FlyingOnceMore

Let me just fix that for you.....

For those of us who don't, moving to BA would make no difference whatsoever to our one-stop connection routine.

YorkieFlyer

Actually it's worse, I've quite got used to flying out of CDG/BRU and saving a wedge re APD

theozz

Are there any updates re BMI Baby?

A_Lee

Can someone tell me what is the policy for Avios points expiring? I really don't feel like digging through hundreds of posts on the BA board or BA's website to find that information if someone can easily post it here.

Then, if their expiration rules are different, I wonder whether they'll make any exceptions for BD miles that are transferred. I know any comments would be pure speculation. For those of us with some huge balances, it would quite annoying if they have a short life and no easy way to extend the life.

starflyergold

All forums have a handy search function, even the BAEC one

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...l#post17776182

A_Lee

Thanks for the link. Looks like I'll only need to burn points at least once every 36 months, and no need to earn any. Certainly cannot complain about that policy. I've been burning my BMI miles wherever practical, but I know I'm going to still have a huge balance whenever the sale is finalized.

teflon

Earning doesn't require flying - even a small purchase on the BA eStore which earns 1 Avios is enough to keep your entire balance alive.

tonymc

Apologies if this information is hiding within the thread, but I was trying to find out if there is yet a definitive date up to which bmi miles can be redeemed before they are transferred to BA/Avios?

We are hoping to book business class flights from MAN to SFO, returning from SAN for August 2013, but I guess if the merger continues and the bmi scheme is wrapped up before September this year, then we will be left with a much lesser choice of flights from Manchester with BA/AA

Many thanks.

colmc

No, there is no date yet as nothing has been finalised.

tonymc

Fingers crossed then it will rumble on into October, at least for my purposes!!

chunk73

I dare say this is true, and indeed I have a BAEC card also but there is a reason it has always been Blue. The costs of flying BA in Business from the ABZ to the destinations I need are stupid high compared to AF/KL, LH or even EK (+connection)! Unless BA try and compete for these passengers on a price basis then I cannot see the point of them being generous when taking over DC. BA will always have its passengers here, but they tend to be the ones where money is no object as they are often more than double the cost.

NickB

Only if the passenger flies BA/IB (or tatl on AA under the JV), hence why it makes sense to distinguish between genuine BD flyers and pure DC maximisers. Take the situation of a passenger who is USA-based and flies extensively within the Americas and to Asia but not at all to Europe. This passenger would have zero value for BA but a cost in terms of access to lounges when flying AA in the Americas or AA/CX on tpac itineraries.

The real question is really a numbers question: would there be enough people in this or similar situation for BA to bother putting in place restrictions on matching?

NWIFlyer

Except presumably the passenger would be generating revenue for BA through payment by the operating airline to BAEC. I've no idea whether that's enough on average to cover the lounge fees (I suspect so), but even if it isn't the difference must be so small that it's not worth BA's time to differentiate between passenger profiles.

BA is paying a fair chunk of money to buy BD, and will have enough issues to worry about during the integration without spending endless hours analysing what amounts to small change in comparison to the purchase price, let alone the distraction from the bigger picture of getting the extra slots to work for them as soon as possible. I can imagine there might be a different match for 55k DC'ers compared to 'normal' Gold, as that would be quick and easy to do, but I wouldn't expect anything more detailed than that.

Stormbel

tonymc

Don't forget that once the deal is done (expected end March 2012) bmi will immediately leave *A so the expectation is that you will only be able to redeem with codeshares, until ba put a stop to that!

Jetstreamer

Leave, yes. Immediately, remains to be seen and we have not heard anything about how long between completion and a BD exit from *A.