Originally Posted by
ukgooner
Isn't this just a rehash of the 'changes to exec club' thread? And "will your loyalty change"? It's like kittens with a ball of wool on here.
Yes, there have been a lot of Groundhog Day moments lately on here.
The idea of lower cost products appeals to a lot of travellers. Bear in mind that FT is largely populated by middle-aged corporate types who belong to a certain financial demographic. Nothing wrong with that - even I'll turn into one in 15 years and I am sure my priorities and perspectives will change dramatically from where I am now - in my late 20s peeing into the wind no doubt.
I do have genuine sympathy for those who undertake regular travel for business and who feel short changed. There is no doubt that BA is sucking a lot of whatever scraps of joy were left out of the hard product.
BA has clearly laid out its stall of late. Personally I travel mainly short haul, mostly at the front of the bus but also down the back too. There are a surprising number of monied leisure travellers who don't feel the pinch as much as the road warriors. Oddly however, BAEC's latest changes hit that trance of leisure customers hardest - Silver bonus halved for example. Clearly on SH with retained bonus earning on I class fares and conspicuously low CE fares the focus is on the front of the bus for now. Whether BA can really crank up the soft product (or whether they want/need to) remains to be seen.
I still largely enjoy BA, but if I was passing through LHR four times a week I might feel differently.