I mirror a lot of what others on here are saying. I am 40 TPs below Gold at the moment, and will qualify soon. In the past I have gone out of my way to fly BA, even if U2 offered a cheaper and faster alternative, as I enjoyed the lounge access and avios. In other words, BA actively kept my business with them through BAEC, even when their competitors offered a more competitive product.

Now, the situation is different. I already have booked a few sectors on U2 ex EDI, as paying extra in fares + flying through LHR is not worthwhile for a total of 20 TPs and a pitiful amount of avios on a short haul segment. In other words, if U2 offer the route I want direct, I'm probably even ready to pay a premium for it AND buy an easyJet plus card. I already have a Priority Pass that I hardly ever use (by virtue of keeping all my flights on OW) that will come in handy.

While I will qualify for gold this year, I will not do so next year, and the new Silver card is simply not worth me chasing. As I spend most of my time between Scotland, Bahrain and Hong Kong, it just so happens that QR, CX and BA make the most sense, and as a result I am likely to keep flying these carriers, hence getting TPs and qualifying, but if another airline offers a more attractive package off I go. In fact, if I find it hard to qualify for at least Silver with the new rules I'm most likely to stop flying BA all together and use an airline that uses a terminal that allows Priority Pass access.

In other words, British Airways have lost my loyalty- I will no longer choose them first, but what is more convenient to me on a flight-by-flight basis. I spend about £25,000 a year flying (with all but 5 flights on BA/OW partners), so I doubt they will miss me, but a good chunk of that business will now, I'm sure, be heading the way of EY and U2. Will book my next EDI-BAH service on EY in J, and apply for a tier match once I get my BAEC gold card. EY's J product is superior to CW in many ways, and is priced at £2,100 vs £3,800 for BA on the dates I want... overall I'm a bit cheesed off.

The only reason I'm not switching all my business to KL or LH is, as has been repeated on her previously, their FFPs are also quite dire.