If one is (as you are) Gold. For the rest of us, there's the redeposit fee. Fine if one already has plans, but not for purely speculative booking. Of course, if this is correct, any fee will be off-set by the saving in redemption rates.

I think it is unlikely, but not unheard of. If one recalls the half-price miles redemption promotion a couple of years back..a few days after it ended, the 'fuel surcharge' was reduced from its record peak levels -- essentially BA probably off-set a large part of the cost of the promotion by locking people into a tax that went down soon after the promotion. Many got round that with changing dates.

And with regards to 'unsustainable' earn rates -- the earn rates are pretty much on a par with those of AA now (they are more generous in the premium cabins, I grant you) -- and that has not resulted in the sky falling down, quite yet (Londondude's predictions excepted )

tb