British Airways falls from #1 in consumers favourite brands
Mar 13, 2018, 1:27 pm
#122
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,145
I think this shows how very little surprise there was in this result for us here on FT as we’ve spent more talking about Lego and a singer called Jess Glynn 
I think BA board need to shake things up big time before customers start taking their bums as well as money elsewhere once the brand damage is fully burnt and EasyJet & Ryanair simply start looking better! Sad as I do have a soft spot for BA.
I think BA board need to shake things up big time before customers start taking their bums as well as money elsewhere once the brand damage is fully burnt and EasyJet & Ryanair simply start looking better! Sad as I do have a soft spot for BA.
As for l/h, one has to look at destination and frequency coverage, and that’s compounded by the E/W/S route considerations ... as well as BAEC loyalty. Again, I find us hooked on OW simply because of where we want to go.
A mass exodus is, IMO, unlikely in the wider aspect. People will just post on FT and carry on suffering, simply because of where they want to go and an underlying desire for TPs and Avios to further their personal travel experiences.
Mar 13, 2018, 2:06 pm
#123
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: LHR, LGW
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 3,421
Your concept may well work on s/h traffic, where other ‘lesser’ airlines exist ... unless the individuals concerned are wedded to BAEC for reasons outside work travel [TPs and Avios, in other words]. And there may be the hook that BA are relying on.
As for l/h, one has to look at destination and frequency coverage, and that’s compounded by the E/W/S route considerations ... as well as BAEC loyalty. Again, I find us hooked on OW simply because of where we want to go.
A mass exodus is, IMO, unlikely in the wider aspect. People will just post on FT and carry on suffering, simply because of where they want to go and an underlying desire for TPs and Avios to further their personal travel experiences.
As for l/h, one has to look at destination and frequency coverage, and that’s compounded by the E/W/S route considerations ... as well as BAEC loyalty. Again, I find us hooked on OW simply because of where we want to go.
A mass exodus is, IMO, unlikely in the wider aspect. People will just post on FT and carry on suffering, simply because of where they want to go and an underlying desire for TPs and Avios to further their personal travel experiences.
As for a mass exodus, my point was more along the lines of a drop in revenue and lesser loads than current trends over a 12-24 month period. So time will tell. Once the brand is lacking in value, trust, respect etc then it’s only time before the financials are hit. I could be wrong and hopefully proved wrong. The BA network certainly ties many in but there’s plenty of competition out there.
As for the bizarre split between Ryanair down the back and premium up front, the only hope I can see is a new CW seat that brings back a lot of the business travellers lost to the better J products out there. However I think we know the rollout of that will be slow and not revolutionary. Therefore BA have a ton of work to do going forward to win back spot number 1.
EDIT: Oddly enough an advert on TV just appeared, upgrade to Emirates Economy class, the worlds best, it starts with people asking for an upgrade at the checkin desks...then shows a very smiley chap checking in with EK..quite good, if you haven’t seen it.
Last edited by rockflyertalk; Mar 13, 2018 at 2:19 pm
Mar 13, 2018, 2:24 pm
#124
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: BA GGL/CCR/GFL
Posts: 103
You’d hope they realise it’s all they have left. I mean, really what is the point in making an extra effort to fly BA if the executive club is the next thing they screw up?
There was an interview with Cruz a while back where he was talking about possibly making Avios more redeemable but based on the actual ticket cost. Here come 500,000 Avios First redemptions then! We already have a gold double Avios redemption option which is fine if you want to do that.
Obviously they’d sell it in as giving us more opportunities to redeem, but it’d be the final nail for me and BA.
Mar 13, 2018, 3:01 pm
#125
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: US Air, UA BA LH AI DELTA MARRIOTT CHOICE SGP
Posts: 9,883
As I sit here on the Bronze line, making yet another inquiry as to where my refund is, and yet again I am on a call to an Indian call centre where there is definitely an issue with being understood and a lack of any ability on their part to divert from the script, I fully understand why this fall from grace has happened.
hmm yes BAEC is the power in keeping the current flyers on board especially as we know most use other OW carriers to get status once the BA 4 flights are under the belt. But if any negative change in the programme happens then this may be the “straw that breaks the camels back.”
As for a mass exodus, my point was more along the lines of a drop in revenue and lesser loads than current trends over a 12-24 month period. So time will tell. Once the brand is lacking in value, trust, respect etc then it’s only time before the financials are hit. I could be wrong and hopefully proved wrong. The BA network certainly ties many in but there’s plenty of competition out there.
As for the bizarre split between Ryanair down the back and premium up front, the only hope I can see is a new CW seat that brings back a lot of the business travellers lost to the better J products out there. However I think we know the rollout of that will be slow and not revolutionary. Therefore BA have a ton of work to do going forward to win back spot number 1.
EDIT: Oddly enough an advert on TV just appeared, upgrade to Emirates Economy class, the worlds best, it starts with people asking for an upgrade at the checkin desks...then shows a very smiley chap checking in with EK..quite good, if you haven’t seen it.
2 Pax will / are abandoning BA, just not apparent to the Suits. An exodus can happen with seemingly minor happenstance with wide publicity. Otherwise it will be Death By a 1000 Cuts. By then the Suits will be retired , laughing to the banks.
3 Somebody needs to run a model of what would happen to BA if the LHR monopoly is diminished.
4 True better J seats will help but has to be consistently backed up by other components. What the Suits forget ( or pretend to not know) is while BA is slowly upgrading J seating, the competitors are also planning & executing improvements ...so the gap remains and will widen. For doubters please find the Q Suites on Qatar J. Light years ahead !
5 They have been playing that Emirates advert for sometime now here in the US. Effective messages
As BA;s "Ryanification" accelerates , more fares will have to drop..the Suits will claim they will make it up in volume & densification" of Y..
Mar 13, 2018, 3:05 pm
#126
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: EDI
Programs: Flying Blue PFL; IHG Rewards Club Diamond; HHonors Silver
Posts: 423
One of the problems of a humour led approach is that there is no way that everyone - from whatever country - is going to understand all the in-jokes. Though Jess Glynne is one of the most successful UK singers of all time, and she has a Grammy too, in many countries she - and her songs - are going to be fairly unknown. Still, I honestly can't see this having any impact on the brand.
Mar 13, 2018, 3:57 pm
#127
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
One relatively easy way of doing it these days: hang out near the Group 5 queue and have a look at their boarding passes. How many of them have any frequent flyer number printed on them?
Even amongst higher-tier BA members, only a minority will be playing these status / miles games. The majority of them will be people whose status comes as a natural and inevitable by-product of the flying that they would do anyway even if frequent flyer schemes did not exist.
Those who are picking and choosing amongst oneworld airlines to get BA status with the minimum of BA flying, or playing similar games, are few and far between. If all of them stopped flying BA, BA's beancounters probably wouldn't even notice. Ironically, this is very probably one of the big reasons why BA does so little to interfere with game-playing of this kind: It really makes no difference. If it made a material difference, you can bet that BA would be taking more action.
Mar 13, 2018, 4:41 pm
#128
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: LH SEN; BA Gold
Posts: 8,405
It certainly makes current frequent flyers less price sensitive. On S/H, U2/FR would have to be significantly cheaper to make up for the perks I'd get on BA.
Mar 13, 2018, 6:56 pm
#130
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club, easyJet and Ryanair
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: UK/Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold (GGL/CCR)
Posts: 15,922
Mar 13, 2018, 7:47 pm
#131
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: US Air, UA BA LH AI DELTA MARRIOTT CHOICE SGP
Posts: 9,883
Mar 14, 2018, 12:19 am
#132
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 6,349
