BertieBadger

Apologies to the OP for taking this off-topic, but when they get back to you could you share their response in the extension thread please. Thanks in advance.

(Link: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...s-reduced.html )

MrCheapSeats

Definitely!

BertieBadger

Thanks MrCheapSeats, to bring this back on topic after I diverted it....

I would say no, none at all.

I'm in a fairly similar situation, though I only reached Gold at the end of 2017 and had settled into a steady 2500TP/year pattern since then (significant majority being leisure). July renewal, already requalified by March.

A sage of this parish, one corporate-wage-slave, has been known to observe that loyalty is for dogs. This is a lesson that I have tried to take on board, and one that this year I have perhaps learned a harder way than I might have otherwise done. "Loyalty" is a word that BA are fond of using, in the short original extension email it appears twice, and the new CEO's email makes direct reference as well. This is hardly surprising, since loyalty is a trait that is generally considered positive, and marketing naturally seeks to connect with our emotional responses.

However, ultimately such programs as BAEC exist to make BA money, and they are ruthlessly transactional - all the marketing fluff could be said to exist simply to make us forget that. You, myself and many others are in a cohort that someone, somewhere in BA has decided they don't need to do anything for to continue to win our future business and/or that the loss of such business as a whole is inconsequential.

Ultimately all you can do is make your own decisions in light of theirs. In my case, I've decided to take advantage of the (very useful) soft landing feature. I've taken my refunds from BA and I'll spend that money on alternative [1] carriers. If in due course I find I like their offering better on the whole than BA I will stick with them and cheerfully slide down to Blue. If not, I can come back to BA and will achieve the status that naturally accrues. (Plus we've a healthy stash of Avios to get rid of as well, so I'll continue to fly BA/oneworld on that in the interim).

It may be worth you considering a similar policy captainmargaret. For the moment at least, BA are content they don't have to do anything for you. The only thing likely to change that is the loss of your business, and even then they don't care in the case of any one individual, it would only register as a part of a larger collective loss from others in the same scenario.

[1] I accept the viability of alternatives will be different for everyone. I'm EDI/GLA based, so the lure of a direct flight from LHR does not apply to me.

ThatT1Feeling

Interesting post from BertieBadger. Yes of course loyalty schemes and the whole concept of loyalty exists in order to make customers spend more than they ordinarily would.

When BA writes to us to tell us that they value our loyalty, they're telling the truth - but actually it's disingenuous as they value the revenue we bring - whilst expecting us to read the communication in a more emotional way which disconnects our emotional warm reaction from the hard fact that creating that warm emotional reaction is costing us cold, hard cash.

So then it comes down to a question of whether the hard cost to us (either the full cost of discretionary travel - or maybe spending a bit more to travel BA) is outweighed by the benefits we receive (extra Avios, lounges, vouchers etc.)

So if BA is choosing to effectively reduce the level of those benefits provided, then you will either choose to spend more to get back to the level of benefits you feel you need or deserve, or the discretionary spend goes elsewhere.

In my personal case, I have had a couple of goes at questioning BA's stance in how it applies to me. They've been clear in their response, based presumably on the fact that as a single member we are all unimportant and so I have chosen to not spend with them further until my next renewal date when I may think again. This reaction has been part emotional, but for once I am now questioning more deeply if I need to fly - and that's a new state for me to be in. Previously I never questioned my need to fly somewhere and for me that's a fundamental change.

So, captainmargaret, my advice for what it's worth would be to follow the sage advice from BertieBadger and c-w-s. Getting frustrated with BA is quite self-destructive

Tomallen123

Are there any worthwhile alternatives to BAEC for those based in the UK?
I've found plenty of opportunities to upgrade my flights using Avios and whenever I've looked at other programs it looks quite difficult to get upgrades using their miles program.

Mordac

I'm dipping my toe into switching to Flying Blue. Serves "the regions" very well, and status earning is about on par with BA if not slightly easier.

dnajockey

Silver is worthless though!
it was my secondary program for a while and I used a few redemptions well (including Havana), but transiting CDG is right up there with root canal surgery..

Mordac

Funnily enough I just did that today. Yeah, Silver seems to be worthless, but the same could be said of BA Bronze frankly. And at least with Flying Blue you get the choice and can go through AMS which is a lot better.
This was my first time flying AF and while most of the experience was about the same as BA, their coffee was much better. Even CDG I wouldn't say was worse than a T3->T5 transfer at LHR. But not better either!

thatsthebadger

I gave up on loyalty a while ago. Now I just look for schedule and convenience. However, I suspect that post Covid my business flying will be far far less than it ever was, so trying to look into the future is a pointless exercise for me. In some ways, not having a Gold or even Silver card any more is quite liberating. It's certainly opened up other carriers.

HIDDY

We used to be Flying Bluers mainly because Skyteam flights to EZE originating in GLA were much cheaper than BA...even earned some status with them which wasn't up to much. Then I found Flyertalk and as we shopped in Tesco it was BAEC from then on. Now our main earnings are with LATAM though bank cards.
Which shows how much influence non flying earning activities can have on your choice of programme if one doesn't have to fly for work.

lloydah

So many here advise "if you don't like the service vote with your feet" and that's exactly what we did, to Flying Blue. Admittedly it's only in the biz or above end of the tube but the welcome on board and the general level of service makes any hassle of CDG or AMS worth it, especially on leisure flights. We'll still use BA if it's more convenient for any reason, just not wedded to BAEC anymore. Each to his own.

HIDDY

Indeed....not exactly hard to do.
Despite that I've know a couple of people over years who have found it easier giving the missus the heave-ho than their loyalty programme.

corporate-wage-slave

As ever, I must defer to my favourite philosopher:

Ancient Observer

I worked in one business that was totally about Consumer Marketing. It did have some credible science behind it, but the Consumer was the driving force. By and large, the marketeers in this business were trained by the business, and weeded out as necessary by the Marketing Director.

From that experience, I can assure you that BA is not a Marketing business.

So when it uses words like Loyalty, it doesn't really know what it means. Concepts like Emotional attachment, when spouted by pure bean counters, just do not work.

BA treat you as commodity customers. You should treat them as commodity suppliers.

Adam Smith

How much of your disillusionment relates to this specific point? I'm only a lowly Silver, but I'm one of those people who got an extra year despite spending very little - I had a couple hundred TP and 0 BA flights before COVID shut everything down. But I had booked/planned a bunch of BA flights worth 400 TP or whatever, which were either cancelled by BA (mostly) or I decided not to take them because of COVID, travel quarantines, etc. I also didn't get to enjoy the benefits of my BA status much since I lost half of my membership year to COVID. I expect that most people who benefitted from the extension were more in that type of situation than having flown zero and heading towards no status. There are also people who may have planned sufficient travel to move themselves up a tier, and so are in a way worse off with COVID + extension.

I'd suggest focusing more on the merits of the program vis a vis your own situation and worry less about what others have gotten or not gotten. Perhaps, because of BA's staggered membership years, you do fall in to a very unfortunate place and have a right to feel aggrieved that BA hasn't done more for you, which is probably a reasonable grievance. But I wouldn't worry too much about the fact that a bunch of people did better out of the extension than you did.