I wonder if the specific route you refer to actually contributes to the sentiment you report from your conversations? I've done LGW-IAH a fair few times in J and IMHO never has the word 'Club' been more apt.

It seems that almost everyone in the cabin knows each other, or at least knows someone who knows someone. Most folks have worked for or on behalf of each others' companies at one time or another and the outbound day flight is full of black gold chatter. Never have privacy screens been more redundant!

The lack of abundant competition on the route means that when that 'Club' transfers to the hotel lobby, or the bar, or the syndicate room, albeit with a rotating make-up, there's a lot of shared experience. And, as always, the low points and disasters are recalled with far more regularity and enthusiasm.

Imagine a group of 20 people discussing their 100 visits to the same Waitrose, stays at one particular Four Seasons etc., etc. You can almost guarantee that the mood will ultimately err towards the poor experiences they'll inevitably have had, no matter how infrequent, because they are shared experiences. The sharing multiplies the gravity, it would seem.

Imagine also, that a bunch of those people are not native to the brand's home, and inexplicably refer to the supermarket at 'Wait' or the hotel as 'Four'. Imagine also that they are used neither to staff at the supermarket nor the hotel being under the age of 114 and having any other hairstyle than SubNuclearBouffant. And imagine that, once or twice, they have received or witnessed a 'hairbrushing'. And, horror of horror, imagine that they have AActually had to fly in the cabin they were actually booked in - even though it's better than anything they've otherwise been op-upped into.......

So, and only from my own experience, I would say that BA probably aren't worrying too greatly about these kind of conversations - at least not until Continental start domestic LGW-ABZ services to connect conveniently with their TATLs, or they start a day flight inbound to the UK so that no-one ever stops talking and wants to sleep flatly!