BearX220

Starting in April the lowest BA economy classes will earn just 25% of miles flown. Mid-tier will earn 50%; only the highest-prices economy tickets, and Premium Economy, will earn 100%.

This somewhat mirrors the DL program reductions we have seen reflected in the AS program changes for 2015 involving DL.

The question now is whether BA economy-class trips will, in similar fashion, earn far fewer AS miles. One would think yes, which would lead AS frequent flyers to focus on AA, KL and AF for paid transatlantic travel.

BA change details here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...b-changes.html

CDKing

I'm sure at some point AS will be forced to do this for all partners. AS may not want to but the other airlines sure do.

acarney

I'm wondering if AS will try to pull in other partners... They don't have a lot to work with based on size compared to the other guys but they might be able to pull in flyers if they can keep their FF program better then everyone else... (And they have the code share routes they need...)

Points Scrounger

I can recall earning 25% on "steeply discounted" BA fares over a decade ago when crediting to my AA account. What is new about this now?

Dieuwer

Alaska already is partnering with most of the international carriers that fly to SEA. The three big ones left out are: BR, JL and OZ.

ashill

That ended when AA and BA began their joint venture. BA offered 100% on all fares to AAdvantage members (the same as AAdvantage members earned on AA), and BA offered the same 100% earning rate to their own members beginning at that time as well.

ashill

JL doesn't fly to SEA, and no Star Alliance airline will partner with AS.

Dieuwer

Right. I meant ANA.
I do hope AS will partner with "US" soon...

Also, interesting to note that OneWorld is weak at SEA, while strong at BOS (The only international OW carrier at SEA is BA, while at BOS there are CX, JAL, and BA).

Often1

Not sure the whole miles thing ever made sense. We live in a world where tickets are paid for with currency and there is no per mile fee for air travel. Awarding FF benefits based on # of miles flown makes little sense.

Buy a GBP 1,000 ticket and you get X points. Book the same ticket and you need however many points it is to pay for the ticket.

BearX220

Back in 2002 or so the BA Executive Club was revamped along those lines, with lower / minimal rewards for people buying discount economy tickets. It also became, AFAIK, the only airline loyalty program to reject applicants: existing members were allowed to stay, but new aspirants had to buy at least one full-fare ticket to get in, and in any event the program only really made sense if one bought a lot of full-fare tickets.

Then came the banking crisis and recession and suddenly a lot of Captains of Industry were buying discount tickets, or flying less, and BA sheepishly dropped the restrictions as it JV'd up with AA.

Pattern clear: boom economy, full planes: fawn over the few, backhand the rest. Bust economy, loosen up and devise incentives for the rest. We're amid a boom but nothing lasts forever.

Jimgotkp

Lets see a DEQM promo on AA metal to Europe

eponymous_coward

There is little point to doing any new partnerships when you are winding down an airline. I think US never partnering with AS until it's a dead letter is a safe prediction.

Not surprising, really. AA is weak TPAC, and DL (via NW) and UA had long historical attachment to SEA. AA ran a one-off SEA-NRT route back when oil was cheap and P2P on international routes was more common, but OW has never been all that interested in SEA outside of being a BA/AA spoke.

I would think that we'd see JL/CX SEA service before AA ever tried anything. And perhaps a JL partnership with AS might make sense...

3Cforme

It's not 'doing a Delta' because it's not going to revenue-based mileage earning: BA is still distance/fare code-based.

irishguy28

The only other thing that most people "earn", apart from Frequent Flyer Miles, is salary. So let's run with that analogy.

Would you suddenly like to go back to your salary of over a decade ago? And accept, at the same time, a huge dose of inflation (cost of redeeming miles has increased, for the type of rewards that make any sense, in premium cabins)

Thought not!

xliioper

Agreed. I'd say the changes are far more aligned to the Flying Blue program than Skymiles.