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A pretty accurate summary from the pointsguy

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A pretty accurate summary from the pointsguy

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Old Nov 17, 2011, 1:15 pm
  #31  
 
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Originally Posted by Cap'n Benj
Originally Posted by bernardd
Actually it was you who wrote "should be looking after it's own countrymen first and foremost". I agree BA is domiciled in the EU (I'm not sure it's even strictly "England & Wales" these days?), and AA is definitely in the US, but the point we're disagreeing over is whether is should favour it's own countrymen to the detriment of others.
They should do whatever makes their shareholders most money, as I suspect these changes BA have made will, otherwise we'll see a quick swing back
Indeed anyone who thinks BA sat there and thought, "you know we really should take better care of our countrymen" is a bit off. They made changes that would best take care of BA's bottom line (and that's understandable). Even UK folks aren't unaffected by avios if they want to fly beyond BAs direct routes.

The one thing most worrying to me is that certain routes aren't priced strictly on distance as some have pointed out. The Iberia chart has a note that some routes may differ based on market conditions or something to that effect. This opens the door to funny business on the airline's part in the future
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 1:18 pm
  #32  
 
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Originally Posted by 84fiero
Indeed anyone who thinks BA sat there and thought, "you know we really should take better care of our countrymen" is a bit off. They made changes that would best take care of BA's bottom line (and that's understandable). e
^
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 1:36 pm
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by sunrisegirl
Why sickening? Why should people who are pleased with the changes be expected to complain about them just because others in another country are unhappy?

BA is a British company and I agree that they should be looking after it's own countrymen first and foremost.

At least that would be an improvement on what the government currently does.
And this is a United States based web forum and by that logic, the opinion of the US members are the ones that count
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 1:38 pm
  #34  
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Originally Posted by Cap'n Benj
Out of interest what do AA charge flying from say MUC-DXB?
20,000 AAdvantage miles, one way in Coach, from the Europe zone to the Middle East/Indian sub-continent zone, provided that the inter-zone carrier has a published fare from origin to destination.
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 1:39 pm
  #35  
 
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Originally Posted by GBM.flights
The value point of view I agree with you but,
If there is no award chart and you need a calculator doesn't that imply more confusion and less clarity as a starting point? Fair point IMO

GBM
Certainly not more confusing than BAs own communications. All the fault for confustion lies with BA.

For me and those I advise on award travel, it's an accurate summary
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 1:53 pm
  #36  
 
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Originally Posted by Cap'n Benj
Originally Posted by bernardd
Actually it was you who wrote "should be looking after it's own countrymen first and foremost". I agree BA is domiciled in the EU (I'm not sure it's even strictly "England & Wales" these days?), and AA is definitely in the US, but the point we're disagreeing over is whether is should favour it's own countrymen to the detriment of others.
They should do whatever makes their shareholders most money, as I suspect these changes BA have made will, otherwise we'll see a quick swing back
Indeed anyone who thinks BA sat there and thought, "you know we really should take better care of our countrymen" is a bit off. They made changes that would best take care of BA's bottom line (and that's understandable). Even UK folks aren't unaffected by avios if they want to fly beyond BAs direct routes.

The one thing most worrying to me is that certain routes aren't priced strictly on distance as some have pointed out. The Iberia chart has a note that some routes may differ based on market conditions or something to that effect. This opens the door to funny business on the airline's part in the future
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 2:02 pm
  #37  
 
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Originally Posted by guv1976
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20,000 AAdvantage miles, one way in Coach, from the Europe zone to the Middle East/Indian sub-continent zone, provided that the inter-zone carrier has a published fare from origin to destination.
So that would be 40,000 miles in J, MUC-LHR?? With minimal surcharges?

I so wish AA did decent upgrade rates and a 2-4-1, I would be over there tomorrow! I guess that's the whole point though, different programs appeal to different markets, otherwise they'd all be the same
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 2:04 pm
  #38  
 
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I'm a bit perplexed by sunrisegirl's view of BA, but I don't need to restate what others have said.

I know thepointsguy personally, though, and he's a VERY nice guy. I have found his blog posts informative, fun, interesting, and usually very much on the mark. Hundreds (probably thousands) have saved money from deal posts, or gained 1000's of miles from bonus programs. His experiences over the last few years, and his knowledge of the BA program in general (see Blog), certainly make him qualified to speak. This post about Avios was fairly on the mark, and his message about the exchange on FT was interesting.

The fact that he is an American posting about a negative impact for North Americans doesn't bother me - why should it? I'm an Australian who works in Canada but based in the US - and I like to travel to London. How should I feel?!? (rhetorical)
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 2:11 pm
  #39  
 
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Originally Posted by seanp7
I'm a bit perplexed by sunrisegirl's view of BA, but I don't need to restate what others have said.

I know thepointsguy personally, though, and he's a VERY nice guy. I have found his blog posts informative, fun, interesting, and usually very much on the mark. Hundreds (probably thousands) have saved money from deal posts, or gained 1000's of miles from bonus programs. His experiences over the last few years, and his knowledge of the BA program in general (see Blog), certainly make him qualified to speak. This post about Avios was fairly on the mark, and his message about the exchange on FT was interesting.

The fact that he is an American posting about a negative impact for North Americans doesn't bother me - why should it? I'm an Australian who works in Canada but based in the US - and I like to travel to London. How should I feel?!? (rhetorical)
Depends where your based in the US? Near a BA served airport in the North East, happy as Larry. Near a BA served airport outside of the new 20% off Zone, Non Plussed. Not near a BA served airport, a bit peeved.

Where is 'the points guy based' BTW?
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 2:21 pm
  #40  
 
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Hs post is obviously from the US perspective, and he makes clear that he is largely talking about the impact on US people. I assume the majority of his audience would be US based. So with that in mind it seems a good enough summary, particularly of the comms which could have been better.

Of course were themilesfellow to do a blog it would be entirely complementary! but that's not the point.
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 2:28 pm
  #41  
 
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Originally Posted by ColdWalker
Hs post is obviously from the US perspective, and he makes clear that he is largely talking about the impact on US people. I assume the majority of his audience would be US based. So with that in mind it seems a good enough summary, particularly of the comms which could have been better.

Of course were themilesfellow to do a blog it would be entirely complementary! but that's not the point.
Yup, having read it, its hard to argue with much of what he says.

The communication has been poor, compounded by the decision to give no proper notice. Tight timescales or not, they could have always planned to give a months notice once they were sorted
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 2:34 pm
  #42  
 
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does anyone know whether British Air will be able to take a gain from the change in their financial statements? I can only presume that the change to devalue has to result in a decrease in the liability it carries for these miles on the balance sheet.
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 2:40 pm
  #43  
 
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Originally Posted by beachfan
And this is a United States based web forum and by that logic, the opinion of the US members are the ones that count
As this is a web based forum with active members from around the world, everyones views count.

It is running on .com, which is an international TLD (now that the US has been told it does not run the world).

If you want a site that is limited to people in the US, set one up and IP block people. But don't be alarmed if the wealth of knowledge and intelligence takes a massive nose dive when compared with here.

If you don't care for the views of people not from the USA, please just ignore them as you see fit, but you might as well leave as there are a HECK of a lot of them here.

Personally, I found the POV you expressed there to be offensive and repugnant.

Last edited by David-A; Nov 17, 2011 at 2:46 pm
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 2:45 pm
  #44  
 
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Originally Posted by mkjr
does anyone know whether British Air will be able to take a gain from the change in their financial statements? I can only presume that the change to devalue has to result in a decrease in the liability it carries for these miles on the balance sheet.
I can't tell you about British Air, but I can tell you about British Airways (BA).

What devaluation are you talking about? There hasn't been one.

What there has been is an adjustment of the scheme, which has no doubt shut down some options for redemption (on partners) that were costing BA money.

I would expect these changes to improve the profitability of BAEC a bit, but I can't see any basis for adjusting the balance sheet liability of the miles. Since I think the redemptions that have changed were the ones costing MORE than the value set aside!
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Old Nov 17, 2011, 2:45 pm
  #45  
 
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Originally Posted by mkjr
does anyone know whether British Air will be able to take a gain from the change in their financial statements? I can only presume that the change to devalue has to result in a decrease in the liability it carries for these miles on the balance sheet.


Probably, as a few of us have said, they haven't made these changes to increase their liability! The fact that it sounds like they're not going to have to pay Cathay a load to fly folk around anymore can only benefit them. Im sure they'd rather people spent their miles on BA. This will now happen. They may sell less miles to Chase/ AMEX but they obviously assume not having to pay Cathay a load will cover this loss.
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