Have I upset the BA Gods (CSM greetings)
 

Popped over to SIN from SYD yesterday in Y because it's a personal trip. Saw the CSM giving a "personal greeting" to two other people in the cabin but nothing to me.

To be honest I quite liked it because I find the personal greeting excruciatingly embarrassing but just wondered why I was left of the list... Is my CIV too low? Should I assume they were GGL rather than my lowly GCH? Or is my anxiety playing up again and I should ignore it all?

Do ignore it.....most of the ggreetings are just "mechanical" !

(before you go any further... this is somewhat tongue in cheek... so don't make too much out of it!)
Maybe the BA Gods were trying to make me realise they WERE upset with me last time I WAS greeted... but very cleverly. It was a very friendly greeting by the CSD as I was in 1F on a CE flight, before we even pushed back. She thanked me for my 10 (! - I didn't realise that) years as a Gold member, and asked if I liked the attention (!). All perfectly friendly, discreet and lovely.

Why do I say it was to point out the upset? Because it happened precisely on the renewal day (8 Aug) where I had 0 BA segments for the entire year, and some paltry 335 of the required 1500 Tier Points to renew for an 11th year. I pointed out sheepishly that although I appreciated the attention, I almost surely wouldn't be Gold for much longer, as I'd had an unusual year and had somehow gone the entire year without a BA flight.

So, now that I see it... asking if I liked the attention was a kind of a taunt. Sort of when my partner of ten years started to insinuate that I didn't appreciate all that I had, and then started making me think that perhaps somehow I wasn't showing the level of involvement that ten years of said attention merited! This would usually happen somewhere public, like a nice restaurant, and would be accompanied by passive aggressive comments about how "nice" it was, "right?" Anyway, I digress...

Back to my BA flight, there was a mention of putting a note in the iPad, but who knows what it said? I thought it could be something nice and pointing out that the year had been most irregular for me, but on the other hand, it could just have said "Where have you been all this time? Do you think you still deserve the same attention? What have you done lately?!?"

And, alas, a few days later, I saw the inevitable "Downgrade package to Silver" in my profile. It hasn't hit, yet... but in about a week, I think I can expect a cheerful but somehow vaguely churlish "Welcome to Silver!" email.

And then, if my behavioural pattern towards my ex-partner of ten years is any indication, I will start looking for the first seven longhaul F segments I can book almost immediately in order to show that I didn't MEAN anything by it... it's just a mistake! Will this make up for it? Can you forgive me???

(This message has been dramatised... but only just a little)

Not sure how I can follow the above post.... :)

Although short haul rather than long haul, I will be flying in Y next week for the first time in years on a business trip to Germany. New company travel policy forbids J in short haul, and my offer of paying the difference was not accepted unlike in my previous company. May look for POUG at OLCI but the CE looks small, at least on the way out.

I rarely receive any special welcome in CE, so will be interested to see if I receive any welcome in ET.

Not worried if I don't - will be more focussed on thinking about the light meal and champagne that I am missing and the closeness of the person next to me.....:D

You can buy better champagne and a posh club sandwich down the back.

Allegedly. :p

Yes, very sad. By the way, don't forget to amend your FT profile.

Off topic. Seriously you should consider quitting. Why would any company not allow employees to pay their own dime for upgrades?

Three reasons: generally upgrading on a promotional rate increases the inflexibility and cost of any changes, and that often falls on to the ticket issuer (the company's travel agent). Secondly the company's deal with BA could be based on looking at sales in one particular cabin, the more sold the better. Upgrading is perceived (not always correctly) as taking the ticket out of the consideration for the statistics on sales. Finally the old fairness issue, when many companies have an economy only programme for all staff and directors, someone seen to be in the wrong cabin raises questions as to whether that person is on some sort of better/secret contract.

Thank you for that explanation, c-w-s .

Luckily, I have no such restriction, and upgrade when possible - until one fateful day when I couldn't get one. This put me in a sour mood, until I saw someone who far outranked me sitting in the front. I don't want him to think that I'm overpaid.

Well, it sure won't be easy, but I have a hunch you will pull through. Take comfort from the fact that you won't be suffering alone. I guess there are any number of corporates who see no sense in shelling out big money on CE fares for employees making short hops around Europe.

Perhaps the toughest part of all will be missing out on gourmet offerings lavished upon those occupying the much sought-after front rows, not least the highly imaginative, top quality starter dishes : "Beetroot sir ?" :p

That, and of course those super luxury business class seats ; which, coincidentally, just happen to be the very same size as those down the back (shome mishtake shurely ...... :eek:)

I got it on my last Y trip to DUS, as did the chap sat in the aisle seat. I can't remember the last time I got one flying Y.

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Sounds very much like Mr. Ikea himself .............

"Ingvar Kamprad has become one of the richest men in the world yet he retains and embodies a frugal approach. In his late 80s he still travelled the world to visit IKEA stores. He drives and old Volvo car, stays in cheap hotels and flies economy class. He addresses IKEA employees as ‘co-workers’ and encourages everyone to dress informally, enjoy work, give excellent service and keep costs down."

http://www.destination-innovation.co...al-innovation/

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Don't you mean seven figures?