Cap'n Benj

my 2p-

As someone who's main reason to bother trying to keep Silver as the 100% earning rate, these changes are not the best, esp when that bonus was most handy when I took LH Y flights to MRU etc that would earn 25,000 odd Avios, now about 5,000 or so

You can see why they've cut that then!

Otherwise the mileage increases in the main seem very harsh, esp the effects on the UuA, once again though this was consistently talked of as a 'sweet spot' so im surprised it's lasted as long as it has.

Will the changes move me from being a loyal BA/AA booker? I suspect so, I will certainly no longer always try to fly BA long haul when Y restricted and the UuA increases will probably have me seeking out VS prices for premium economy as and when I'm considering that and taking it where price is better and the schedule convenient

I suspect most of my flying will remain on BA though, for the simple reason I flew with them in the first place before the loyalty/ status bug kicked in, they are the best airline to meet my flying pattern, as I suspect they will to many on here

nsx

I am sad to see my favorite LAX-MAD in business (2-class aircraft) increase from 50k to 62.5k when redeeming from Iberia Plus. I've been hoping to try AA's 321T 1+1 seating in First Class SFO-JFK, but it's much harder to rationalize at 50k points than it was at 37.5k.

Off-peak coach awards are nice, but AA offers those too, at fewer points.

The other change I feared, a close-in redemption fee, did not happen. Yet.

These changes continue an industry trend in which the airlines follow their short-term financial interest:

1. Arcane accounting rules exaggerate the profitability of sale of miles and points to banks, so airlines encourage members to earn miles via credit cards. This prevents airlines from rapidly devaluing credit card earning rates and point redemption values. This part of the game must continue.

2. Airlines appear to believe that they don't need to reward customers for buying tickets. The incentive does not create enough new revenue. So airlines continue to reduce the earning power of members who buy non-overpriced tickets. This despite the fact that miles and points earned from flying are typically carried on the books as an even smaller liability than points sold to banks. Airlines must realize that the true liability is close to 1 cent per point regardless of where the points came from.

When airlines move the loyalty program into a separate corporate entity these two tactics become almost mandatory.

My advice is to choose your credit cards according to points redemption value but to choose your ticket purchases as if flight earnings were zero. I think this advice will remain approximately correct for many years.

bertheike

And that really sucks !
Anyhow due to the high fuel & fees BA charged, I never redeemed BA flights other than Z1-3. But now a CX flight from HKG to FRA in business goes up 50 % from 60k to 90k or HKT-HKG-FRA from 80k to 110k ( per ow !!! ).
For 110k I actually can book a First class roundtrip US/DM for the same trip, I get the business oneway with BA/EC.
FACIT : Have to find some " friends " in the USA, which are willing to use my AVIOS in exchange for USDM or UA miles.

msian56

gonna start redeeming all of my points soon and move on from BA. Sad news

whole9yards

Not entirely true. I am Silver who almost exclusively fly premium cabins on revenue, so I don't believe I am one of those whom "BA is least concerned about" according to you. I fly to get the pounts with which I redeem for future trips. I earn and I burn. However, the new changes means that my tier bonus has been slashed by half, meaning I will have to fly a lot more to get miles. And even after I have earned the miles, what used to be enough for an J/F redemption is no longer enough. And we are not talking about small jump here. 50%!! Even "off peak" is 25% more expensive than the current chart. You tell me how I am supposed to feel about the new changes? A double slap on the face and a kick in the teeth seems more an appropriate description.

Let's not even go there with the unchanged redemption rate in Y. BA charges one of the highest surcharges among all global airlines, so it's the worst way to waste your avios on redemptions on an economy ticket.

Yes, many won't leave BA just yet cos they are stuck. Either their work exclusively use BA or they have companion voucher to use but not quite enough avios for a good redemption yet. So they will have to keep working at it until they have gathered enough. I myself is in that bracket. After that, trust me, BA won't get a dime from me ever again.

Sad thing is, I see this thread was started by BA representative, but I doubt any of our feedback, comment or complaint is being read or taken on board by them. It's this kind of indifferenct attitude, arrogance in their "loyalty" management that drive people away.

eefor jfp

Well, I read the first 500 or so posts and then skipped to the end to post my thoughts.

This is the third time for me to experience a significant program devaluation. I was an AF (Flying Blue) flyer for the great April Fool's Day devaluation. I was bitterly disappointed. Posted, wrote AF, cashed out all my miles, swore off flying them, etc.

Then a year or two ago LH announced reduced earnings on mid-tier economy (H, Q, V--the fares I bought) from 100% to 50%. Was upset. Switched to BA but kept my LH miles and fly them when I need to for short haul within Europe.

Now BA does their devaluation (for me, raising rates for l/h biz redemption 50% and l/h first redemption 33% IS a significant devaluation) and I'm too drained to care anymore. meh.

So from now on I will fly whoever is cheaper and I'll pay for WT+ or LH's premium economy or AF's premium economy (or biz if there's not a huge difference) solely based on schedule and price and comfort. I will be done with trying to earn status and miles or points. The taxes are so high on redemptions that it doesn't really matter anyways. My credit card spend will go to hotels since I can always get a room and I'll just pay for the flights I want with cash (and so, I will fly less).

Can't... care... anymore. And it will make my wife very happy that I won't be spending so much time on FlyerTalk trying to figure out the ins and outs of earning.

I know this sounds overly dramatic but the reality is that the game has changed, all FFPs are starting to suck for most people who don't fly paid J or F and life is too short to be emotionally invested in "loyalty" to any company because the sole goal of most companies is simply to maximize (short term) profit.

Stripy

If it doesn't matter then it should. The point of a FFP is to create loyalty and, by extension, to cause people to make partly-irrational decisions (pay more for a ticket because you get some other marginal benefits.....or perceived marginal benefits). So if BA isn't paying any attention to who the ticket purchaser is they could well be incentivising a passenger that had no choice but to fly them anyway.....and this is exactly what I think BA will find itself doing with these new changes.

The irony here (for me at any rate) is that BAEC is regressing back to the old days when it was a 'premium cabin focused' program. The thing is that, in those days, BA had a competitive product in it's premium cabins. Nowadays they're mediocre at best.

stevie

Well said.

xenole

These changes have also made purchasing Avios even more worthless than before.

fdem

I also feel an incentive to retain silver/gold would be to only allow silver/gold to book in premium classes, ie CW or F. This would still allow Ba to sell their souls to Chase but those who have never spent a penny with BA would only be able to redeem in economy/WTP. Seems fair to me. Good example is my brother who never spends a penny with BA but manages to nab 4 CW seats every year, kudos to him but it does seem a bit unfair to those who spend either their company's or own money on actually flying. I have entry level status with Virgin but cannot redeem on SQ premium classes LH, which in all honesty seems fair as I spend virtually nothing with virgin.

thatsthebadger

Flying is a necessary evil for me in my work. It just happened that lounge use and Avios collection was a nice bonus to the activity and encouraged my loyalty to BA. I'll fly just as much fron now on, I just won't be loyal. Schedule and price will be the only factors I'll look for.

I just booked a Norwegian flight to Stockholm as a case in point. Some £60 cheaper for a day return and the BAEC benefits don't outweigh that any more. Ho hum. Time will tell whether today's news will impact BA but they won't change course. Not in the short term. Therefore I will.

UK_Ship

I think they have just made the decision that its not worth me trying for status with BA anymore, I'll keep using the lounges through CX Gold and Amex and just fly rock bottom Y when i have to in Europe. For Europe BA will still be in the mix but for longhaul I'll just stick to Star alliance as (for the moment) SQ miles are pretty useful

BA5E

Having read nearly all of the threads, my poor head is buzzing, and am still confused.
Can someone or maybe even a couple of people help out with my query.
Am Silver, and travel albeit only once a year to SYD in F, and easily keep hold of my silver card, but as the TP are dropping from 100% to a horrible 50%, what do I expect to get for my SYD trip.
I have been looking on the calculator for M:confusediles and TP, putting in all the cards, blue, bronze, silver and gold, and the TP for each card travelling in F comes to 360, now as is being said Bronze is staying the same, do I still assume that if I drop to Bronze I will still get 360 TP on my LHR-SYD leg, and of course the same TP on the return leg. Please help a rather confused simpleton.

openfly

I am appalled that domestics have doubled from 9000 to 18000 Avios and £35 to £70. The whole thing just shows how BA regards its passengers.

I've started using the highly impressive Easyjet....bye BA!

Also, Gatwick First lounge closing in Oct due to the forthcoming changes and work. Lounge staff have been informed of this. Apparently the new BA lounge in the South will not have a First area.....surprise, surprise.

xenole

For me, living fairly equidistant from MAN, NCL, and the country of London, options are limited.

I've been pricing up flights on say Easyjet but these only fly from MAN and LTN, timings aren't great (so require overnight stays or driving / parking really early for the one 6am departure, the next one being 9pm) and the price difference when adding luggage etc between them and BA is negligible.
Cost of getting the train to Luton Airport isn't that far off going to LHR.

eg.
2 random dates in September, flying out around 4pm.

Easyjet Luton-Amsterdam:
20kg hold baggage + selected exit row seats = £100.98

BA LHR-AMS
Checked bag + seat selection (free as gold) = £107.41

Approx. £80 with hand luggage for both.

My local airport has return KLM flights to AMS for around £123. Easy to get to later in the day by bus (or more expensive by train and then a taxi for the 4 miles from the station) but no transport links first thing for the 6:15am flight (unless I drive and spend £35 to park for a day or two - any, say 2 week holidays, and I might as well get the train down to London for far less).