Originally Posted by
Happy
Dont forget most folks in US are NOT accustom to the horrendous fuel surcharges BA imposes on the Brits.
So most would redeem their miles on partners who either have a much more reasonable fuel surcharge or does not have fuel surcharge at all.
When the deal was still active, I forwarded the link to a bunch of people and the majority of feedback I received pertained to Trans Atlantic travel. Even those who didn't notice the companion certificate offer were drawn in by the "2 tickets to Europe" tagline.
More evidence of this phenomenon:
-there are numerous posters in the main thread that STILL don't have, even a minimal, grasp of the partnership concept
-the companion ticket is often hailed as the biggest fruit within the deal out in the blog world (couldn't bring myself to pen "blogosphere")
-the card bears the BA logo, which has strong brand recognition with respect to travel to/from Europe
-the BA website is programmed to goad the ignorant into flying BA metal, even in cases in which doing so makes no sense at all (e.g. SFO-NRT)
-one can only assume that the majority of cardholders will not stumble upon our chatter here and go with their instincts (i.e. play right into BA's hand)
In short, I have to believe that the deal was designed to make money, but the more our words (especially, "
don't spend $30k on the card") get out, the less money they'll make.