Originally Posted by
Maluku_Flyer
I'm not your truly, but I'm a traveler who likes the way BA handle this. It's a nice benefit for BA/OW elites. And pretty much everyone who's flown a couple of L/H sectors on BA falls in that group.
There are a big group of people who occasionally fly airlines but each single time they will fly business or first. According to AA, 85% of their passengers are one time travellers. It may not suggest what happens in BA, but it gives you a big picture about who is flying what and how often.
Then there is a big group of people who want their privacy and never joined any FFP although they always fly J/F.
Also there are a group of business travellers who have no choice of airline and the company pays for the cheapest J ticket.
It is a big world full of different circumstances out FT in terms of why they travel and how they travel.
Do you also complain about US airlines that make you buy a domestic 1st class ticket if you want to sit in the good seats, while their elites just buy a coach ticket and get upgraded? And then order the meal option that you would have liked as well - but they just ran out of.
You are not compare apple to apple. Let us see, if any of the US airlines start to charge a cash co-pay for those elite who wish to upgrade, then you see what happens. Yes there will be no noise about 'airline punched the numbers and will be right'.