Coming out on FT!
Mar 20, 2019, 3:28 am
#17
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Brighton. UK
Programs: BA Gold / VS /IHG Diamond & Ambassador
Posts: 14,189
Mar 20, 2019, 3:39 am
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
BA doesn't allow membership with an Australian (and perhaps NZ?) address. This dates from the BA/QF joint venture (when BA referred its Oz members to Qantas even though QF kept theirs in the UK), but never re-instated in the years since the JV ended.
End result is that Aussies or Brits living here wishing to join or retain membership have to give or make up an address outside Oz, as residence is allowed pretty much anywhere else on earth. Local conspiracy theorists have suggested that a BA intern may have accidentally handed over the family silver to Qantas for ever.
End result is that Aussies or Brits living here wishing to join or retain membership have to give or make up an address outside Oz, as residence is allowed pretty much anywhere else on earth. Local conspiracy theorists have suggested that a BA intern may have accidentally handed over the family silver to Qantas for ever.
What is increasingly odd is BA's evident inability to get out of whatever restriction prevents these anomalies from being cleared up. At least in the case of BAEC membership, we have had the FT equivalent of a nod and a wink here from BA Executive Club about the acceptability of a UK accommodation address.
Mar 20, 2019, 3:41 am
#19
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: RTW
Posts: 677
oh great another one tying up reward seats unnecessarily.
blues don’t get physical bag tags. And there really isn’t a retentions team with BA plying people with special offers to try and make them stay - not that they that would bother trying to retain a member with no flights or avios to their name anyway.
Mar 20, 2019, 3:47 am
#21
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: RTW
Posts: 677
Of course, in a sense this is no more daft than being able to fly a QF-marketed EK-operated flight and earn BAEC Avios and TPs. One anomaly created by the BA/QF situation is no more or less daft than the other merely because it happens to be to the customer's benefit or disadvantage.
What is increasingly odd is BA's evident inability to get out of whatever restriction prevents these anomalies from being cleared up. At least in the case of BAEC membership, we have had the FT equivalent of a nod and a wink here from BA Executive Club about the acceptability of a UK accommodation address.
What is increasingly odd is BA's evident inability to get out of whatever restriction prevents these anomalies from being cleared up. At least in the case of BAEC membership, we have had the FT equivalent of a nod and a wink here from BA Executive Club about the acceptability of a UK accommodation address.
Joking apart, I do suspect that someone in the past has accidentally screwed up & done a bad deal with Qantas (who never gave up their UK members during the JV) in perpetuity.
Mar 20, 2019, 3:51 am
#22
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: coastal Croatia
Programs: BAEC Gold, M&M Senator
Posts: 2,180
It is indeed a strange situation given current realities within oneword. Slightly reminiscent of the Northwest/K:M tie up years ago where Europeans couldn't join WorldPerks and Americans couldn't join Flying Dutchman and you couldn't even call KLM in the US (calls just routed to Northwest agents).
Mar 20, 2019, 3:59 am
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: RTW
Posts: 677
It is indeed a strange situation given current realities within oneword. Slightly reminiscent of the Northwest/K:M tie up years ago where Europeans couldn't join WorldPerks and Americans couldn't join Flying Dutchman and you couldn't even call KLM in the US (calls just routed to Northwest agents).
Mar 20, 2019, 4:52 am
#25
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: SYD
Programs: BAEC GGL, HH D, QFF, EB
Posts: 404
Great idea. You never know given how many reached PHX last year for the do we might get a few escapies from Europe joining us as well.
Mar 20, 2019, 7:18 pm
#28
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 1,841
It's really insane, isn't it, that years after BA and QF 'divorced' there is still effectively a 'ban' on Aussies and other near neighbours joining BAEC, despite the fact that BA flies daily to Sydney! I've approached BA / BAEC on this time and again and never received anything resembling a sensible explanation. Oh well, lets hope your King Charles Cavalier enjoys his BAEC status 
Mar 20, 2019, 8:25 pm
#29
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: RTW
Posts: 677
Sadly, I suspect the dog will never manage 4 BA sectors to progress to Bronze - a pity as the name tag would be a far better colour match.
Perhaps with your "other hat" on you could ask the BA Press office for the latest excuse as there must be a commercial cost of the ban (Even without NZ etc, Oz is the 14th largest economy and I suspect slightly ahead of Botswana), but knowing the people who ran BAEC at the time of the JV agreement, I wouldn't be surprised at the far-too-embarrassing screw up theory.
By the way, BA should have an iPad note from the CSD (or whatever it is in MF) on my BA16 a couple of weeks back, who was astounded to hear of our plight after his seat-side welcome opened by saying how much BA appreciated the loyalty of its Australian premium members!
Perhaps with your "other hat" on you could ask the BA Press office for the latest excuse as there must be a commercial cost of the ban (Even without NZ etc, Oz is the 14th largest economy and I suspect slightly ahead of Botswana), but knowing the people who ran BAEC at the time of the JV agreement, I wouldn't be surprised at the far-too-embarrassing screw up theory.
By the way, BA should have an iPad note from the CSD (or whatever it is in MF) on my BA16 a couple of weeks back, who was astounded to hear of our plight after his seat-side welcome opened by saying how much BA appreciated the loyalty of its Australian premium members!
Mar 20, 2019, 10:53 pm
#30
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 469
I believe that this along with Prisoner of Her Majesty are both backronyms i.e. invented after the term was in use.
I am currently a Sydney sider but my driving licence has my UK address on it (my parents) so I reckon I'm golden.
I am currently a Sydney sider but my driving licence has my UK address on it (my parents) so I reckon I'm golden.