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Would you still fly with BA if BAEC was made illegal?

Would you still fly with BA if BAEC was made illegal?

Old Mar 31, 2021, 3:07 am
  #1  
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Would you still fly with BA if BAEC was made illegal?

Looks like the usual suspects are calling for a ban on frequent flyer programmes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56582094
In the UK, 70% of flights are made by a wealthy 15% of the population, with 57% not flying abroad at all.

There are calls for a frequent flyer levy - a tax that increases the more you fly each year.

Greenpeace supports the tax and also wants air miles banned because they say it encourages frequent flying.


So would you still fly BA if the BAEC was forced to stop?
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 3:23 am
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Yes. Personally when I fly it's because in those circumstances it's the most effective way of getting from A to B. The FF thing is nice but that doesn't stop me flying EasyJet, Ryanair, SWA etc when that works for me. If BA offer the best times price and service on a route then I absolutely choose them. That said, the volume of flying I do now that my expat days are behind me is pathetically low.
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 3:28 am
  #3  
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I'm not sure I understand the question. Do you believe that there are people who would stop all travel because they don't accrue some measly points? Of course not. The Greenpeace premise is coming at the problem in a poorly thought through way.
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 3:37 am
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I mean given the amount of APD we have to pay as frequent flyers (those that don't do exEU) to take these "unnecessary" trips, do we really need to be taxed more? I think it's a bit silly to be honest to ban FF programs.
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 3:44 am
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I 110% agree with the need to curb emissions in the airline industry. It's a minor player right now but, unlike the UK as a whole or other developed countries, CO2 from aviation are rising, and rising fast - not falling.

Having said that, though, there is a power plant in Poland, Belchatow, that emits 3 times more than the entire Ryanair. In fact the top-10 EU emitters, beside MO'L's little airline, are ALL coal power plants (most of them in Germany, I should add). There are proven ways to remove them from the energy mix of a country, so why doesn't Greenpeace and others put their energy and focus on getting rid of them? If they were to disappear tomorrow it's about 150Mt of CO2 removed every year. The entire EU air transport emissions are 170Mt...
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 3:50 am
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Obviously never going to happen, but I do think any programme that incentivises tier point runs is fundamentally broken - and I say that as an aviation enthusiast who has flown back-to-backs before.
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 4:03 am
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Originally Posted by LondonElite
I'm not sure I understand the question. Do you believe that there are people who would stop all travel because they don't accrue some measly points? Of course not. The Greenpeace premise is coming at the problem in a poorly thought through way.
It is not a case that you would stop flying, more about whether you would choose BA over another airline if you were not locked into a FF programme.

This is the flaw as I see it in Greenpeaces argument, in that it may decrease loyalty to a particular airline, but not necessarily reduce the number of flights someone will take.
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 4:05 am
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Originally Posted by LondonElite
I'm not sure I understand the question. Do you believe that there are people who would stop all travel because they don't accrue some measly points? Of course not. The Greenpeace premise is coming at the problem in a poorly thought through way.
The OP's question appears to be how "loyal" would anyone be to BA without BAEC, not whether they would fly at all. The Greenpeace quote in the BBC article seems to be more specifically around Avios/miles in general, not sure whether the other benefits of FFPs are in question.

It wouldn't stop me flying BA, but like any other purchasing decision, if a benefit is removed it could be a factor when buying a given flight, especially if all other things are more or less equal. The importance of BAEC to BA is well-documented around these parts, so one would imagine it would affect business to some extent, if BA relies on its FFP for business more than other airlines.
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 4:11 am
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Originally Posted by flight125
Obviously never going to happen, but I do think any programme that incentivises tier point runs is fundamentally broken - and I say that as an aviation enthusiast who has flown back-to-backs before.
a frequent flyer program that incentivises frequent travel is broken?
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 4:15 am
  #10  
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Originally Posted by kanderson1965
It is not a case that you would stop flying, more about whether you would choose BA over another airline if you were not locked into a FF programme.

This is the flaw as I see it in Greenpeaces argument, in that it may decrease loyalty to a particular airline, but not necessarily reduce the number of flights someone will take.
I didn't mean to attack you, apologies if it came across that way. I suspect that some people would tend to another airline if BAEC was gone, but then again a lot of people fly EasyJet and Ryanair. Even if you ban all FFPs, I don't think travel volumes will be impacted.
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 4:26 am
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I'd likely buy Priority Pass and fly with whichever airline suits the job. I would possibly fly more because I pay entirely for my own travel and if on LCCs wouldn't be paying for short haul business upgrades/luxuries that aren't there.
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 4:33 am
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Originally Posted by KARFA
a frequent flyer program that incentivises frequent travel is broken?
Not necessarily, but a program which pushes you to go indirect is flawed, not broken. Rewarding LON-NYC-SFO double over a direct LON-SFO is not great for the environment. Maybe that's a place to start.
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 4:40 am
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Originally Posted by alex67500
Not necessarily, but a program which pushes you to go indirect is flawed, not broken. Rewarding LON-NYC-SFO double over a direct LON-SFO is not great for the environment. Maybe that's a place to start.
It's not just that, it's also the pricing. I can get to Australia and back with four flights. I usually take eight, as I position out to somewhere in Europe to grab a fare that is at least a third cheaper than what is offered from where I live. It could be six, but my chosen airline requires me to take a stop to go anywhere from here!
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 4:47 am
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Originally Posted by alex67500
Not necessarily, but a program which pushes you to go indirect is flawed, not broken. Rewarding LON-NYC-SFO double over a direct LON-SFO is not great for the environment. Maybe that's a place to start.
That is not 100% correct in all cases. The very long flights that require the plane to carry a lot of fuel start to pollute more then an itinerary with a stop. It also assumes that both planes release the same amount of pollution. If the indirect flight is not out of the way too much then pollution would be comparable or lower.
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Old Mar 31, 2021, 4:48 am
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The truth is people wouldn't put up with BA's appalling service if BAEC & points were abolished.
Without fortress Heathrow and BAEC, they would have gone bust years ago!
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