Impressions of BA from a Qatar Platinum
May 24, 2015, 8:32 am
#77
Join Date: Dec 2014
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Programs: BA, U2+, SK, AF/KL, IHG, Hilton, others gathering dust...
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I suspect QR has invested because of the good capital return that appears to be on its way under the current leadership, as well as the opportunities for further integration particularly with cargo and ME/India to US passenger traffic; rather than to effect mass policy changes within IAG. (Indeed I believe it unlawful for a non-EU person to have undue influence over IAG.)
They also intend to buy more of IAG if they can, and given the fragmented ownership of IAG (the next 8 largest shareholders own only a combined 26% of the equity), they would have very significant influence.
Just an opinion, not based on any inside knowledge of any of the companies involved.
May 24, 2015, 8:40 am
#78
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I think threads like this show that you shouldn't keep all your eggs in one basket. Until recently I had managed to spread my travel across all three alliances keeping at least Gold in each but now I have no meaningful status in Flying Blue anymore but do not really miss it. Plus, I think AF have some serious pilot training issues. It's also swings and roundabouts when it comes to different elements of the product. I note orbitmic is a fan of the throne seat on LX and I join him in that. I also like the small airline feel of LX despite being part of the wider LH group. Based on BA97 it would seem a lot of BA regulars have never tried it despite being based in the regions making such connections meaningful. But it has to be said that IFE on the A340 the screen is tiny and not as good as CW across any of the fleet.
Chasing top-tier status for the sake of it is in my view pointless. When I were a teenager I would do it but you quickly realise that any *good* airline does not treat its business or first passengers much different from those with status in those cabins. If you combine this mantra with the indisputable fact that airlines are far more transactional there isn't much point at all going out of your way to fly a particular carrier in business or first. Even with the limited experiences I have had in my short life tell you that the differences in each class of travel of each airline make declarations such as BA is the best airline meaningless; its all about specific cabin class. In my view LH and ( to a slightly lesser extent) LX F is miles ahead of BA F in every definable way but LH (new) J is not as good as CW.
If you look at ex-MAN which is the only non-LON airport that Star have any kind of competitive force to BA for around £3300 you can fly LH/LX First Class to most US East Coast destinations and around £3800 to West Coast. The fare is roughly the same to a bit higher on BA. The difference is experience is night and day! Plus with around 16-17 returns over two years (because M&M is a two year re-qualification programme) you have HON Circle status. Ex-LON LH/LX is even more competitive due to the connection factor.
BUT, ex-MAN I would not choose LH/LX for a sale business fare (as the quoted First fares are A class) due to the 100% earning in Business Class in M&M. As those flying from the regions *need* a connection to get anywhere you can make more rational choices when it comes to collecting miles because with a connection transit times are broadly the same across all three Alliances.
Chasing top-tier status for the sake of it is in my view pointless. When I were a teenager I would do it but you quickly realise that any *good* airline does not treat its business or first passengers much different from those with status in those cabins. If you combine this mantra with the indisputable fact that airlines are far more transactional there isn't much point at all going out of your way to fly a particular carrier in business or first. Even with the limited experiences I have had in my short life tell you that the differences in each class of travel of each airline make declarations such as BA is the best airline meaningless; its all about specific cabin class. In my view LH and ( to a slightly lesser extent) LX F is miles ahead of BA F in every definable way but LH (new) J is not as good as CW.
If you look at ex-MAN which is the only non-LON airport that Star have any kind of competitive force to BA for around £3300 you can fly LH/LX First Class to most US East Coast destinations and around £3800 to West Coast. The fare is roughly the same to a bit higher on BA. The difference is experience is night and day! Plus with around 16-17 returns over two years (because M&M is a two year re-qualification programme) you have HON Circle status. Ex-LON LH/LX is even more competitive due to the connection factor.
BUT, ex-MAN I would not choose LH/LX for a sale business fare (as the quoted First fares are A class) due to the 100% earning in Business Class in M&M. As those flying from the regions *need* a connection to get anywhere you can make more rational choices when it comes to collecting miles because with a connection transit times are broadly the same across all three Alliances.
May 24, 2015, 8:41 am
#79
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May 24, 2015, 11:36 am
#80
Join Date: Aug 2004
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I love Korean airlines too (again, both KE and Asiana) and the new GA (but that will be halal too!). However, CX food while good is not exceptional in J, nor are most Chinese airlines (MU can be good), nor CI or VN (again decent but not great). I wouldn't get out of my way for MH (also halal). SQ and TG are very good too but to be honest I'd personally put TK slightly higher on my list.
.. but even if you and I might find things that is not best suited to our taste, from a slightly broader point of view, I have no doubt that they are currently "setting standards" in the sense of pitching at a certain quality level which can make some alternative offerings suddenly feel a bit more underwhelming/dated.
May 24, 2015, 12:45 pm
#81
Join Date: Feb 2010
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Agree. That is a thought that will provoke much laughter in DOH !
This is great strategy on QR's part. Let IAG, WW make " enhancements" to drive short term profits to make more on their investment. Invest the same to truly improve their own airline , drawing more CUSTOMERS from BA ! A win win for QR.
Time just may come for QR to tell AAG to sod off. They can lie in wait for a long time as ABB and his team are not dependent on short term profits to enlarge their nest egg.
This is great strategy on QR's part. Let IAG, WW make " enhancements" to drive short term profits to make more on their investment. Invest the same to truly improve their own airline , drawing more CUSTOMERS from BA ! A win win for QR.
Time just may come for QR to tell AAG to sod off. They can lie in wait for a long time as ABB and his team are not dependent on short term profits to enlarge their nest egg.
May 24, 2015, 4:14 pm
#82
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May 24, 2015, 4:21 pm
#83
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And I fully agree with you on the small airline feel. In fact, when it comes to the LH group, in J, LH is my least favourite!! I'd personally go in that order OS > LX > SN > LH. The food on OS J is outstanding (as is the fabulous coffee menu, and their breakfast in J beats virtually any airline J breakfast I can think of - CX F is even better) and the sheets they provide make a genuine difference to me. LX and SN are good.Going stratospherically OT for a minute, this by the way is one of the things I really like about European mergers vs US ones. I love the fact that OS is different from LX is different from LH, or that AF is different from KL and BA different from IB. By contrast, in the US, I miss some of the specificities of NW (which has a "small airline feel" too) and CO. I fully understand the logic behind standardisation as it is a single country, etc but I just miss the differences and the "small" (relativelY) airline feel replaced by a "mega airline" feel instead.
May 24, 2015, 5:42 pm
#84
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, best perhaps to point out that the time allowed to reach mileage requirements for FQT and Sen levels (roughly silver and gold) is one year, but status is then held for two years. To requalify you need to satisfy the mileage requirement in either of those two years - not over the two years.HON alone allows acquisition of the qualification miles over the two years. And only miles from business-class and first-class flights count.
There are three levels of earning in business class. For international non-EU flights these are 100% (as you say, always the one in sales!), 150% and 200%. All F fares give 300%
Last edited by IAN-UK; May 25, 2015 at 3:31 am
May 24, 2015, 6:06 pm
#85
Join Date: Aug 2004
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In the early days of high school. Upon discovery that there was a race of giants who were physically superior to us and when they punched us or set us alight, the adults would only listen to their account and refer to them in cuddly terms as 'girls'.
May 24, 2015, 10:01 pm
#86
Join Date: Dec 2009
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"All very considerably better" though? I've read posts where one or two of your list are praised, and certainly many (recently) where BA are compared unfavourably. That's not my issue. I've never seen anyone list over a dozen airlines in the way you did. It seems extreme and overly provocative, and I say this not because of any BA passion but because this forum has become recently a bunch of repetitive threads talking up other airlines and running down BA. The energy has changed for some reason. I'm suspicious of some peoples motivations and have noticed that more frequent / established posters tend not to contribute to this stuff anymore. Perhaps I'm in the minority. Maybe there is unquenched thirst for unlimited "I flew j on BA and it was rubbish" threads
I thought (particularly with the notice of trolling) there was an effort to get back to a bit more balance where this forum exists to help people get the best from the airline / ffp. As it is it seems to becoming the home of the disenchanted / disenfranchised / neverbeenfranchised which hasn't hapoened to quite the extent in the other airlines' forums. But as you say perhaps I've misunderstood the role of ambassador.
I thought (particularly with the notice of trolling) there was an effort to get back to a bit more balance where this forum exists to help people get the best from the airline / ffp. As it is it seems to becoming the home of the disenchanted / disenfranchised / neverbeenfranchised which hasn't hapoened to quite the extent in the other airlines' forums. But as you say perhaps I've misunderstood the role of ambassador.
I think many of the more positive posts were trip reports which now live elsewhere. I had an overall solid experience on my most recent trips and will start adding a trip report / log in the next few days...
May 24, 2015, 10:48 pm
#87
Join Date: Feb 2005
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I was answering a point on seating specifically, so yes, I find the new AY J seats significantly better than CW. On AY and LX I just really like the availability of single throne seats which feel far more private and spacious (and look forward to the 1-2-1 on the A359).
Im hoping that they shift these seats out and put a few pairs of normal CW in the cabin, or even the ex BA 767 Seats.. would they fit?
May 25, 2015, 1:34 am
#88
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May 25, 2015, 6:56 am
#89
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Before you start a migration to M&M , best perhaps to point out that the time allowed to reach mileage requirements for FQT and Sen levels (roughly silver and gold) is one year, but status is then held for two years. To requalify you need to satisfy the mileage requirement in either of those two years - not over the two years.
HON alone allows acquisition of the qualification miles over the two years. And only miles from business-class and first-class flights count.
There are three levels of earning in business class. For international non-EU flights these are 100% (as you say, always the one in sales!), 150% and 200%. All F fares give 300%
, best perhaps to point out that the time allowed to reach mileage requirements for FQT and Sen levels (roughly silver and gold) is one year, but status is then held for two years. To requalify you need to satisfy the mileage requirement in either of those two years - not over the two years.HON alone allows acquisition of the qualification miles over the two years. And only miles from business-class and first-class flights count.
There are three levels of earning in business class. For international non-EU flights these are 100% (as you say, always the one in sales!), 150% and 200%. All F fares give 300%
! That's why I mentioned HON because I wouldn't bother with LX/LH Business fares if I had to book P and maybe even Z...as you know if you book an A fare the feeders book into J. So it's around 16-17 returns East Coast for HON in F over two years, maybe slightly skewed by the Exec bonus that kicks in at FTL.
May 25, 2015, 8:59 am
#90
Join Date: Aug 2004
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..I've certainly never been approached by BA in that function (have had the normal interaction with them as BAEC first gold and now GGL member including them occasionally following up on "significant" incidents). I have actually known a variety of high ranking people within different airlines over the years but never BA (and no airline that one could easily make up from which airlines I praise and which I criticise on FT!..
Are you sure you meant to respond to me?