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Changes coming to the Executive Club: Q&A thread

Changes coming to the Executive Club: Q&A thread

Old Sep 3, 2011, 6:36 pm
  #61  
 
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Originally Posted by ocdb8r
curious if we'll still be able to stopover on the most direct route (for BA awards as well as partner awards).
The new terms & conditions have been posted, and this is still in there. Doesn't look like this changes with the new program.
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Old Sep 3, 2011, 6:41 pm
  #62  
 
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So, did i read correctly that golds no longer have to pay surcharges / taxes etc for redemptions? If so, that's a nice perk for Golds. Not that I will ever reach gold!
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 2:38 am
  #63  
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Originally Posted by mdj1
So, did i read correctly that golds no longer have to pay surcharges / taxes etc for redemptions? If so, that's a nice perk for Golds. Not that I will ever reach gold!
No you don't, we're only exempt from the new change fee.
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 5:12 am
  #64  
 
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Award buckets

Q. From my limited understanding of the Airmiles scheme, you could sometimes (always?) get a revenue ticket for your redemption, but with BAEC you were limited to where Award seats classes were available. Does this change with Avios? Do we all share the same award ticket buckets or do Avios ex Airmiles continue to have access to revenue seats for thier redemptions and v.v.?
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 5:46 am
  #65  
 
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Online mixed class bookings

From the new scheme, ideally would like to be able to do more online redemptions such as:

- ability to book mixed class
- ability to be able to fly into one city/depart from different
- ability to purchase additional flights to be added onto redepmption booking (BA and oneworld)
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 6:06 am
  #66  
Company Representative - British Airways
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Posts: 834
American Express Companion Voucher
Question:
With the effective merger of the Iberia/BA/Airmiles schemes will Amex 241 vouchers be extended to Iberia metal as well as BA?
Answer:
No. Amex 241 vouchers will continue be redeemable on BA metal only. Good idea though!


Avios & Money (formerly Part Cash Part Miles)
Question:
Will there be any changes to part cash, part miles - either widening options (with other partners) or reducing them?

We will continue to offer multiple price points for Part Cash Part Miles (will be renamed as Avios & Money) and continue add this for partners if/when we get their agreement to do so


BA.com functionality
Question:
From the new scheme, ideally would like to be able to do more online redemptions such as:
- ability to book mixed class
- ability to be able to fly into one city/depart from different
- ability to purchase additional flights to be added onto redemption booking (BA and oneworld)
Points 1 and 2 I agree with and we will continue to develop ba.com after launch to try and make booking reward easier online. The last point I'm not sure if I understand this - you cannot add flight sectors to a booking when it has been ticketed - is this what you were asking? If not please do let me know and I will review again for you

Communication
Question:
Will there be an official statement to say when the new redemption fares have been loaded to BA.COM?
Answer:
Yes we will let you know - we have provided some key examples on ba.com to help with initial queries


Partner redemptions
Question:
Will partner awards (in other regions) be affected?
Answer:
They will be affected in the sense that we are changing the way we price rewards - more details to follow soon


Question:
Are you able to provide examples of redemption rates for routes to the Far East, South America, Australia etc originating from North America?
Answer:
Not currently - sorry - we will follow up with this ASAP


Question:
Do we have any indication that OpenSkies will be adjusting their award rates too?
No


Reward Flight Saver
Question:
For the reward flight saver the airmiles site says that there will need to have been activity in the previous 12 months. Will the same apply for BAEC, and if so will it have to be activity for each member of a household account, or for the total household account (as with airmiles)?
Answer:
Yes each individual member will have had to have earned 1 Avios 12 months prior to redeeming


Question:
Also will these allow cross London connections eg (NCL - LHR LGW-XXX) as there is no NCL-LGW shuttle (or even better can we use Flybe to LGW???)?
Answer:
Yes wholly domestic connections will be included so this includes LCY, LGW and LHR in the example you have provided (ie GLA-LCY etc)


Question:
these are only available to those members who have earned/spent one point in the past 12 months (active members). For other members what are the awards and prices? The current table lists reward flight saver for zones 1..9 (not just zones 1-3), so are zones 4-9 the same for normal and reward flight saver.
Answer:
Zones 1-3 (flights on BA/IB metal which are up to 2000 miles in distance) are eligible for Reward Flight Saver if you have earned 1 BA Mile/Avios prior to redeeming. For bands 4 and above and those that have not earned 1 BA Mile/Avios prior to redeeming the usual taxes, fees and charges that apply will be payable by the member


Question:
for active members will there be a choice when booking between normal and reward flight saver. Aill availability be the same for both types of award. And what is the difference between reward flight saver and normal rewards for zones 4-9 since the price is plus fees/taxes/surcharges.
Answer:
I think the answer to the above question answers this but no, if you have earned 1 Avios/1 BA Miles the Reward Flight Saver product automatically applies


Question:
The Reward Flight Saver examples given by BA to-date refer exclusively to "Euro Traveller" cabins. Will this include Domestic cabins too - i.e. for use LHR - GLA and the like? This would be a major benefit if so. Thank you
Answer:
Wholly domestic connections on both BA and IB metal will be included in both the Avios and Reward Flight Saver price ie EDI-LHR-CDG-LHR-EDI will cost 9000 Avios and £27 in cash. (If the LHR-CDG-LHR sectors are Club Europe it will cost £34). Yes wholly domestic flights are eligible for reward flight saver


Question:
Aside from the eligibility criteria and reduced taxes, are there any other differences between a standard priced award and a Reward Flight Saver? Is a RFS a more restricted ticket in any way?
Answer:
Reward Flight Saver bookings will carry the same flexibility as all reward bookings. That means the date and time can be changed up to 24 hours before departure and you can cancel (the whole itinerary) and receive a refund - a service fee will apply for all changes and cancellations unless you are a Gold member


Question:
If I make a change in, say, December to a redemption made today, will I be bound by the new T&Cs or the current ones?
Answer:
Reward bookings made prior to the launch of all the changes will be subject to the terms and conditions at the time of booking. So in your example today's rules will apply


Question:
Aside from the eligibility criteria and reduced taxes, are there any other differences between a standard priced award and a Reward Flight Saver? Is a RFS a more restricted ticket in any way?
Answer:
Reward Flight Saver bookings will carry the same flexibility as all reward bookings. That means the date and time can be changed up to 24 hours before departure and you can cancel (the whole itinerary) and receive a refund - a service fee will apply for all changes and cancellations unless you are a Gold member


Question:
If I make a change in, say, December to a redemption made today, will I be bound by the new T&Cs or the current ones?
Answer:
Reward bookings made prior to the launch of all the changes will be subject to the terms and conditions at the time of booking. So in your example today's rules will apply


Standard redemption conditions
Question:
Will fuel surcharges become distance based? Right now, Denver-Capetown RT has double the fuel surcharge as London-Sydney RT even though the RT mileage is within a two hundred miles of each other. (assumes both are purchased in the same country; and uses great circle mapper for DEN/LHR/CPT and LHR/SYD).
No - there are no changes to the way we collect fuel surcharge except for Reward Flight Saver bookings where we will pay this and all other taxes and fees and the member will pay a standard flat cash price (£27 for Euro Traveller/economy on IB and £34 for Club Europe/Business)


Question:
Will the fuel surcharges for tickets purchased in the US be the same (after accounting for exchange rates) as those purchased in the UK? Right now, long-haul more than 9 hours is 24% more in $ than in pounds ($285 vs. 145 pounds, with today's fx rate being 1.622).

We will continue to collect fsc (where it applies) as we do today
Question:
Any change to the current rules on stopovers for awards? Unsure if this will change given the move to "sector" based upgrades, but overall curious if we'll still be able to stopover on the most direct route (for BA awards as well as partner awards).
You will still be able to stopover as you do today

Question:
From my limited understanding of the Airmiles scheme, you could sometimes (always?) get a revenue ticket for your redemption, but with BAEC you were limited to where Award seats classes were available. Does this change with Avios? Do we all share the same award ticket buckets or do Avios ex Airmiles continue to have access to revenue seats for thier redemptions and v.v.?
There are no changes planned for the way we release reward space

I can only answer questions related to the announcements so far so I'm afraid the following questions I can't answer some of these at the moment
Tier structure, Tier benefits and Tier Point accrual
Question:
Will the Tier Points remain the same? As in collecting the same number as now per flight and getting the same number to get to silver/gold etc?


Question:
Are there any tier related changes ie. changed Silver/Gold benefits, any new tier, changed tier point requirements?


Question:
Will there be any (positive or negative) change to the thresholds used to qualify for each tier?


Question:
Will there be any (positive or negative) change to the benefits associated with either membership tier?


Question:
Any idea what harmonization, if any, will take place for BAEC earnings for IB flights? The situation at present is:

Business class cabin bonus is 25% (vs. 50% on BA flights).
Tier bonus is 50% SCH / 75% GCH, and this only for flights to/from N. America, Puerto Rico & Mexico -- otherwise it is zero (vs. 100% on all BA flights).
The great news is that you will accrue on IB at exactly the same rate as on BA!

Question:
A similar question pertains to the cabin bonuses for AA flights (50% for F, 25% for Business vs. 100%/50% respectively for BA).
There are no changes to the accrual rates on AA.


Transferring miles/points between BAEC, Air Miles and IB Plus accounts
Question:
I have a stash of Iberia Plus points can I transfer them into my BAEC account?
If allowed what will the transfer rate be Nicci? 1 IB Plus point would seem to be worth more than 1 BAEC mile.
Answer:
When your IB Plus Points have been transferred to Avios you can transfer some or all of these to your Executive Club account at the total Avios value they will become after the transition or vice versa - look out for your email from our Iberia colleagues for information on the changes to Avios


Upgrade using Avios
Question:
Will the mileage required for UUA be calculated using the same formula as the mileage required for MFU? Namely: mileage required for MFU = mileage required for straight redemption in higher cabin - mileage required for straight redemption in cabin paid for.
Answer:
Yes but using the new reward pricing


Question:
Will the new conditions relating to UUA apply to tickets booked and partially upgraded prior to relaunch day. Example:
Let's say I make a booking today; WTP, CPH-LHR/LHR-MIA, for travel in February. No availability now so not possible to MFU to CW. But what if availability opens up in February, can I then MFU only LHR-MIA for 25k OR do I still have follow the old rules and MFU the entire journey, and if so will it still cost 30k OR will it cost 25k for LHR-MIA + 9k for CPH-LHR ?
No you can upgrade some or all of your journey if it is available and you will pay on a sector basis

Question:
Will it be possible use UUA to upgrade tickets not booked through a BA sales channel?
Answer:
MFU for indirect bookings, ie those not made directly with BA is a separate project which we know is important to you - that makes it important to us. I accept it may not seem that way given the delay but we will be reviewing this again in the not too distant future. With regards to upgrading a ticket in a different country to the one booked, this has additional complexity in terms of payment which I need to think about separately.


Question:
Suppose I book LHR-NYC MFU from WTP to CW today for, say, February after the change has taken effect. The cost is 25k BA miles. Then suppose that I make a change in December on one leg only. The price at the time is 20k Avios. Will the price in effect at the time of the new ticketing take effect? i.e. will I get a refund of 5k Avios?


No we will not be refunding or collecting additional reward prices for bookings made prior to launch
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 6:37 am
  #67  
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Originally Posted by BA Executive Club
American Express Companion Voucher
Question:
With the effective merger of the Iberia/BA/Airmiles schemes will Amex 241 vouchers be extended to Iberia metal as well as BA?
Answer:
No. Amex 241 vouchers will continue be redeemable on BA metal only. Good idea though!

[...]

Question:
Suppose I book LHR-NYC MFU from WTP to CW today for, say, February after the change has taken effect. The cost is 25k BA miles. Then suppose that I make a change in December on one leg only. The price at the time is 20k Avios. Will the price in effect at the time of the new ticketing take effect? i.e. will I get a refund of 5k Avios?


No we will not be refunding or collecting additional reward prices for bookings made prior to launch
Hi Nicci, very many thanks for all these clarifications both in and in between the lines! I think I have only two more questions, and they are purely about 'procedure' for the next few weeks: Apparently the IB people have been promised a new update on 27 September for their programme (if I understood correctly). Do we also have an expected date (exact or approximate) for the next news release (with all the obvious disclaimers about things not being set in stone and dates being subject to changing) or could it be any time between now and November. Also, are we expecting all the remaining key news about programme changes to come in one installment or will they be progressively released in further batches?

I'll finish on a personal promise - I won't bother you with any more questions between now and the end of the break which I hope you'll very much enjoy! thanks!

Last edited by orbitmic; Sep 4, 2011 at 6:50 am
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 8:06 am
  #68  
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Thanks for the clarifications (including the clarification that we'll have to wait for news on tier points, qualifying thresholds, membership levels and benefits).

Are you able to add a "yes", "no" or "no comment yet" to the question of whether BAEC's current membership year system will be kept?
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 8:12 am
  #69  
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Can I just say how utterly amazing I find it that Nicci and her staff are taking the time to be so informative and helpful in this increasingly hostile environment towards BA. Chapeau! ^^ I still find it surprising how important this site apparently is to BA.

Now the dust has settled it becomes obvious that although the SH redemptions intra-EU are much more attractive the LH redemptions become a lot more expensive for especially the members living in Band 1/2 countries. Now I don't get on my high horse about devaluations (it happens) but it would be nice if we (non-UK EU members) got the opportunity to earn miles (sorry Avios) with a good credit card. Maybe it is more a suggestion than a question but is BA planning to expand the credit card cooperations beyond the UK and US as part of the revamping of the EC?

PS: Diners Club is not really an interesting option. Visa or MC would be best.

Second question:

BA lowered LHR-HKG to 60.000 one way in J. Since 1 partner awards are supposedly the same as BA what does this mean for the pricing of direct flights like AMS (or HEL)-HKG on CX (AY)? Will this also be lowered to 60K or is the 60K exclusive to the LHR departures? The latter would obviously be another disappointment to EU based members.

Last edited by henkybaby; Sep 4, 2011 at 8:23 am
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 9:01 am
  #70  
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Originally Posted by henkybaby
Can I just say how utterly amazing I find it that Nicci and her staff are taking the time to be so informative and helpful in this increasingly hostile environment towards BA. Chapeau! ^^ I still find it surprising how important this site apparently is to BA.
I completely agree. ^

it would be nice if we (non-UK EU members) got the opportunity to earn miles (sorry Avios) with a good credit card. Maybe it is more a suggestion than a question but is BA planning to expand the credit card cooperations beyond the UK and US as part of the revamping of the EC?

PS: Diners Club is not really an interesting option. Visa or MC would be best.
I also agree, but if it was a BA Amex, I would probably cancel my AF/KL Amex and switch to BA.

BA lowered LHR-HKG to 60.000 one way in J. Since 1 partner awards are supposedly the same as BA what does this mean for the pricing of direct flights like AMS (or HEL)-HKG on CX (AY)? Will this also be lowered to 60K or is the 60K exclusive to the LHR departures? The latter would obviously be another disappointment to EU based members.
3 times we agree! CDG-HKG on CX would be nice.
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 9:04 am
  #71  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
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Originally Posted by henkybaby
it would be nice if we (non-UK EU members) got the opportunity to earn miles (sorry Avios) with a good credit card. Maybe it is more a suggestion than a question but is BA planning to expand the credit card cooperations beyond the UK and US as part of the revamping of the EC?

PS: Diners Club is not really an interesting option. Visa or MC would be best.

Second question:
.
there is already

VISA
Germany
Sweden

AMEX
Russia


DINERS
Switzerland
Belgium
Netherlands
Luxemburg


and there's also Iberia MC
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 9:06 am
  #72  
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Sorry guys I can't answer any questions on membership or when we are releasing further comms but I will do my usual and post here first if possible
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 9:09 am
  #73  
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Originally Posted by Hannibal Lecter
there is already

VISA
Germany
Sweden

AMEX
Russia


DINERS
Switzerland
Belgium
Netherlands
Luxemburg
I can get a credit card in France or the Netherlands. But Diners is mostly useless as a charge card.
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 9:47 am
  #74  
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Originally Posted by BA Executive Club
Sorry guys I can't answer any questions on membership or when we are releasing further comms but I will do my usual and post here first if possible
Thanks for being straight with us. Now: power down your computer and enjoy the weekend!
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Old Sep 4, 2011, 10:13 am
  #75  
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Originally Posted by stimpy
I can get a credit card in France or the Netherlands. But Diners is mostly useless as a charge card.
That was indeed sort of my point....
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