Jan 28, 2015, 1:49 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
The changes in summary
Applicable to bookings made from 28 April 2015
For more information, see BA's 28 January announcement and FAQ on ba.com
Earning
Changes to Avios accrual rates and tier bonuses
Earning with partners
Reduced earnings in Economy and Premium Economy
AA, IBERIA, JAL, LAN, TAM, ALASKA, SRI LANKAN, QANTAS, CATHAY.
Changes to tier bonuses
Changes to minimum Avios amounts (accrued per flight)
Changes to Tier Point earning rates
Spending
Promise of greater reward inventory/availability
Changes to standard flight redemption rates
Changes to Upgrade with Avios
Applicable to bookings made from 28 April 2015
For more information, see BA's 28 January announcement and FAQ on ba.com
Earning
Changes to Avios accrual rates and tier bonuses
- earning rates increase for flights booked in F, A, J, C, D, and W selling classes
- no change for flights booked in R, I, Y, B, and H selling classes
- earning rates reduce for flights booked in E, T, K, L, M, N, S, V, Q, O, and G selling classes
Earning with partners
Reduced earnings in Economy and Premium Economy
AA, IBERIA, JAL, LAN, TAM, ALASKA, SRI LANKAN, QANTAS, CATHAY.
Changes to tier bonuses
- no change to Gold tier bonuses (100%)
- Silver tier bonuses reduce from 100% to 50%
- no change to Bronze tier bonuses (25%)
Changes to minimum Avios amounts (accrued per flight)
- minimum thresholds increase for long haul premium fares (F, A, J, C, D, W)
- no change to restricted business class fares (R and I class) and flexible econony (Y, B, and H class)
- minimum thresholds decrease for WT+ (E and T class) - although there are no BA WTP flights that short
- minimum thresholds decrease from 500 to 250 Avios for mid priced economy (K, L, M, N, S, and V classes)
- minimum thresholds decrease from 500 to 125 Avios for cheapest economy (Q, O, and G classes)
Changes to Tier Point earning rates
- Club World London City flights reduce from 210 to 140 Tier Points
- Cheapest economy flights (in selling classes Q, O, and G) reduce from 50% to 25% Tier Points
- No change to minimum 2/4 segments for earning Bronze/Others
- No change to 25 segment / 50 segment Bronze/Silver earning option
- No other changes, thresholds still Bronze 300,Silver 600,Gold 1500,GGL 5000 (3000 to retain)
Spending
Promise of greater reward inventory/availability
- Guaranteed minimum 4 seats in economy on every flight
- Guaranteed minimum 2 seats in business on every flight
- Guaranteed seats will be available to book from 355 days before departure and may vanish 45 days before departure, if not already booked.
Changes to standard flight redemption rates
- Variable rates introduced divided into Off-peak and Peak
- For Peak time (school holidays and other busy times), and partner costs
- WT - stays the same cost
- WTP increases - from x1.5 to x2.0 multiplier (33% increase)
- Club World increases - from x2.0 to x3.0 multiplier (50% increase)
- First increases - from x3.0 to x4.0 multiplier (33% increase)
- For Off Peak time (including every Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the year)
- WT decreases by 35% from current values
- WT decreases by 13% from current values
- Club World increases by 25% from current values
- First increases by 13% from current values
- Free domestic add-ons abolished on short haul redemptions
- No word if CE redemptions will be charged 4500/Ł17.50 or 9000/Ł25 for the UK leg
- Variable rates introduced on Iberia
- Flight redemptions on BA's other airline partners will be charged at Peak rates all year round
Changes to Upgrade with Avios
- Eligible booking codes is set to increase in the near future, allowing mile upgrades from economy (WT and ET) for more travellers - K, L, M, N, S, and V classes added (exact fare codes subject to confirmation)
- Avios required for upgrade now based on the formula: Avios redemption price for the cabin you want to upgrade to, minus the Avios redemption price for the cabin you have paid for with cash. This means that certain off peak WTP to CW upgrades are more expensive than peak WTP to CW upgrades (assuming peak/off-peak variables will apply to UuA)
Executive Club Changes
Mar 12, 2015, 3:04 am
#1381
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Glasgow / London
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 3,457
^
Mar 12, 2015, 3:08 am
#1382
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Near Edinburgh
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 9,034
Mar 12, 2015, 6:34 am
#1383
Join Date: Mar 2012
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Mar 13, 2015, 2:28 pm
#1384
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 40
No point going on about it, just vote with your feet.
Mar 14, 2015, 3:25 pm
#1385
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: US Air, UA BA LH AI DELTA MARRIOTT CHOICE SGP
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Mar 14, 2015, 7:22 pm
#1387
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: BA Gold (OWE), QF Gold, EY Gold, HH Gold, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 76
I'm sure this has been answered before: when they release the new partner earn (edit: not award) chart will existing bookings still earn at the rate when booked?
I have some AA bookings in December in discounted Y so would be a shame to loose potentially 75% of those Avios.
I have some AA bookings in December in discounted Y so would be a shame to loose potentially 75% of those Avios.
Last edited by yohoho; Mar 15, 2015 at 2:27 am
Mar 14, 2015, 11:00 pm
#1388
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: BA Gold, AA Lifetime Gold 1.8mm, IC Spire Ambassador, Hilton Diamond, SPG Gold et al
Posts: 4,350
It has been asked several times and the answer has always been "yes".
Mar 15, 2015, 2:25 am
#1389
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
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Not really, it has been asked many times and the answer is and remains we cannot possibly know. BA have guaranteed existing earnings on BA for flights booked till 28/4, they have said partner earnings will be announced later (I assume this is what yohoho is asking about rather than partner awards which we already know about) and we can't possibly guess whether any change will again be linked to booking date rather than flight date, nor about any grace period. They certainly haven't committed to anything at this stage.
Mar 15, 2015, 4:51 am
#1390
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: near Heathrow
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'These changes will apply only to bookings made on or after 28 April. You will continue to collect and spend Avios and Tier Points at today’s rates on bookings made up until 28 April – even if you are flying after this date.'
It doesn't specifically limit the statement to BA bookings, so although they do state separately 'We will be making some changes to the Avios and Tier points awarded with our airline partners and we will update ba.com once these are finalised', I interpret that as relating to the TP and avios earning rates but that the overarching statement regarding bookings before 28 April will apply to all bookings, not just BA bookings.
Mar 15, 2015, 5:13 am
#1391
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Mar 15, 2015, 7:10 am
#1392
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Location: London
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I'm sure this has been answered before: when they release the new partner earn (edit: not award) chart will existing bookings still earn at the rate when booked?
I have some AA bookings in December in discounted Y so would be a shame to loose potentially 75% of those Avios.
I have some AA bookings in December in discounted Y so would be a shame to loose potentially 75% of those Avios.
Mar 15, 2015, 7:11 am
#1393
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: BA Gold (OWE), QF Gold, EY Gold, HH Gold, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 76
Mar 15, 2015, 8:35 am
#1394
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,543
Mar 15, 2015, 8:41 am
#1395
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,543
Agree that we don't know but the Executive Club statement on changes to the scheme reads as such:
'These changes will apply only to bookings made on or after 28 April. You will continue to collect and spend Avios and Tier Points at today’s rates on bookings made up until 28 April – even if you are flying after this date.'
It doesn't specifically limit the statement to BA bookings, so although they do state separately 'We will be making some changes to the Avios and Tier points awarded with our airline partners and we will update ba.com once these are finalised', I interpret that as relating to the TP and avios earning rates but that the overarching statement regarding bookings before 28 April will apply to all bookings, not just BA bookings.
'These changes will apply only to bookings made on or after 28 April. You will continue to collect and spend Avios and Tier Points at today’s rates on bookings made up until 28 April – even if you are flying after this date.'
It doesn't specifically limit the statement to BA bookings, so although they do state separately 'We will be making some changes to the Avios and Tier points awarded with our airline partners and we will update ba.com once these are finalised', I interpret that as relating to the TP and avios earning rates but that the overarching statement regarding bookings before 28 April will apply to all bookings, not just BA bookings.
For what it's worth, the point I am making is not merely rhetorical and I genuinely wouldn't be sure that the criterion will be based on booking date. There is a big difference between BA bookings (for which BAEC automatically know when the booking was made in addition to when the flight is flown) and partner bookings (where partners will forward information about the flights flown and booking class but not automatically on when the ticket was booked). In that sense, it would be a bit of a hassle for BAEC to base a rule on booking time as it would force them to ask partners to provide information which is not usually readily available to BAEC.
In that sense, my guess would be that it is in fact more likely that when partner earnings are changed, it will probably be based on "flights taken after xxx" rather than "booked after". And my guess is that the said "flown after" date will most certainly fall in 2015 so I would be very surprised if 2016 flights (and for that matter, probably flights flown in the second half of 2015) were eligible regardless of when they were booked.