Originally Posted by
Sparth3103
What BA will start doing is first increasing the amount of TP you can earn with Amex - remember that they are brand new at that and don’t have much data other than their limited trial a few months ago. Next they’ll have TP bonuses for holiday bookings to try and entice people to book their leisure spend with them. It’ll still weed out the numbers a fair bit but will give people a chance to spend their money to gain a few more TP.
Agree, this will build up revenue for BA by selling more Avios to AMEX, which in turn, generates more swipe fees. My bet is BA/AMEX/Chase will follow a Delta like allow a credit card spend requirement to reach status; will help business accounts and their travelers.
Originally Posted by
orbitmic
Again, that's not a criticism or anything, it is just the basic nature of the decision that they have taken and many people within the organisation will be perfectly aware of that risk and equally aware that there is not much they can do about it. So in many ways, it may well be that the BA example will be of use to LH and AF, they will see how it affects BA's competitiveness in the medium term, but for BA itself, there is really no question about the fact that with all the data available, that remains, by nature, a largely blind gamble.
Loyalty program has always been a rebate program to generate future business. People use it for perceived value with such rebate program; people move on when that business no longer serves them well. Except, the rebate programs have been gamified.
Originally Posted by
TheJayHatch
I wonder to what degree the business case testing allowed for loyalty to disappear? After all, that was what BAEC was fundamentally about. But if my loyalty costs me or my business more, I would expect to see material improvements in the rewards and perks of loyalty. But I doubt this will come with a materially better soft product, so it’s just a good old fashioned BA enhancement. Time and the P&L will tell how successful it is.
Just look at the US carriers model, loyalty persists even with the grumbling when revenue based system first rolled out....BA will be no different in 6 months time, and this board will be back in full swing on all things BA. Sure, some people will deflect, but anyone who is schedule sensitive, and when BA offers the best schedule, they'll stay with BA. Most fliers are in the best schedule category anyways. Only on FT do people backtrack or take a longer route for a loyalty program, but once the value proposition changes for that individual, then the irrational behavior will cease. No different than when I switched from AA to BA, and now, back to AA.
Chose 3:
1. Price (to include loyalty program perks: lounge/baggage/etc).
2. Schedule.
3. Best premium product.