KARFA

Tone.

Andriyko

I really don't understand why some people took the recent changes as some tragedy.

Why should it surprise anyone that a few lowest booking classes would not contribute much towards reaching status or accumulating Avios for redemptions? Have we seen how ridiculously it has become to fly somewhere?

I also fail to notice where is it exactly that is BA hitting the rock bottom service wise. I think for the prices that BA charges the product is more than acceptable.

I don't fly longhaul with other carriers but I do fly a lot with other airlines within Europe - they are all the same! It's the same seat, the same service, the same everything. There are no luxurious airlines that carry people for 10 Dollars. But BAEC still offers one of the best FF programme.

I really don't understand what is ti that some people want and how much they are prepared to pay for it.

Exactly! If BA decides to devalue the programme further and I find it that it is no longer the best for me I will simply switch carriers (LH/OS are really the best for me where I am price/timings wise). When BA abolished the Euro threshold I was not complaining about - I simply evaluated whether BA represented value to me and quietly carried on. I recently changed a supplier of a service that I've been using for 10 years because the prices became too high for me but I am happy to try something new.

The fact that so many people are unhappy about the changes proves to me that people do like BA, do want to continue flying BA but they want to get more perks from it (or not to get less from it).

hugolover

+1 ^

HIDDY

To me the flying part of a trip was just to get there and back. If it happened to be on BA then it was a bonus but as they were rarely the cheapest it wasn't often the case.

My first flight on Air China in Y to BJS was far more memorable than many BA flights I've had because it was taking me on my first trip to China.

vibguy

Nice story but no logic. I understand that one expects loyalty from dear ones (family, friends,...) but from a large profit seeking company ?? Come on, grow up and continue with your life.

Passmethesickbag

I am pretty sure the proposition is that EC would make customers more loyal to BA, not the other way around. Nobody seriously expects a big, faceless corporation to love them.

scillyisles

+1

Aviator11

You can talk!

KARFA

PM sent to Aviator11 so my post is irrelevant to this thread and therefore deleted.

HeraclesBOAC

30" pitch in 'business', Monopole Blue Top for two examples on S/H.

On long haul, where to begin. I fly heavily with American (77W), Emirates, Etihad and Qatar. You should try them and see for yourself. I'm on Qatar tomorrow and it will be a dream in J on the A380.

HeraclesBOAC

Like this ^

BA0197

Exactly the point of the EC- To make flying BA more rewarding. Flying them near exclusively, I liked that they rewarded my loyalty with Avios and Status. With these changes, they have effectively alienated the majority of BA's pax from the EC! I have no incentive to fly with them now, what is so difficult to see about this? Contrary to popular belief on this forum, airlines need Y pax to make a profit, BA are not carrying them for the sake of it. Keep in mind that only about 15-20% of BA's pax are in premium cabins.

paul4040

Maybe true - but how much profit do they bring in for the company above Y passengers?

HarryHolden68

+2

However, there is a large part of me that thinks BA want this response. The membership levels have become skewed with far more Silver and Gold cards than they can manage. This has resulted in the weekly read on here about everybody on board being eligible for Fast track boarding and Fast track security. Lounges at or beyond Design Capacity and none existent reward availability for the average flyer. A teaching friend of mine was so happy when he finally made his first 100,000 Avios and looked to use his 241 on a L/H J/F flight anywhere in the summer holidays. Even after calling BA, there was nothing - not a single pair of seats for them. He moved on.

So in a way, your response may well be the response BA were after. It's a shame that the bean counters have won but as they say: "There is no room for sentiment in the boardroom"

BA0197

As far as I am aware, the point of FF programmes is loyalty, or have I been too naive?

Don't get me wrong, this will not influence my daily life one bit, but the industry as a whole is my hobby.

BA remained my preferred airline because of the way the EC was set up. In my old days, BA could have relied on its product to ensure I flew with them. They can no longer rely on that as a result of their consistent "enchantments". They have very little going for them now. I will now only fly BA when its the best schedule and convenient for me to do so. I shall also spread my discontent about it where I can. Colleagues booking their flights today, have received a personal email from me today advising them to take caution when booking flights with these changes (and a lot of them are flying BA to gain status/avios).

I remain sure that BA will lose money by this move.