HSaxa

Tangential to the main conversation... now that DC is marked for extinction, where should I post miles from premium (C or F) *A travel? AC? Thanks!

kt74

Errr, I *was* a frequent flyer of bmi. But then the current and previous CEOs in their wisdom decided to cut flights and frequencies to DUB, LBA, GLA, JER, AMS, BRU, CDG, MAD, all of which I travel to on a reasonably regular basis, predominantly on business and by air (and, indeed, by bmi) out of preference. Tblisi, Freetown, Tehran, Baku and Khartoum, funnily enough, not on that list - who would have thunk it?

Therefore I now have no choice but maintain my BD*G through predominantly flying other *A airlines, which is out of company policy, and therefore 90% out of my own pocket (and we are talking long haul paid business class here, not cheapie economy tickets to the US, thanks very much)

I couldn't have put it better myself ^

Let's be frank here. If we are forced to migrate to M&M on significantly inferior terms, then ALL of my *A spending will be migrated to a combination of OW (since I live in London, and BA is corporate preferred anyway) and one of the Big 3 Gulf carriers for my East-West paid business class travel

And I can't be the only soon-to-be-ex bmi loyalist in this boat

HPN-HRL

Another 100% self-funded BD*G here - the occasional CRTW and much cheap Y tickets

I would love to use LAS-MAN or ORD-MAN, if they were still flying. I hope BD is making some $(£) off my C&M redemptions. Once DC expires, I will have to decide whether to keep chasing *Gold status (probably with AC - I only occasionally pay for F/C and my Y flights tend to be on cheap tickets, so M&M is almost certainly not the program for me) or to just greatly reduce my *A flying. But again, if BD isn't making £ off of me I can't blame them for not wanting to keep DC the way it is.

My only question is whether M&M can compete with BAEC - I can see droves of BD flyers moving to BA once DC is gone.

netd

For the record 100% self funded here too. I would argue that we are a much larger group than anyone realises. Why? 1. As companies tend to book premium tickets, many business fliers never see the real benefit of status, they can use the lounges and priority queues anyway. I'm amazed how many I come across who don't join or use any FF scheme. 2. When flying for business many companies have tie ups with particular alliances or airlines that restrict who you can fly with, this may not be an airline of your choice.

I choose *A and BMI in particular because I like (liked? ) the product and the company. I've spent well over the odds to fly BD (and *A by extension) over the years when I could have flown much much cheaper in many cases.

This pretty much sums it up for me.

IMH

Given that the Gulf airlines' expansion is a real threat to LH/*A on one set of routes, and BA/QF/CX are long standing, generally high quality competitors on another set, this is the kind of customer migration they're going to want to avoid.

Mrs IMH and I are small fry, non-corporate fliers who pay our own way. Two or three TATL a year in C (typically one redemption and one or two in paid Z), one or two other long haul trips (TPAC or Europe-Asia) and a couple of dozen short hauls within W. Europe or the US. Overall, the airlines make money out of us.

We'll be able to adapt to and benefit from M&M: we typically travel together, so we can take advantage of SEN companion redemptions, and it should be reasonably easy to alternate between qualifying years, with plenty of paid travel, and years in which we ease off a little and redeem some miles.

But there's no doubt that the process of adapting will be easier, and the willingness to do it greater, if we don't start off with LH treating us like freeloaders.

LH can presumably crunch the numbers and look at the spending and travel patterns of 'matched' SN status members. I'm guessing that it will have paid off for LH in enough cases to have been worthwhile.

EsherFlyer

Please correct me if I get this wrong somewhere...

My DC *G expires in May 2011, and I'm not very likely to requalify for DC Gold this year.

I think there is a fair chance that that M+M migration 'magic date' will fall before May and hopefully I'll get a M+M *G.

If the date is post-May then I'd get a M+M *S and access to all the M+M lounges when flying with the LH group (which seems like quite a decent *S benefit when flying in Europe for instance). ^

So one way or another I'll popbably have M+M status until 2012.

AIUI (I've lost track of what the guinea pigs are experiencing here as things trickle through) DC status miles either won't transfer to M+M, or won't be worth as much in terms of getting close to status, so any 'half earned' DC status will be wasted.

So it would seem to make sense to start collecting towards status on another programme for the next year or so, and perhaps review that once moved over to M+M to see about retaining M+M status. @:-)

Since I typically only reach Silver qualifying it ought to be an airline that I have a fighting chance of actually flying with from the UK (so I can make use of the 'home' lounge access benefit where provided). For me that would be a TATL carrier, but the NA carriers don't seem to give lounge access at Silver level.

So in the end although the status miles may be wasted I may as well keep crediting to DC for the destination miles credit.

TheKipper

Nick. Interesting point. I think bmi see that as a white elephant. With some legitimacy they could say that BA aren't interested in competing with them on domestic point to point. BA are notoriously expensive on some routes so bmi will also always guarantee fair market share of connections and also unique niche routes to the oil countries. Also Easyjet aren't treading the same footprint. Either within the London market or in the regions. bmi have carved a regional niche and a good proportion of the london to scotland market. Why would this change under a changed FF scheme which is no worse than BA.

Flymaybe are the only ones who are competing regionally and they know how to charge as well as bmi do!


However, I did wonder if we could as a group prompt BA to make a tempting offer for DC customers to transfer which may also increase our chances of a better outcome with bmi.

MichielR

My guess is that it will be Feb 2013, i.e. you will have calendar year 2012 to requalify as per the current 'test' migration. If it is late in 2011 then it might even be Feb 2014, as per the SN precedent, although in your case that would not be helpful as you would have lost your Gold by then.

So if you're lucky, SEN until Feb 2013 and then perhaps soft landing to FTL until Feb 2015. If you're not so lucky FTL until Feb 2014 or even worse only to 2013.

This is really dependent on your travel patterns. If you're unlikely to renew DC Gold in your current year or reach any other gold, then you should consider whether to move to the airline you are most likely to fly if you will be able to at least achieve Silver on their program. If not, why not stick with DC and maybe they run some promos and you will requalify after all.

I was 250 miles short of Gold with SN and my Gold would have expired 2 weeks before the move to M&M but SN gave me a Gold renewal for those 2 weeks and subsequently FTL anyway.

MichielR

Feb 2012 and Feb 2012 as per M&M of course. Not aware of any myself but yes, this was part of the deal in theory.

What was nice about the SN match was that it took place in October and whereas they said they'd give 2 years of status (Oct-Oct), due to tiers expiring in Feb with M&M everyone received these extra 4 months.

johnboyle007

I have quickly scrolled through the thread relating to the closure of DC in Netherlands etc and could not see an answer

What have been the terms of transfer there for people ? Were miles transferred one for one or at a premium, was status matched , how were status poinst transferred

This would give a guide as to what the rest of DC members could expect I guess ?

FlyingOnceMore

With all the comments/opinions on who/how BD*G is earned and their worth to bmi, it needs pointing out that while Diamond Club might be generous in Flex Y/C/F on bmi and Star Alliance partners, you must also look, and it's been said before, at the large number of oft forgotten members who are, or possibly were, very frequent domestic flyers, that do contribute to the bottom line, and would still struggle to attain Gold every year solely with bmi. Many have to travel on the cheapest ticket available at time of purchase and can't count on 1200 miles each way for Flex Y/C.

The 300 status miles each way these tickets earn are not just 'once in a blue moon' £60 (mostly taxes) return tickets; short notice they can easily cost £200-250. One of those every week doesn't come close to securing you Gold; you'd still be 6800 status miles short after your 104 bmi sectors.

That's been a long time unplugged 'loyalty hole' in the program where loyal pounds given doesn't equate to loyal rewards received from bmi. I realise holes like this exist in most FFP's but, no matter the miles earned, 100+ sectors a year credited to any carriers FFP should be recognised appropriately.

TheKipper

FOM - Certainly understand that point. I only do so well as I fly bmi Regional most of the time out of LBA and therefore get mugged for nearly £350 per wk. This ensures I get a healthy rtn on status. The concept of cheap flights doesn't exist in bmiR.

However, my few jaunts from MAN and GLA to LHR have been far less rewarding.

DownUnderFlyer

I don't think there will be a mass exodus to BAEC because of this change. BAEC is not a great program unless you really fly BA a lot so I don't think the people who have chosen BD DC for some of its features won't feel that BAEC is giving them more of what they liked about DC.

HIDDY

For regular UK based flyers BA would be the sensible choice to put their business. The option of upgrading with miles is a bargain, one way redemptions as well as the AMEX 2-1 offer. Not forgetting the miles earning potential of shopping at Tesco.
I'm no M&M expert but I would have thought that the BAEC is a far better option for them.
I suspect the many DC members based outside of the UK and Europe who never even flew with BD will disappear altogether after their status match with M&M expires.....they are of no real concern to anyone.

FlyingOnceMore

I'm sure some UK based flyers would like to be in a position to have that option.