Originally Posted by
TabTraveller
Point taken - but how many people are we talking about here? Let's say we grade CCR at Emerald+. We are around a few thousand people. Most of us will have experience flying across many OW carriers. Expecting otherwise would be unrealistic. Yes, perhaps BA loses some of those E+ pax when flying to DOH or HKG but likewise BA may well convince, for instance, an AA concierge key to transit LHR rather than DOH on their way to the far east. It can be argued either way but you'd have thought giving some 'special' treatment to the highest value customers would make some degree of sense. Even more so on the joint business TATL.
Indeed, whether it is ggl or ccr, numbers are very small so it's not really cost but more in my view a mix of risk (again risking to lose 100 of those customers may be costlier than losing 1000 elites) and heterogeneity of conception. Again, ba is a good example because ccr is just that: access to the airline's best lounge, super priority customer service, vouchers for limited privileges. By contrast I know some af club2000 (more like ba premier) people who say that they and their wife and kids are effectively upgraded every flight. Other airlines have a 'of course, normal rules do not apply to you', which is not only a dykwia dream but also presumably quite convenient. I disagree with you about our already knowing it: I think this is a part of the flying reality most of us ignore (at least I certainly did) unless we get there or know someone who does because until then, even if you fly a partner airline 30 times a year, this is something which is neither publicised nor visible.
Now of course, some hyper income flyers will be London based or Paris based and stick to ba or af respectively, but what about the rest? Those based in Geneva or Monaco, or those who have five 'homes' anyway? If I were an airline they'd be those I'd be afraid to lose.