I guess one of the elements of their strategy is based on the premise that London is a huge financial center and this fact alone generates a lot of direct premium travel, which (to a large extent) has to stick with BA. Working in the City, I am not allowed, for example, to use indirect flights and know that a lot of others are effectively subject to the same policy. If I do a one day hop to a meeting in Johannesburg and come back on the same evening, I cannot connect in Dubai. This is why if CW is full, we're allowed to fly First.

There are lots of routes out of London where there is still little competition and/or the timetables don't work and I will still fly CW if I have to, but if offered good alternative, I now, to a greater and greater extent, try to avoid BA. CX to HKG or SQ to SIN being prime examples where I can get a better product without sacrificing the convenience of a direct flight.

In Europe, on SH, after all the recent changes (pitch in CE, reduced tier points, HBO fares without seat selection), I have rediscovered other carriers. In the past, I was willing to pay more just to fly BA (and had pretty much exclusively flown BA). This year it's a range of carriers, from Alitalia to TAP to easyjet (and guess what - pretty good experience!). Eating some potato chips and having a glass of bubbly in the sad LGW lounge is not worth the hassle.