Originally Posted by
sschwenk
Might even be a clever thing to do upgrades to non-status pax every once in a while. Show them what premium cabins are like in the hope of them paying for it in the future.
It is unlikely to get much more out of a customer who has already proven his fierce loyalty by having a shiny card.
I think theres some truth in that.
My only upgrade experience was when I rejoined BAEC after a bit of a hiatus and I got upgraded as a Blue, albeit off a very expensive fully flexible WTP ticket.
8 or so years as a BA Silver, the only beeps I've got at the gate are to move me from my chosen seat to another seat in the same cabin due to an inoperative seat or IFE.
So BA know that I/my employer consistently buys a couple of J tickets a year, a handful of CE tickets and I buy some sale tickets and do maybe 1 MFU and a redemption a year.
I don't fly BA exclusively, but my annual spend with BA runs in a pretty straight line. So I would imagine that they can probably work out that upgrading me won't increase their sales. My travel pattern also shows that I am probably a fairly 'captive' market. Thus I probably have a lower upgrade profile than someone who may be a first timer who BA think might enjoy the CW experience enough to buy into that cabin in the future.
Judging by comments on here there may be some truth in that. Once bitten by the bug.... It's rather like selling drugs. Sell cheap or give away samples to get the punters hooked.
Am I bothered - no not really. I expect to get what I paid for and never go to the airport with any hope or expectation of an upgrade. Likewise I never go to a restaurant expecting a bottle of wine on the house or my tailor to throw in an extra pair of trousers for free.