Hmm I’m obviously “sad” as most of you are with these changes. Being based in Europe and doing a bunch of flying to Asia /US I might still seek to keep my OWE — as I value it a bit - so will be an interesting process to see which is my better alternative to BA (QR?)

I don’t think like most of you that the problem is the revenue based system but rather the thresholds for an audience that isn’t the same (in many ways) as the US (purchase power, credit card use etc). If the goal was to reduce the number of elites there were a few ways to do this that would be… less disruptive. So I think it comes down to them thinking the loyalty crowd isn’t all that relevant to filling paid J/F seats. An interesting bet.

As general commentary I see very little reference/comparison with DL Program changes recently. I’ve no doubt BA ran the numbers on this, and I can even understand how “a bad quality product” won’t matter much when the alternatives on key routes (ie to US) aren’t that much better. Schedule/etc will still be the main factor. That said, and back to the DL comparison they did roll back the changes to some extent (even if so slightly) even though they arguably have a better product - so although airlines do the math the math isn’t always well done. There’s unaccounted factors, brand impact, diminished incremental revenue etc that is hard to model properly.

Would not be surprised to see BA roll some of it back - but the timing will be more interesting. If they don’t partially walk back “soon” and wait for the numbers I think it will take a while to fully manifest because of travel already booked, people not realising changes immediately and essentially 2025 being locked in for most people at Gold/Silver and them thinking they might as well continue to enjoy the benefits. The feedback loop IMO will come a bit too late if indeed it is negative. But hey… I’m not paid to be an airline exec so they might know it better.

In the meantime will get burning my fair stash of avios.