Back in 2020, I became fixated on earning Avios, a rewards currency you can redeem for flights and upgrades. I didn't care where I flew, I just wanted to go on a long-haul business or first-class flight. I began hunting for ways to earn as many Avios as I could. I was already throwing all of my purchases onto my Amex, so next I looked at how I could earn Avios online and in-store.
Manually searching the BA (British Airways) website for retailers that offer Avios and clicking partner links was tedious and forgettable. BA had an official "Avios Collection Reminder" Chrome extension, but there were obvious problems: it only supported a fraction of retailers, only appeared in Google search results, and barely worked.
Naturally, I did what any developer would do: I spent hours tinkering with a solution to save a few seconds. I would run a weekly Playwright script to scrape retailers, and I created a simple Chrome extension that displayed a dismissible popup whenever you visited a retailer from that list.
I decided to throw it onto the Chrome Web Store, and barring some small changes, that was it for a long time. It sat there for 5 years, building a very modest user base of ~1000 users.
Fast-forward to the 19th of August 2025, and I received an email from a legal associate at IAG Loyalty, the owner of the Avios trademark.
Cease and Desist Letter from IAG Loyalty
To whom it may concern,
It has come to the attention of Avios Group (AGL) Limited and its subsidiary, IAG Loyalty Limited (collectively referred to as “IAG Loyalty”), that Opista is using the Avios Marks (the “Avios” word and logo) without our consent or any valid license to do so.
In particular, the unauthorised use of the Avios Marks is evident in the ‘Avios Reminder App’ operated and developed by Opista. This app is being utilised on various retailer websites, including but not limited to eBay.com, in breach of such retailers’ policies and we have received a number of complaints from retailers regarding the Avios Reminder App.
IAG Loyalty is the legal owner of the Avios word and Avios logo, which are registered trade marks under Classes 35 and 39 of the Nice Classification in the United Kingdom. As such, we hereby demand that Opista:
Immediately cease and desist from any and all use of the Avios Marks, including but not limited to the Avios Reminder App, across all websites, platforms, and any other means, whether online or offline, owned, operated, or controlled by Opista or its affiliates;
Refrain from any future use of the Avios Marks or any marks confusingly similar to them, in any manner that infringes upon IAG Loyalty’s intellectual property rights; and
Compensate IAG Loyalty for any costs and legal expenses incurred in connection with the unauthorised use of the Avios Marks.
Failure to comply with the demands set out in this letter may result in IAG Loyalty taking further legal action to protect its intellectual property rights, including but not limited to seeking injunctive relief, damages, and recovery of legal costs.
We trust that you will give this matter your immediate attention and look forward to your confirmation of compliance.
Kind regards,
Initially I was shocked. An extension with ~1000 users was causing trouble? I mentioned it to some friends and colleagues, and we discussed what it really meant. In hindsight, my first mistake was clearly naming the extension "Avios Reminder". I hadn't thought about the legal implications.
Being a cowboy, I didn't seek legal advice (unless you count asking an LLM, which I don't recommend). I responded the same day.
My Proposed Amendments
Thanks for your email. I am an individual, not a business, and this extension does not generate any revenue. It was never my intent to cause any confusion and I have made sure to update names and copy. I've outlined a list of my amendments for you to review:
• I have renamed the browser extension from Avios Reminder to Airmiles Reminder to make it clear that the product is not an Avios product.
• On both the OPISTA website, and the chrome web store page, I have
• Updated the promotional copy to reflect the rename
• Included a message as high up as possible to make it clear that this extension is in no way affiliated with Avios
• Removed the word Avios from any promotional imagery
• Reduced usage of the word Avios to only where necessary, for example in reference to it being a rewards currency. I'm hopeful that we can agree that this is clear, and isn't in any way confusing!
• Removed the "Avios website" button from the extension
I haven't used the logo anywhere.
Please see the updates on the OPISTA website here: https://opista.com/apps/airmiles-reminder
Google's review process for browser extensions can take multiple days. Once the review process begins, you cannot make any further amendments until that review has been completed. For that reason I have attached screenshots of the listing page as it would appear on the chrome web store, and also of the extension itself. If we are both in agreement that the changes are satisfactory, I will submit it for review, and of course let you know once those changes are approved and live on the chrome web store.
Please note that the disclaimer I added in the chrome web store is on the second line. Unfortunately I don't have any control over this. I've put it as high up as I can, and cannot put it above the "summary" which is the line above it.
Thanks,
My goal was to be as reasonable as possible. I wanted to keep my extension alive, but also understood that I shouldn't have used Avios in its name. This was always a hobby project. No money, no intent to confuse. I was just making a tool.
And then...radio silence for 9 days. I checked my emails constantly. I'd been away on a trip with my family during this time and the situation had begun to weigh on me. It's a cliché, but I'd been laying awake in bed thinking about it. Should I have just taken the extension down? Am I about to get sued? The uncertainty was getting to me.
I followed up with a further email, trying to prod some kind of response.
My follow-up after 9 Days
I just wanted to follow up on my previous email. Over the bank holiday weekend, I submitted the updated extension for review, and the changes were published on Monday 25th of August. You can see the updated version here: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/airmiles-reminder-automat/lkcogehgaekpbdgbhalkdijfdbgliecl?hl=en-GB
As outlined previously, the extension has been renamed from Avios Reminder to Airmiles Reminder, all promotional copy and imagery have been updated, and a clear disclaimer has been added to state there is no affiliation with Avios.
I believe these changes address the concerns raised in your email, but of course I’m happy to make further refinements if you feel anything still isn’t clear enough. Could you please confirm if you’re satisfied with the updates so that I know the matter is resolved?
Thanks very much for your time and understanding,
I was eager to resolve this and remove the cognitive load. Thankfully, they came back to me the same day.
IAG Loyalty finally respond
Thanks for taking prompt action on this.
I can see on the link that although the extension has been renamed to the Airmiles Reminder, there are still references to Avios earn rates with retailers. Could this be removed please?
Phew! I was relieved it wasn't "we're suing you now". Based on that response, I thought compromise was possible. As there isn't really an alternative way to describe Avios other than saying "digital rewards currency offered by IAG", perhaps they would agree to a disclaimer wherever the rates were displayed.
My disclaimer suggestion
The only remaining references to Avios inside the extension are to display those rates. For example, if a retailer is offering “1 Avios per £1,” the extension displays that information in a popup. These references are very limited, and the purpose is simply to notify users of factual Avios earn rates. Without this, the extension wouldn’t serve its intended function.
As an alternative, I could add an icon next to the displayed rate, where hovering would show a tooltip containing a disclaimer (see attached images for demonstration).
This keeps the popup clear for users, while still making the disclaimer directly accessible wherever Avios is mentioned. If you feel it’s necessary for the disclaimer to be permanently visible in the popup itself, I’m happy to make that adjustment too. Please let me know if this approach would address your concerns.
Again, they responded quickly.
The Demand for Total Removal
We do not consent for Avios to be used at all for this extension this puts us in breach of various merchants extension policy (namely e-Bay). The merchants have also complained to us that that the earn rates are incorrect and misleading to customers. For these reasons, we therefore do not consent to use of our name at all so please could you promptly remove any extension in connection with Avios entirely.
It felt like the tone had now shifted and the expected resolution was clear: kill it. There wasn't any wriggle room left. They were probably sick of the back and forth.
This final email outlined the crux of the issue, and confirmed what I had suspected from the start - eBay (and possibly other retailers) had seen the extension and weren't happy that they were being promoted on it. eBay then complained to IAG Loyalty assuming it was theirs, who have gone "what on earth is this" and sent me the cease and desist.
Looking back at the official BA extension (which they killed in 2024), I suspect the reason they didn't show earn rates on websites and limited it to Google search results was retailer push-back. Which made me wonder: why do the retailers even bother participating? They're happy to be displayed on the Avios website but don't want it advertised?
Ultimately, I gave in and unpublished the extension. I'd renamed, rewritten, and plastered disclaimers everywhere, but it wasn't enough. I could have gone generic with "points" or "airmiles", but then why bother? No one would find it or know what it was. I'd never made (or planned to make) money from it. I just built silly things and shared them. For me, the peace of mind was worth more than keeping the project alive.
I'm not sure if I had handled the cease and desist correctly, but either way it was a frustrating end to the project. At the same time, it was a valuable lesson in the fragility of building something around another company. As a developer, you can get so caught up in the technical challenge that you forget the legal and business realities.
In the unlikely chance that you're reading this and were one of those users of my extension - I did try. But I didn't fancy the legal risk over some airline points.