j.foxx

I'm BA Gold and have qualified easily with current 25% reduction in Tier points and BA Holidays deals.

Am trying to work out whether going for GGL by the end of the year is worth it (prices are high, and I'm short on time). I need 1500 TP's by Dec 31st.

Or whether to go for the undiscounted 5000 TP limit during my next membership year (> Feb 08) given I have 7 months of the BA holidays double deals , that kills two birds - my requalification for gold - plus I can schedule one First class long haul trip over 5 months to qualify the 5000 TP's hopefully on sale fares

But, is it worth it ?

First post, learning a lot here - thanks in advance

dayone

@j.foxx Welcome to FlyerTalk.

Pilot37

Ultimately only you can be the decision maker on this, but a few helpful pointers:

1) What is your normal flying schedule like - if it something like 2 or 3 long-haul trips a year then you have to evaluate how beneficial incurring a large cost to reach GGL is?
2) If the above still holds true, but you fly every week for work around Europe then the use of the CCR at T5 and priority when the sh*t hits the fan during IRROPS does prove to be worth it
3) 1500 TP’s is a lot to try and earn between now and the end of the year - have you priced up how you could earn that because at this late stage I would think several thousand pounds would have to be paid out to earn that now.
4) Going for it next year at the normal levels again brings us back to the above questions and earning 5K a year to hit the initial threshold is not easy - that is a high number for a reason!

Pilot37

firstlight

If you haven't already got flights booked, to get 1500 tps by year end that's going to be tough and going to cost you a lot in both money and time. We laid our plans for the autumn back in May.

So as a recent GGL there are some benefits but most of the time you should see it as gold plus rather than a separate tier. The CCR is better than the first lounge, the telephone is generally answered more quickly and the agents will sort out problems more rapidly.

The ability to give away a gold and two silver cards is useful if you have family or friends who fly a lot but who don't get lounge access.

For us with a stash of avios and companion vouchers, the ability to free up seats to the places we want to go and the times we want to go is one of the most useful.

If food selection is important to you on a longhaul then you will get priority before everyone else.

As someone living close to lhr and lgw with frequent economy short hauls for work and long hauls for leisure it's been worth getting it and with the lower thresholds likely to aim to renew it.

klaus79856

I´m BA GGL for many years.
All my flights are private trips.

Sometimes spending a lot of time to get cheap "I" tickets to Hawaii and USA.
Always make 3500 TP to get the Upgrade Vouchers.

I like the CCR, sometimes getting CK service from American Airlines in US and the cancel AVIOS bookings free of charge.
Most time there is minimal wait at the CCR Hotline.

A BA Holiday Hawaii ticket with the promo should get you at least 1840 TP - (40TP + 3x 140TP) x 4

j.foxx

Thank you all, some great insights - I haven't got any flights booked to make that shortfall up - so yes, it's cost prohibitive at the moment - so think I will go for this at the 5k level next year

j.foxx

thanks Klaus what kind of routing/class is that ?

klaus79856

This will be business class on BA and the routing UK (for example GLA)-LHR-JFK-LAX-Hawaii.
The point is now to find all flights in booking class "I"

bisonrav

A week in Hawaii will bankrupt you on hotels though probably, be careful of that..

My use of GGL is mostly around F redemptions for the family trip to Singapore which is roughly once a year. Having GUFs and Jokers is helpful, Jokers a bit less so these days. I dont find it particularly hard to make 3500 TPs without breaking the bank (I'll finish this year somewhere around 4500). CCR is nice but not indispensable, the phone support is excellent. I'm looking at the changes in earnings somewhat askance as it may tip the value prop in the wrong direction, but for the moment I like GGL and will continue with it.

I also do a lot of distinctly non-GGL flying, and I like that too. That's essentially bargain hunting and I'm aware that I can have easily as much fun and reconstruct elements of the premium experience at far lower cost. So that's also a very viable route,

LCY8737

CCR access and the phone line would be it for me. The jokers are nice, but with the fees BA is charging for redemptions they are of diminished value. Though as bisonrav pointed out they can be very useful for J->F upgrades.

Not sure what kind of price tag I would put on it the "how much is it worth" question when compared to Gold. I once did a TP run from OTP-PHX, so I guess at least £1k and a weekend.

SxMan

If you go to all the trouble, time and expense of achieving GGL you will probably be far less likely to try some of the other fabulous airlines out there. Just a thought! There are one or two truly amazing products.

Lefly

GGL team with dedicated phone line & email
Partner cards (1 gold, 2 silver)
Hilton Diamond status
No change/cancellation fees on redemptions
Jokers/space release
Up to 5 guests in BA lounges (if on same flight)
CCR access (LHR only. What will happen at JFK is yet to be seen)
AA CK treatment/recognition (random)
Good excuse for an extra TP run/TP optimized holiday... or two

Only you can know if it's worth it.

PETER01

You missed one extremely other important benefits of becoming GGL!! (it's an unpublished benefit)

Ambassador spotting in the CCR and the small chance to bump into Tobias-UK, orbitmic, KARFA, golfmad or/and corporate-wage-slave

TheRealBabushka

You've also got to assess this within the context of the competition. Is it really worth switching to earn Sky Team Elite? Really??? Once you've hit Star Gold, is it really worthwhile hitting the higher tiers within Star Alliance, particularly when SQ, UA and AC (imo the only airlines worth flying with Star Alliance - EVA doesn't have the reach, TK is hit and miss, ET's hub in Addis is bad) have a segregated business class experience, which status does not permit you access to. EK is not in an alliance and 3-in-a-row Business on 777 is just sad. So when all is said and done, where else would you park your mileage earn if not BAEC?

Lefly

Poor me. How could I forget that part?

Jokes aside, I would really like to meet them one day or another