AARP not honoring their advertised British Airways Discount

[TheOatesFamily5]

AARP Lists a British Airways Discount of $200 per traveler when booking business class to Europe. I saved images from their web site to prove this fact. When I try to book through AARP I get the exact same price as booking directly with British Air. $8935.82. I called British Air, and they say it has to be booked through AARP. We called AARP support, and we were told that we have to book it online to qualify for the discount. We explained the problem to the agent that the site wasn't generating the advertised discount. The agent proceeded to hang up on us. We called back in again and got to talk to a different agent. This agent claimed that AARP has no such discount. We explained that it is on their web page right this minute. The agent kept insisting that they do not have such a discount and also hung up on us. There were only six business class seats left so we had to resort to paying the higher fare and bypassing our $400 savings. The ONLY reason we opened the AARP account was for this specific discount! Rude agents and false advertising. Again, I can say that because I took screen images of this entire process to prove what I am stating. I'm sure AARP will delete this post too.

[AARPConsumerCare]

@jh8212   I'm sorry you're having trouble, so let's look into this! This is an online offer only. Go to our British Airways Members Benefits page for more information and book your flight. From the Disclosure portion of this page: The exclusive discounts as indicated on this offer page are available online to AARP members only via the dedicated link on this page when booking a round-trip through fare (round-trip flights with connection to final destination, separate tickets do not qualify for discount) from select US gateways to the UK and beyond. Members save $65 off World Traveller, and World Traveller Plus or $200 off Club World fares when you purchase round-trip transatlantic tickets online to over 130 destinations, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.  

Please let me know if you have any other questions, I'm always here to help!  Jodee R. 

[wikolia]

"Community Concierge"....call your bosses!....we know how to book these tickets....there is no discount from BA!....

[jh8212]

The offer does not work. Like others who have complained about this scam, I'm not stupid, and I have carefully followed the instructions for how to use this offer.  It just doesn't work. Either it's a scam or a technical glitch. Either way, AARP members can't use this.

[AARPConsumerCare]

@jh8212  It looks like you may need to enable private messages. Please visit the Online Community's Help page for additional instructions on using the private messenger service. Thanks!  Jodee R. 

[wikolia]

your PM system does not work...contact your managers today please!...

[jh8212]

Private messages are meant for situations in which only one person has an issue.  Clearly from this thread, others do as well, so AARP's public feedback would be helpful to a number of us who are trying to use this discount.  

[AARPConsumerCare]

jh8212 I am sorry there's so much difficulty, but thanks for letting us know. In what way does the offer not work? Are you receiving an error message, and if so what is it? The more details we have, the easier it will be to resolve the issue. Feel free to reach out in a private message, so we can review this together and get it fixed. Thank you!  Jodee R.

[jh8212]

After following the link from AARP's website, then making the booking with British Airways, the discount does not get applied.  

[DefaultUser112233]

any luck? I'm experiencing the same issue. looking at the web traffic, it appears as though there's a temporary redirect in place on the BA website, meaning BA is not honoring the incoming link any longer.

[AARPConsumerCare]

@jh8212  I do apologize for the troubles you're having trying to get the British Airways discount. We would like the chance to help as soon as possible. Please visit https://help.aarp.org/s/article/contact-aarp to chat, text, or speak with a representative who can get you in touch with our Member Relations team. Thank you.  Jodee R. 

[jh8212]

Please provide the AARP community with a timeline for when you expect this glitch to be fixed, or when you plan to stop advertising a discount that is no longer available. 

[wikolia]

sale ends Jan 28th!....😱

[wikolia]

Jan 14th still not working....PM has always been enabled....

some background....this discount was supposed to expire in Aug. I tried to use it anyway and it worked right up until now....I think BA finally woke up to the fact that they should have shut this off months ago....remember BA NEVER does anything wrong (in their eyes)....

[AARPConsumerCare]

@jh8212  I understand, and I'm sorry you're having trouble. There haven't been any glitches reported, so we need more information. Please visit https://help.aarp.org/s/article/contact-aarp to chat, text, or speak with a representative who can get you in touch with our Member Relations team. Thank you.  Jodee R. 

[wikolia]

no glitches reported????....listen to what we're telling you please!....

[jh8212]

Jodee, if you would try to use the benefit, you will see that it is not working...as others in this thread have reported. Please let us know when the glitch has been fixed.

[skkbhatia]

This has been going on for 2 years now and it is obviously in BA’s interest not to fix it since people will still be lured into this and try and book BA. The only way to get a fix is to stop flying BA! If everyone on this email thread sends an email to British airways customer relations telling them they have stopped buying BA tickets because of this issue, then maybe they will fix it

[AARPConsumerCare]

skkbhatia We're sorry to hear you're having trouble with getting a discount through British Airways. We are listening and would like the chance to help as soon as possible. Please visit https://help.aarp.org/s/article/contact-aarp to chat, text, or speak with a representative who can get you in touch with our Member Relations team. - Christy C. 

[AARPConsumerCare]

@jh8212  I understand your frustration, and I apologize. Did you book a flight on British Airways using the exclusive link:  https://www.britishairways.com/en-us/offers/partners/aarp-member-benefits and at checkout, didn't receive the discount? We are listening and would like the chance to help as soon as possible. Please visit https://help.aarp.org/s/article/contact-aarp to chat, text, or speak with a representative who can get you in touch with our Member Relations team. Thank you!  Jodee R. 

[DefaultUser112233]

Ok, I've read through the details and it appears as though the AARP discount comes off differently than in the past? When you click a fare, and it opens the box showing the fare to select, it will say discounted in the box. If you do not go through the AARP link, it will not show this discounted text. It does appear to be working in the test that I've just run.

[jh8212]

Jodee, myself and others have repeatedly indicated in this thread that we have followed the link that is provided on AARPs website, but the discount does not get applied on BA's site. 

I recommend you carefully review the posts from myself and others in this thread before you provide us with another unhelpful response.

We are eagerly awaiting news that AARP has worked with BA to fix this glitch.

[wikolia]

hear hear!...

[AARPConsumerCare]

@jh8212    We take concerns like yours and safeguarding personal information seriously. We'll be better able to help if you contact us directly. I do apologize for any inconvenience. Please visit https://help.aarp.org/s/article/contact-aarp to chat, text, or speak with a representative who can escalate this issue for you and get you in touch with our Member Relations team. They act as liaison for AARP service providers. Thank you!  Jodee R. 

[wikolia]

why dont YOU contact the Member Relations Team and tell them BA has shut down this discount????

[DefaultUser112233]

That link routes you back to the AARP benefit, which will then take you to the BA site, but you're dropped at the standard BA booking site, nothing to do with AARP.

[DefaultUser112233]

I texted and received a response to use the expedia-aarp portal for travel needs, this is not the BA benefit that is being published.

[StevenM390760]

Exactly the same issue trying to book a BA flight via the AARP link - there is no discount for going through the online AARP link

I booked a few flights in 2024 and there was no issue - you could clearly see the AARP note on the BA website (in that it was an AARP price with a discount)

Still I guess I shouldn't be too surprised - just happy I got this benefit last year when it still existed... its a bit like the car insurance benefit through the Hartford - what a joke - zero reduction going direct or via AARP.........

Right now after trying several times there is no discount at all

At least I have the benefit of a Chase BA card giving me 10% off the published fares

Hopefully AARP can solve this issue as it sounds like its been the case for at least 2 weeks...

[wikolia]

could not agree more!...same here!...and "Hartford" has been kicked to the curb too!...I'm very grateful you reminded me of the Chase Sapphire benefit...TY!👏

[StevenM390760]

Just need to look at the chase British airways card - last year I got the AARP discount (mind you even last year it took numerous attempts to get the discount screen to work!) and 10% off with the BA card

[jh8212]

I just tried it and it seems to be working...at least for now. The "Discounted" fare appears and the total fare for my trip is about a hundred dollars cheaper than it I book with BA without going to AARP first.

Not sure why it wasn't working earlier this month (or as of yesterday) and I'm not holding my breath that it will keep working properly...but it might be worth trying it now.

AARP reached out to me several times to reiterate the process for using this discount (which I already knew), they seemed reluctant to admit fault but instead blamed it on user error.