So Executive Club and Airmiles will remain as programs, with the latter being re-branded as Avios? Seems so even as the common currency of all the BA and IB programs for retail customers will be Avios points. Common currency allows for points to be more readily moved between BA/IB programs. Can't say I'm surprised.
LHR to TLV is going up by 25% for first class.
Of those changes with lower point costs, most of those reduced prices (in points, but not necessarily in terms of cash) won't benefit me. I expect the sum of the change to redemption ticket price changes to be somewhat negative for me.
.... waiting for the other shoes to drop.
If I had to bet, I'd bet that part of this transition included a BA management consideration on how to fudge around with elite status levels at least in terms of qualification/retention.
So much for shoes dropping along with "shiny" plastic.
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Like TSA, DL SkyMiles management treats airline customers as if they are the enemy or sheep to be fleeced and it shows.
I am suspicious. Are earning abilities going to change? IE if JFK costs less, do we also earn less by flying there?
I agree with Henkybaby- Adios points would be more fitting- AND it even links with travel.
"Adios puntos" would be an invitation for the program to get ridiculed (even further), including on the basis that the points go adios under the expiration policy applicable to the ("spendable") points.
Quote:
Originally Posted by britishairways.com
>Is the value of my BA Miles going to change?
No. The value will not change. One BA Mile will equal one Avios point in November 2011.
The third sentence in the response to the above question is the only one I find to be undeniable.
Earning the same number of ("spendable") points from a given flight after November as earned today does nothing to confirm that the value of the ("spendable") points will not change. Perhaps something in IAG's financial reporting and related accounting for "loyalty" currency program points could make things more clear about this.
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Like TSA, DL SkyMiles management treats airline customers as if they are the enemy or sheep to be fleeced and it shows.
Firstly, thank you for your questions and feedback so far. It really is very valuable to hear what you think and find out quickly where we need to clarify things - I appreciate it's a lot of information. So, the following are some key areas that I have picked up on some queries:
1) General reward pricing
I know there was a lot of speculation prior to us issuing our communications around a general increase in reward flight prices. To give you some context, (approximately) 73% of reward prices remain the same, 24% get cheaper and 3% will increase in price. This was as a result of the change to way we price rewards using a distance-banded model.
2) Redeeming into premium cabins
All members will continue to be able to redeem into all cabins provided they have enough Avios or Avios & Money (new name for Part Cash Part Miles) to do so
3) Miles for Upgrade will be known from the official launch as Upgrading using Avios. We know how much our members love this product and we will continue to enhance this. Improvements include the following:
- reductions in some of our prices will mean it is cheaper to upgrade on these routes as some of you have picked up on already
- you can now upgrade flights booked as part of a package - this can be done through your local service centre
- upgrades will now be priced on a sector basis - basically we will no longer charge for an upgrade of the whole journey, even if one or more sectors isn't available - you will only pay for the sector that you actually upgrade - this will mean clearer pricing on more complex journeys where you often travel in mixed cabins. I know, too, that some of our European and non-UK customers find this frustrating if one of their connecting journeys isn't available to upgrade
- MFU for Trade bookings - I take responsibility for the delayed delivery on this one - more news early next year but perhaps having visibility of what we have been working on may go some way to explaining the delay
4) Refunds of differences in reward prices in November - we will not automatically or proactively be refunding or collecting additional miles for that matter for the changes in reward prices. The price paid at the time of booking stands. We were pleased to be able to ensure that reward bookings are flexible for date and time changes and also refundable - a new fees structure is in place to ensure that rewards retain flexibility. Gold members will be exempt from all fees for rewards. If you do wish to cancel and rebook in order to take advantage of reduced reward prices a fee will apply for Blue and Silver members and we cannot guarantee availability so the advice is approach with caution on this one as I wouldn't like to see you lose reward availability as a result
5) We realise that we may have members in the Executive Club, the Avios reward programme or in Iberia Plus so we are developing a new tool called Combine my Avios which will allow you to combine some or all of your balances into one or the other programmes. There will be more details on this when it is live in November.
6) Earning Avios - from 16 November, you will earn exactly the same number of Avios on Iberia metal as you do on BA. The Avios reward programme customer will also be able to earn Avios when they fly on BA and IB metal - an enhancement on today
7) The Reward Flight Saver product will be available when you redeem on both British Airways and Iberia
And lastly (for now), we have said there is more to come and there is. I know some of you are anxious about future news but we are really excited about it and hope that you will be too.
I note that all the reduced redemption examples relate specifically to London departures. Does that mean that redemptions from regional airports will remain on the current rate and therefore become comparatively more expensive?
This is going down really badly with Airmiles collectors who will now have to use, more or less, the same amount of miles as with the existing scheme but pay the taxes and supplements on top.
I'm glad BA is listening, and making changes, that's always a good thing, however, the biggest bone of contention amongst PAX has always being the fuel surcharges, especially for us in North America, will there be any changes to this?
The third sentence in the response to the above question is the only one I find to be undeniable.
