Originally Posted by
Dave Noble
I agree that it is not possible to identify whether the person is profitable to the airline, but definitely seems the airline is not wanting to target those who spend around GBP5000 for Gold Status.
( The OP did state "With corporate travel policy she will unlikely make silver (or maybe just with BAPP)" which would imply a spend of around GBP5000 to get 1500 - 2500TPs in current programme )
May well be profitable, but does that make the person one of the most valuable customers to the airline ?
The issue with BAEC/BAC is that the perks are so chunky.
Bronze: Business check-in (Free to BA), Seat selection at 7 days (Likely little lost revenue, as customers willing to spend money to select seats at booking likely wouldn't wait until T-7) - Not much added calue from a customer perspective
Silver: Seat Selection at booking, lounge access & extra baggage - There's significant value to customers for each of these, along with cost and lost revenue for BA
Gold: First class check-in & lounge access - While lounge access will come with cost, there are few First lounges, and your GCH is likely flying on full fat J/F fares anyway
This creates an imaginary line of worthiness, where from a customer value perspective you either get "all" of the perks you could want, or you get nothing. As someone who has had Silver status for many years and will drop through the tiers, Gold has never been a temptation. A nicer lounger or a marginally faster check-in isn't an incentive when your lived reality is between experiencing a pleasant if sometimes heaving lounge, or the scrum of sitting around Gatwick/Heathrow for a couple of hours - Gold status from the outside (And to be brutally honest, from a lot of threads on this forum) seems quite self-important
Maybe the answer is to unbundle Silver status. If your 2026 Bronze member is roughly equivalent to your 2024 Silver member, there's no harm in throwing them an extra bag even if only on LH to given them something of meaning