NickB

"No.1 Gatwick" lounge.

NickB

Hiddy: do you have actual knowledge of this or is this yet another of your assumptions?

I mean: it may well be that some employers have an "EZY-only" policy but I don't think that they are numerous and even less numerous among those who would have a "BA-only" policy for long-haul.

HIDDY

As do Thomson Holidays.

arcticfox

Are there really so many business travellers who can't find ways to work around their corporate policies? It doesn't bode well for entrepreneurial spirit...

arcticfox

Good point.
Wel made.

johan rebel

I sent BA the following:

""based on feedback we have received from Executive Club members, we have therefore taken the decision to withdraw Anytime Access from June 17 2011."

You are kidding, right? You certainly didn't ask me!

I travel often to JNB, and have a strong preference for BA on this route. A few years ago, you closed the JNB arrivals lounge, which was a great place to have a shower. Fortunately, this was rectified when the new domestic SLOW lounge opened, which is a fantastic facility, and suits me fine as I almost invariable have a domestic connection. Unfortunately, BA/Comair has a very limited network within SA, so I am forced to use other airlines. Anytime Access was therefore a great benefit.

Could you please explain how your "extensive airline partnerships and the considerable growth of oneworld" will be of any use to me in this situation?

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Johan Rebel"

I shall post their reply here.

Johan

HIDDY

You really are like a small terrier dog constantly biting my ankle.

If you don't agree with my opinions then that's okay by me. I do not have to justify everything I say by having to show you proof. Do you have proof that says I'm wrong?

NickB

No. I am just giving you the opportunity to show that you know what you are talking about rather than fleeting ideas that happen to cross your mind.

I am a GCH who occasionally fly EZY and the portrait that you paint is so far removed from my reality that I assume that you must have some kind of reason to think what you think.

If you don't, then that's fair enough. We will then know that what you are saying is based on nothing else than mere unsubstantiated opinion and we can then give it the credibility that it deserves.

I would not want you to sell yourself short and fail to show that there is actually more to what you are saying than you actually make out.

HIDDY

It's always a good idea not to show one's hand....

Schultzois

Well, that depends where one's hand has been

Sorry, couldn't resist.

stueys

Sweeping statement Hiddy, senior people chose who they fly with and large corporates have multiple agreements that are easy to manipulate. Personal choice is large factor IMHO.

For me its not so much the benefit itself that's irritating (I've never taken advantage of it), it's the demonstration of the low regard that BA hold their most loyal customers in. We've seen that tangibly demonstrated over the last few enhancements. They genuinely seem to have no desire to reward gold.

Combined with the dumbing down of club means that, frankly, I'm losing interest. My last 2 club flights with average service, poor food and wine mean that my trip to India in a couple of weeks has just been booked and it's not with BA. Running at over 3k tier points in 10 months so that's a reasonable amount of spend BA used to get by default that I'm now playing the Market with!!

I suspect I'm not alone.......

hfly

And has been adequately demonstrated that many never ever fly any LCC carrier.

Hiddy, you are so extremely UK and LGW-centric, that it is amazing to behold.

The reason I said to Tupelo what I said is simply because he could never have appreciated having such access, this is something which as demonstarated by many above, who may have only used it once a year, if ever, is that it is/was very much appreciated by GCH's and BA is playing with fire. It reminds me of those who pipe in on US forums ranting about why priority security lanes are unfair, yada yada, especially as they have no status and never pay premium prices.

moral-low-ground...............so now your glossing over your wrong and overly simplistic and ultimately irrelevent to the conversation earlier assertations and asking me really useless info. Yes, DL would in fact let you use the SkyClub if you were a member and flying BA, however perhaps you are not familiar with most major US airports, I stronngly doubt anyone would go back and forth from T7 to T1 at JFK, or inter-terminal at most US airports to do so, as it would be a huge waste of time, furthermore as the BA lounges are generally superior I cannot imagine anyone doing so with great regularity in the places where they might share the same terminal (Tampa??). As for why they should do it? perhpaas because they have for many many years, it has engendered loyalty from many pax and reinforces what a "good" carrier they were.

Lastly someone used a ridiculous example of someone from Belfast flying to SIN 4 RT's a year and then EZY, the rest. Well, I would challenge anyone to find me more than one example, but let's look at it. BA would see at least 24,000 GBP out of that, and would be paying what for that loyalty?? 40 Cokes? 40 Beers? A couple of glasses of wine each time? Some crisps? And that pax is now going to switch to SQ possibly and they lost that 24k??

Again, the only place that this could possibly be a problem is LGW, which in my case is an airport which I visit maybe once every 2-3 years? As do many GCH's. The solution is very simple.

Land-of-Miles

The solution to all of this is as depressing as it is inevitable and wasteful to BA. Whenever you want Open Doors Access book a flexible BA ticket then offload yourself or no-show prior to the flight. I don't think this is a terribly honourable thing to do but my discomfort is mostly offset by the fact that I consider BA to be a dishonourable company which largely does not give a stuff about it's customers.

The upside of course is CCR access for the more determined Domestic and International customers

Jimmie76

Have you been bitten on the hand by a terrier then?

ThatT1Feeling

Unfortunately it's worse than that.

BA spends a lot of money devising a scheme which pretty accurately identifies its very best customers, either by revenue or frequency of transaction with them. These customers are generally highly intelligent, well paid, dynamic and proactive people.

The database of BA Gold Card holders is seen by marketeers (or so I am reilably informed) as one of the holy grails of marketing databases in the UK (if BA were to sell the information, which thankfully they don't).

Therefore BA has devised a loyalty scheme of the brightest and best who, by definition, bring tens of thousands of pounds of revenue to the company every year.

Most organisations would bend over backwards to service this group in the best possible way they can. It's pure business sense to do so. They're your highest revenue earners by miles and by far the easiest group of people to keep loyal.

Whether the benefit of open doors is used frequently or not isn't really relevant. The cost can't possibly outweigh the benefit (both financial and goodwill) of keeping it. Added to this, removing the benefit by sending a crass, patronising email to people who will see straight though it just beggars belief. We would have appreciated it more if BA had been honest rather then trying to tell us it's something we asked for.

Being able to sit in a slightly bigger chair in the lounge or getting access to Row 1 on domestics is hardly enough incentive to channel £10k more of my spend to BA to get from 600 to 1500 points a year. I'll keep Silver but the death by 1000 cuts of Gold really baffles me and makes it no longer worthwhile for me. What makes me even more determined not to spend unnecessarily with BA any more is that it is clearly run by people who don't give a flying t*ss about their customers. I won't spend money with any business which patronises me in such a way.