Welcome to FT, billmc, and let me say I feel your pain. Your flying profile and mine are similar, as are our Executive Club experience.
BA's defenders will sniff that the program isn't actually designed for people like us anyway, so no worries if we leave. I contend that the program's terrible service profile must be damaging BA's image in every market segment.
Ten years ago I thought the world of this airline. The EC has done much to make me reassociate BA with frustration and incompetence -- more like the BA of the 1970s.