Originally Posted by
alexwuk
I've made the (unpopular) point in the status extensions thread that this level of congestion is a natural and (IMHO) unnecessary consequence of extending Gold & GGL to 2023 for passengers who last booked significant revenue to BA back in 2019.
Essentially it gives passengers giving BA significant revenue in 2022 a less good experience at the margin for the benefit of many whose flying pattern is no longer going to be particularly commercially lucrative for BA.
If they didn't extend they risked people trying other airlines and liking them. It was a very difficult problem with no correct answer as I see it. BAEC definitely keep me coming back to BA, well AA long haul, if they hadn't extended me I'd have been looking at VS/DL/UA. The problem with the BA experience is not the numbers in the lounge, it's the substandard experience around long haul on-board service, cancellations, flight delays, baggage delays and airport security issues, some of which are issues for all airlines.