LondonElite

Goodbye cruel airline!

Fatdickie

Back to staying loyal to BA

I am Silver
​purely a leasure traveller
30min, £3 bus ride from home to Gatwick at anytime day or night

Really struggling to "stay loyal" to BA
The excess travelling to Heathrow timewise
Adding the train and tube costs
The higher cost of flights in the first place

For Short Haul, have started looking at Easyjet and the others still flying out of LGW a few times and started to think its only a flight. Wouldnt it just be like going back a few years to those days before BAEC silver 🤔

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FlightDetective

You and I both know that the DAA lounge at Dublin Airport is not exactly one of the best airport lounges in the world. I completely get your point though, BA should be renewing the contract on it, or contracting with one of the other lounges so there is lounge access as it is advertised as part of the product. But it's hardly a show stopper for a little while. Just use Fast-Track security and arrive right before flight time. No harm done!

Regarding extensions, you will just have to be patient like we all have to be. And finally, if your main reason for flying BA is for F upgrades, you're probably going to find that this will be more difficult as time goes on, due to the smaller F cabins on the fleet these days. You might have to resign yourself to flying in J.

Personally, I have no plans to ditch BA ever. The extremely good book with confidence policy, which of course is good for BA as it keeps cash rolling in, has been extremely appreciated by me and I'm sure many others as well, not to mention lower thresholds in the Executive Club. I can't wait to get on board my next BA flight.

passy777

Or perhaps they are the places the OP wishes to fly to?

Each to their own of course, but I have never seen the point of TP runs or visiting a destination that would normally never be considered just for the sake of attaining status. Overnighting in airport hotels on a ridiculous multi-destination TP run may seem to many, a bizarre way to be able to hang a shiny card off your bag.

Arguably, if you don't fly enough, you don't earn or need the status, but I'm sure many will attempt to justify their logic.

Having many trips cancelled and re-booked for next year, it looks as though I will be dropping down the ranks unless BA extends status, but seeing all the offers now available, I suspect an extension will not happen, and as I live in the regions these 'offers' are not so tempting anyway.

I also have no desire to jump through the many hoops or pay the additional expense just to leave or re-enter the UK right now and that is assuming restrictions won't be in place in the future, resulting in more cancellations and uncertainty. The well documented frequent delays and chaos at the LHR border compounds my current lack of desire to travel.

I have written off this year for travel and hope things will improve next year, but it will certainly provide the time to evaluate what airlines are offering post pandemic with regards to service, routes and price with their respective loyalty programmes at the bottom of the list of considerations.

Bar Operator

Two good pieces of advice to consider here ;

Another person suggested not putting all your frequent flyer miles into one airline or alliance and I would suggest that’s good advice too.

BA isn’t perfect by any means but no one else is either, in my experience.


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DFB_london

Loyalty is a fallacy.

Now for sure, when it suits you and the economics are right, use BA.
Equally BA will value you when the economics work for them.
But as soon as any of the factors change, don't expect unquestioning loyalty.
Its a mistaken assumption many make (that the terms of the economic relationship won't change).
BA only understands $$$ (which is fair enough, its a business - and for the sake of your avios having a future that's a good thing).

In your case, if you think the extra test and transit time is worth it for the benefits kept (priority check in, seat assignment, lounge access) then be 'loyal'. But if not, then look elsewhere.

LondonElite

BA isn't interested in any single traveller, just as you shouldn't be interested in any single airline. Don't let the tail wag the dog.

Tobias-UK

MAN often has 12 rows in Club and that flight can be under 30 minutes! For £267 you can often get a round trip fare for less, you can also find much higher one-way fares in Economy - and HBO at that!

Fatdickie

I think when I looked earlier the one way economy fare was £160 ish.. Crazy

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Howard Long

If it wasn't for Qatar, I'd be seriously considering moving to Lufthansa/Swiss.

LCY8737

Greek islands during the summer holidays must be near the highest margin routes BA operates. Not that the audience is price sensitive...

GBOAC

Because I would estimate that the majority of certainly Gold and above members rely on long haul flights to these destinations.
It is just not feasible to get gold flying to Europe in CE every 2.5 weeks (not that some don't do it, but they are very much in the minority).
Without the USA and Asia (and we can also discount South Africa as the main BA desination in that continent), regular long haul flying is just not feasible for 95% of the high-yeilding travelling public.

AJA_

If I was OP I'd just drop to silver. You still get lounge access where available (or not as you've discovered). Book the best OW routes regardless of whether BA is operating carrier. You'd still get status recognition, earn TP and Avios.

I'm Silver through my own effort, leisure traveller and currently not flying anywhere. Haven't been on board any plane since Feb 2020. Am a Feb TP year end so if I drop to rust, er I mean Bronze, next April so be it.

I buy business class seats anyway so normally get "better" check in (even would with rust virtual card) and lounge access anyway and will be able to regain Silver fairly easily, even more likely if TP thresholds stay reduced.

But FWIW I think patience will be rewarded and there will be further extension of status. At which point OP's problems disappear (outstation lounge access notwithstanding).

Fatdickie

Likewise
and found flying out of Gatwick mainly European Leisure city breaks, silver is certainly enough to make a difference
Then at year end (mine is August) would book a few CE trips away in the sale to regain Silver, so never notice a drop
Then back to Y seat in row 11 or 12 exit row with extra leg room for the next 2 years

Sometimes wonder what it would be like to be gold and with the reduced qualifying TPs this would be the time to do it.... But the world is not yet open

SonicStar817

The point I'm making (especially in relation to mikeyfly's comment re leisure travel) is that there are places not listed by the OP that are available to travel, some of which are Long haul... If you don't want to travel to them, that's up to you. Not everyone needs the US and Asia for tier points.