JALlover

How come? I thought they enforce their rule quite strictly

LTN Phobia

Ha ha, no... The thing is, BA, unlike QF, have not managed to completely and utterly annoy me. Sure, they have caused me some minor annoyances, but not much. QF annoyed me big time on a number of occasions. So, I basically "used" QF's system to my advantage and as soon as I gained it, I left.

But to what "advantage" I do not know. I get everything I get from QF LTG and more, from BA Gold. However I suppose I liked the idea that when I am 97 years old and only fly once a year I could still have more luggage than my body weight and not pay extra for excess baggage. That is, if QF still exist.

Maybe EK status is actually the best benefit of my QF LTG, but this was not planned, and neither am I particularly planning to fly EK.

In any case I'm against lifetime BA Gold. It should definitely go no further than lifetime BA Silver.

As for the lifetime status based on continuous years of a certain tier - I firmly believe it should only ever be based on one's own earned TPs. Why should my husband, should I choose to gift him the BA Gold, be earning lifetime BA status without having attained a status himself? No, I see no reason for that at all.

I also don't see any reason why it should be OW-wide. Why should BA be paying potentially for life for AA Admirals Club access for someone who earns most BAEC TPs from flying AA?

If I could suggest something to BA, it would be 20,000 lifetime TPs earned from BA flights and BA flights only, for BA lifetime Silver, if that, although I wouldn't even offer a lifetime status at all, in fact.

LTN Phobia

BA marketed flights qualify towards 4. So no, you do not need to be flying on BA aircraft (= BA metal).

sxc

I think I had read somewhere, that actually it's the operating airline that has to pay. So for example, if you are a BA Gold, flying a QF aircraft, and you use the CX lounge, then QF pays CX, as QF is the one getting the benefit of the loyalty this time.

fdem

I was going to raise the starwood point, i have been platinum for 10 plus years but during the last year or so we had decided that this is the last time we will try and keep the status as we are lucky enough to have 2 holiday homes and travel for leisure, then with a bit of luck we were awarded the Lifetime status - which i think is going to be in Starwood's interest as had we dropped down to gold I probably would not have considered returning to starwood properties as it would be a bit sad having been regally welcomed with a suite each time to just get a small upgrade, but now our loyalties will remain with starwood wherever possible and since gaining the status stay around 30 nights (32 last year) and they are all paid staysin high end properties as we transfer starpoints to BA or Virgin - having said that however the programme has been diluted with not just Lifetimes like myself but now status can be achieved much more easily, ie reward nights count as well as multiple bookings so we ll wait and see, but the same could be said for BA, as someone pointed out, if you choose not to be loyal to BA it is probably because the destinations do not suit as you have to use BA to get the benefits, and if you are not using the lounges well nobody loses. I do agree that the Lifetime should have conditions, such as only BA metal

Land-of-Miles

That is the case I think if lounge entry comes as a result of class of travel, e.g. CX F passenger using BA lounge. Status passenger costs accrue to the airline that issued the status, so a CX Diamond flyng AY in Y from T3 and using the BA Flounge would have the costs of lounge access paid to BA by CX not AY.

Obviously there is a margin here where a passenger could have their costs met either by status airline or operating airline (for J or F Passengers).

oscietra

Is there a timeline here, or is this all guff and bluster?

Swanhunter

Others have posted H1 2013. Certainly it was something being worked at the time of the Avios changes.

Jimmie76

Well Randolph Fields was the co founder of Virgin Atlantic and when Branson (no Knighthood back then) bought him out he offered him and his family free lifetime Upper Class travel as part of the deal. Branson then went back on that arrangement and Fields had to take him to court to get Branson to be forced to honour it. Not quite the same but gives you an early example. Read the Branson book by Tom Bower (which is a really good read) for the full story.

Oxon Flyer

You should have figured out by now that the length of a thread here in the BA forum is in inverse proportion to the amount of useful factual information it actually contains.

Paralytic

I think that's the longest sentence I have ever read on FT

AJLondon

Oh so true!

Jimmie76

You're learning fast about this board

Everest

Fixed.

kanderson1965

I reckon that WW should offer SRB the first lifetime gold, it will come in handy for him when he needs to get to places his own airline doesn't fly to (most of the world).