Masters Thesis Study, help requested : Which loyalty benefits do you value the most?
Jun 28, 2015, 3:11 am
#32
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: LON, ACK, BOS..... (Not necessarily in that order)
Programs: **Mucci Diamond Hairbrush** - compared to that nothing else matters (+BA Bronze)
Posts: 15,127
Jun 28, 2015, 4:58 am
#34
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: OSL
Programs: BA Gold | SK Gold | A3 Gold
Posts: 4,553
First off, big thanks to all of you that have answered. I've received a lot of responses from people based in the UK and am truly grateful! I've tried to answer some of the specific comments here:
Indeed, at the extremes the answers are predictable, but where it gets interesting is in the middle where one needs to make trade offs between miles, fees and availability. This is used for a conjoint analysis to disentangle the influence of different factors (which in layman terms means that even though respondents are likely to say these three factors are very important to them, this helps identify what is really a little bit more important than the other factors, if at all)
This is an interesting point. Unfortunately I need to be quite narrow in my scope for this study, but certainly one benefit of your BA Gold card could be priority treatment on partner airlines, and in that sense it would be more so BA related.
I guess the question is, if you really had to choose, which one would you go for? They might be equally important, but the results would be less meaningful if one could put them (or the top 2) at the same level - a little bit like an election.
Thanks for the feedback. The point of that question was, how many tier points do you think those added benefits are worth? Currently its 1500, but what is the extent to which you're willing direct money BA's way to get those? That would depend on how much you value the benefits - for example with AF, there is almost no difference between their Gold and Platinum tiers (but a 50k vs 75k qualification requirement) - and therefore the tiers are not aligned to the benefits they provide.
Because otherwise you would start the survey and get stuck in it (see below re why I didn't include Blues)
Sorry to hear that, but thanks for attempting to answer it!
You are right, but I needed to narrow the scope. Maybe next time, if I have the opportunity to do a more elaborate study.
Yes, I will share the results with whoever has posted that they have completed the survey. Thanks for your help.
Thanks for your input. Indeed, if one was doing a study based on the UK population, that would make more sense, but in terms of size, EK, AF and LH are more dominant in the European market overall, so I limited myself to them.
Haha, thank you! 
Thanks for your feedback. Eventually this came down to the scope of the study, but it would certainly be interesting in the future to study based on membership over a number of years - especially given how often programs are devalued - which has its own impact on the relationship between customer and airline.
Although its equipped for tablets and phones, it seems to work best on a desktop. AF don't offer much, so you didn't miss out 
Completed. I wouldn't of bothered for a new sign up but happy to help for someone with 4k posts.
Not sure I got Q22, I guess you are trying to compare which is more important when redeeming flights but there seemed too many options. There were several options on 80% availability and $400 fees, why would anyone choose to the more miles option?
Not sure I got Q22, I guess you are trying to compare which is more important when redeeming flights but there seemed too many options. There were several options on 80% availability and $400 fees, why would anyone choose to the more miles option?
Filled it in...
I think you 'forgot' one aspect: I don't have status with BA (alone), I have status in OneWorld. I cannot judge (or compare) the value of the BA status without taking their partners into account.
The question about service disruption for instance was tough, because I have excellent experiences with CX due to my BA Gold status and flying their F class. Does that count towards the value I place on the BA membership or is this OW ?
Maybe you should include the importance of the alliance ? Just a thought.
Good luck !
I think you 'forgot' one aspect: I don't have status with BA (alone), I have status in OneWorld. I cannot judge (or compare) the value of the BA status without taking their partners into account.
The question about service disruption for instance was tough, because I have excellent experiences with CX due to my BA Gold status and flying their F class. Does that count towards the value I place on the BA membership or is this OW ?
Maybe you should include the importance of the alliance ? Just a thought.
Good luck !
Started doing this then stopped as I don't think it's giving an accurate picture of my personal opinion:
For example, It asks to rank the following:
Non-Mileage (waived fees, partner discounts, extra checked luggage, guaranteed revenue seat
Non-tangible (priority ground services, lounge access, priority seating, gift status)
Mileage (tier bonus, partner earn and redeem, purchase and transfer miles, upgrade vouchers)
Unpublished (operational upgrades, personal welcome, blocked seat, amenity from higher class, invitations to events)
However I think at least two of them are just as important as each other - but the survey doesn't give that option so isn't a true reflection of my opinion
For example, It asks to rank the following:
Non-Mileage (waived fees, partner discounts, extra checked luggage, guaranteed revenue seat
Non-tangible (priority ground services, lounge access, priority seating, gift status)
Mileage (tier bonus, partner earn and redeem, purchase and transfer miles, upgrade vouchers)
Unpublished (operational upgrades, personal welcome, blocked seat, amenity from higher class, invitations to events)
However I think at least two of them are just as important as each other - but the survey doesn't give that option so isn't a true reflection of my opinion
Just done it but found a number of questions difficult to understand.
e.g. Q18 - No idea what you are looking for! It is 1500 to get Gold. So I have to fly enough to get 1500 points. Now how much I would be willing to fly? Well if I could do it in as few flights as possible that would be great, but that is highly dependent in what comes up at work and what I happen to do on a personal basis each year. Or you asking whether I would want to hit Gold for less flights? Of course, wouldn't anyone?
e.g. Q18 - No idea what you are looking for! It is 1500 to get Gold. So I have to fly enough to get 1500 points. Now how much I would be willing to fly? Well if I could do it in as few flights as possible that would be great, but that is highly dependent in what comes up at work and what I happen to do on a personal basis each year. Or you asking whether I would want to hit Gold for less flights? Of course, wouldn't anyone?
Because otherwise you would start the survey and get stuck in it (see below re why I didn't include Blues)
Have now completed your fascinating survey as objectively as possible (for a classical economist who's recently discovered behavioural science). Sampling difficulties aside, it would have been instructive to include Virgin Atlantic Flying Club as well as BA Executive Club, since many UK-based FT'ers belong to both.
Agree with fiona you should include Blue for the reasons outlined above. In fact if you want to understand the long term view of members over time it would be interesting to take an 'average status'. So though I might be Silver at this point in time, over my 14 years of having any status I have calculated that I have been (based on averaging tier points) a very high Silver. Or to put it another way, despite my 6 years of not being Gold against 8 years of having been Gold, I come out as being (on average) 79% Gold.
And during those 14 years therefore, I would have had a different 'average BAEC experience' to my actual experience in any one year. That 'average experience' over time is what affects my loyalty and views of the benefits of BAEC, much more that what might happen in any one year. This is also important if one considers that for many of us, if you want to save up for a LH trip in F, you will need loyalty over a number of years on one airline (or alliance) to save up the requisite mileage.
PS Accept that this is my view and for others... YMMV.
And during those 14 years therefore, I would have had a different 'average BAEC experience' to my actual experience in any one year. That 'average experience' over time is what affects my loyalty and views of the benefits of BAEC, much more that what might happen in any one year. This is also important if one considers that for many of us, if you want to save up for a LH trip in F, you will need loyalty over a number of years on one airline (or alliance) to save up the requisite mileage.
PS Accept that this is my view and for others... YMMV.
Jun 28, 2015, 5:31 am
#37
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: LHR
Programs: BA GGL/GfL, A3 Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Gold
Posts: 320
Masters Thesis Study, help requested : Which loyalty benefits do you value the most?
All done, look forward to seeing the results.
I was also wondering about not distinguishing between Gold and GGL, but then again I suppose GGL is not a tier in itself.
I was also wondering about not distinguishing between Gold and GGL, but then again I suppose GGL is not a tier in itself.
Jun 28, 2015, 9:12 am
#38
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: The Hague, NL
Programs: GMLFL, Life 2.0 - Mucci Premiere Classe & des Chevaliers Toulousiens
Posts: 22,911
To what extend does the value of status with the alliance figure in to the value of the status you attribute to a particular airline ?
I understand that if you're based in London and you travel mainly to the US, you don't really feel you have much of a choice (except maybe between OneWorld and Virgin). Did anyone ever consider NOT using BA or Virgin but instead go Delta or UA ?
Anyway, I think national pride plays a part (trust me, it does) and maybe more than rational analysis.
For me it became OW because of the Round The World tickets... Totally by chance actually.
