Crampedin13A

With the likes of LH,AC and UA seemingly trying their very best to cull their elites is there going to be a mass exodus to OW FFPs? Could put a strain on already tight award availability (especially TATL) but have to give credit to BAEC for actually improving the Avios program 2 years ago. Definitely is the best for me and that is quite telling considering I live in Canada which isn't exactly a OW stronghold.^

Glad I made the decision to concentrate strictly on BA and OW from Oct.9 on.

evanderm

I haven't paid much attention to the other European FFPs but I can say that I'm definitely glad I didn't stick with UA, DL, or move to AA when I moved across the pond. Of course we don't know what the New AA programme will look like if/when the merger happens but I bet there will be a sudden surge of elites considering you can buy your way into US's programme.

I can't say I liked everything about the change to Avios though. In my personal opinion, Bronze was a mistake. I don't like the segment based awards for purely selfish reasons but we're pretty lucky in YYZ that we can get to all of AA's major hubs non-stop.

I like the introduction of lifetime elite status, despite being very far off. Hopefully it will expand to silver but I don't quite see that happening. I hope the current tier bonuses remain untouched!

What I do still find poor, and this hasn't changed, are the earning rates with partner carriers. I can earn more Avios on a 6hr flight with BA than I can on a 16hr flight with CX. Oh well...

Cap'n Benj

I'd completely forgotten about the big 'Adios' toys out if pram fest. I wonder how many of those who knee jerked with rage to the changes are now quietly v happy and getting a lot out if the program

Petrus

If you compare OW with regards to earn and burn it makes Star Alliance look like a shambles. In OW fare buckets and earn rates are at least consistent, bar the tier bonuses (which kind of makes sense).
Last night my colleague and I flew LO and he has Star Gold with SK, I am LH FTL (MM, don't ask, 100 semi-flex sectors last year and still lost SEN!). For a one way ticket that cost 240GBP I received 950 miles and he got 150...

layz

BAEC has gone from a scheme that rewards only high spenders to one that rewards all frequent flyers.

In 2004 when I first looked at frequent flyer schemes you couldn't even join BAEC if you were only buying regular economy tickets. To join it was flexible economy or one of the premium classes. I eventually flew BA on a qualifying fare around 2006 so I thought I might as well sign up but I still rarely used BA.

It was 2011 when bmi started dropping key routes that I used where I calculated I'd no longer be able to remain gold on bmi and silver was useless on other Star Alliance partners. So more and more of my travel started to move to BA. At that point BAEC had much improved over its competition. 100% miles on all economy fares being a big one (as it's rare I need a fully flex domestic).

Changes to my own work and personal travel also meant a few long hauls each year and I've been happy with CW and F overall when using them and even started to see the advantages of CE as a whole package I enjoy the blocked middle, better service and extra TP. BA seem to be the only airline that offer reasonable upgrade offers regularly in Europe. LX had some decent long running sales but they weren't permanent offers.

Even if I stuck with economy I would have made silver with my current flying pattern, with the BAEC scheme a few years ago I'd have been nowhere near!

HIDDY

As well as non frequent fliers although it did take them a while to allow us peasants through the door.

Looks to me as if BAEC have taken one or two ideas from Diamond Club and adapted them to suit the programme...less generous but profitable.

DWFI

It's always relative.

BAEC could require 4 million miles for a LHR-MAN redemption but if every other airline closed their FFP, BAEC would still be "the best".
BA's devaluation made it, at the time, uncompetitive, and United was probably the best in terms of earn/burn value. When United destroys their program, it makes US (for instance) more attractive.

Peter M

If BA start giving out unlimited elite upgrades, prioritize boarding by elite group, remove most of the fees on award tickets, and give reasonable F and J award availability then I agree.

DFB_london

I rather like that lufi restricts premium cabin awards to higher tiers only.
It means the real ff can actually get award access to f without competing with credit card or aldi miles, etc.

DUS

I agree on that one!

However, with all the other sh$t going on at LH I stopped flying LH more or less the moment I hit what some call the holy grail of LH, HON Circle. Yes, when it suits my itinerary I would still fly LH but given all the changes in recent times I stay away from them as often as I practically can.

stevie

I agree with this. I am gold for a good few years and live in a country where I cannot get avios from cr card/tesco/etc. ALL my avios come from flying.

HIDDY

Getting Lufty F never used to be a problem when using DC miles.....has it changed?

Crampedin13A

While I agree that is a good perk the 170K miles that for example you need for a LH/LX TATL F return award is awfully high if you are only getting the bulk of your miles through flying under the new earning rates on M+M. I've got enough for 2 of those that I will burn before I lose SEN in 2015. M+M is a totally bad joke these days with enhancements seemingly coming every month.

TATLTale

So what would you all do when you retire/stop flying so much on business, and suddenly can't access awards any more? Or should the rules then change again?

Cutting off people who earn their miles outside of flying is detrimental to the business and should not happen. Tesco, Amex, whoever else - they all pay BA for the Avios. It's a financially beneficial arrangement that encourages people to fly on BA and spend with their partners.

HIDDY

Indeed.....^

It's an obvious want for those who would benefit but they're only the minority.