As above - yes it makes a huge difference which is why I go for Silver each year now. I’m a recent convert to miles and TP chasing (2-3 years) so I don’t have the rose-tinted view of others. Perhaps it was better, but I’m extremely happy with my lot...

Flying with a bike or two means the extra baggage weight is a godsend as most of my TP come from holidays in J rather than bike race travel, which is usually in Y on a cheap BA holidays deal. This saves £120/240 each trip depending on one/two bikes. I am quite tall so always get the exit seats in ET (£40 a trip to book). The lounge at Geneva alone must save me (and a friend) £20 each time we travel through there (3 or 4 times a year) as we don’t have to buy drinks and dinner.

The things you can’t put a price on - having someone answer the phone quickly even at busy times, walking to an empty check-in area during the IT meltdown this year and wondering what all the fuss (and 3hr queues!) was about, wandering to the front of the queue a couple of weeks ago at Lisbon during the snow and being put on a flight home...

Thanks, BA.