I have been waiting for the British Airways transfer bonus for a while and since it finally happened. From July 1 – August 31, 2023, there is a 30% bonus when transferring Membership Rewards (MR) to British Airways Avois, i.e. 1 MR = 1.3 Avois. So, naturally, I attempted to transfer 1000 points to test it out, however, I was met with an error.
“We are unable to process this request. Please call the number on the back of your card for assistance.”
I also tried transferring to Delta, but it didn’t go through either. Both of these transfers were being attempted on accounts that were already linked. My first line of thinking was that points were frozen especially since Amex has done this before and also because there were recent data points of points clawback (Miles per day, Miles Earn and Burn). Turns out it was a nothingburger and they just needed to add a security question on my account.
You can call the number on the back of the card and get the automated system to transfer to the rewards department. If you get to customer service, they will manually transfer you to the people who handle rewards. Alternatively, you can directly call the rewards department at 8002973276 (1-800-AXP-EARN). Their hours Monday-Friday is 8 AM to midnight Eastern time. On weekends I think they close at 6 (8?) PM Eastern.
Closing Thoughts
If you get this error, do as it says and call, and maybe don’t panic redeem for cash (cash redemption works by the way). I’m posting this since there appears to be little info on this online but this error doesn’t seem to be all that uncommon (Reddit).
