i wouldn't say so - to suggest that implies some of the people commenting are "guilty".

i don't tend to eat or drink to excess - i was there this morning for four hours during a connection (would have been less if i could have got on the 1040 to MAN but it was full) and had maybe 5/6 glasses of champagne and nothing to eat. that's certainly not untypical for me. i did some work for 2 hours, and then unexpectedly a friend turned up who was flying out so we caught up for the remainder of my time there. i know maybe 20-30 people who regularly fly thro T5 and pass thro the CCR - so for many bumping in to others is just serendipitous rather than being carefully planned so we can do champagne slammers all day - or whatever the kids get up to these days

tbh most of the flying buddies i know who i meet in there are similarly restrained and aren't staying all day on throwaway tickets filling their boots either. as i said, i don't recognise some of the people you describe. and some of it doesn't seem to make sense, like guesting in your whole family regularly. but that's not to say it isn't happening at the margins to some extent.

i think we often assume BA are more stupid then they are - and you can see why based on other things they do. but if there were people regularly bringing the family in every week for lunch on thowaway tickets, i think ba would notice and act.