Originally Posted by
layz
Does anyone think fixed membership years for everyone are a good idea (e.g. based on a calendar year)?
The problem with fixed years if if you have people who generally do their peak travel around the cut off time.
Some schemes have it Dec 31st, others the end of Feb or March, but regardless of when it is (and people have different relgious holidays and different 'celebratory new years'), it can really affect people who do premium travel 'around that time'.
Some *membership* years they will have their premium travel trips (say F to carbiean, or Asia) from TWO years fall into a single membership year (because they flew a few days later one year, and a few days earlier the next) and yet they will have nothing in the other years.
I think personal years is far more desirable - providing members can (occasionally - if they are currently inconvenient) make a change to their year end date to make it fit their travel pattern and aviod yo-yoing due to it being badly timed.
Perhaps allowing a one-off reset of a membership year for everyone would be beneficial. A lot of people may sign up for BAEC and only later start showing any real interest in the scheme and at that point may realise they've got a membership year which doesn't really suit them.
I would argue against making it strictly one off. Since people's flying pattern can change when they make a career change, or family life change.
I was about to say 'it could be limited to once every...' - however I return to the point, that if done correctly, nobody should be gaining an advantage. So why not allow it any time people want.
I however will continue to argue for rolling 'last 12 months' for blues, irrespecitive of HHA.
I think there should also be an end adjustment date feature to enable people to time it conveniently, possibly prorated or ending early. Without gaining an advantage.
You might say, why not just have the adjustment faciliity, why the rolling 12 months? Becasue people are not always able to know in advance.
It is bad relationship management to take a load of TP away from someone who is blue but has been very activie in the last 3 months of their year, etc. A year end they only had because they gave you business in the past.
Yet it doesn't happen to another member who is new. Rolling 'last 12 months' for blues solves all these problems.