to cancel my Easter booking. I can’t take the risk (£3,500-worth, given the value of the miles plus the taxes) that something won’t come up that will stop us travelling.
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!
In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Run your own business?
We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.
Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa
Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review
You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.
British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.
American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
Comments (20)