orbitmic

im not privy to specific cases, but at this stage it is worth remembering that ex gratia extensions for people not quite making their renewal target have always existed on BAEC (years before Covid) and at every level.

I�m not sure anyone ever knew the actual conditions (maybe if you have been at a status for x years, maybe something else, maybe it�s case by case and someone makes the decision) but unless someone knows the specifics in those cases I�d tend to avoid adding speculation atop speculation double guessing if the cases some of you are heard about are Covid related, reintroduction of what I mention above or something totally different and I think it would be very hard to double guess what criteria or target May he.

zen100

Well, what I have heard isn't cases where persons were just a handful short of 3,000, but way off (i.e. thousands short). It's second hand information and I have no direct evidence, so very much rumour territory. But I have heard it from multiple persons.

Flying Doctor

Will be interesting to see what happens. I suspect the numbers will settle anyway with the reduction in F, the increased schedule which will mean tighter connections (I quite often spend around 10 minutes in a lounge especially on short haul or don't even make it!) and the number of GGL's falling as full TP thresholds are now in force. Maybe they will reintroduce the CCR card which would be a shame as I have never seen the CCR full to brimming - though it does get busy - but the other lounges are also get very busy at peak hours too.....
FD.

contrails7

"There is no denying they need do something" - Why? From whose perspective? I am in the CCR almost every week, sometimes twice. It is busier than in the nadir of travel but not unbearably so. Never had an issue finding a seat. Most of the posts up thread seem to suggest an experience not dissimilar to my own. Meanwhile the GF is usually manic whenever I pass through First Wing security. As someone London based / and mostly on T5 routes, CCR is one of my motivators in retaining GGL. Take that away and as others have said there is little incentive to push for it.

From my perspective I have no doubt that should the access rules change it will be a cost decision pure and simple. This has nothing to do with capacity. It's more those glasses of LPGS adding up for BA beancounters. Must be especially galling when they are being quaffed by those on SH tickets, and horror of horrors those flying ET on Leisure, who in turn don't have a business meeting on the end of it. We are in inflationary environment after all. If the Lounge budgets are fixed then the give has to be in quality of service and access rights. Slightly off topic couldn't help notice when I was in the lounge earlier this week that there was no French Red, no brandy. Staff had no idea when and if they might return. I'm not a frequent poster but I did comment originally that when access rules were changed that given the reduction in F cabin sizes, and hence the lounge demographic mutating from F to GGL, that the catering quality was likely to fall. If you now prune the GGL side of the equation to those over 5,000 you will surely get a quieter lounge. But given BA's propensity to bank cost savings I'm not sure those wishing for it are going to see the benefit in the booze / catering budget...

orbitmic

The old ex gratia did not necessarily require people to be close to their threshold. I know f people who benefited from it after a year of almost fully avoiding Ba! So I don�t think that takes us any closer to knowing.

Tobias-UK

There are ongoing supply issues, both booze and food, so we should expect some continuing variations in the catering proposition whilst the supply chain recalibrates itself.

RichieMc

THIS!! I think if there are going to be any changes, it should be a reduced threshold to GGLfL or perhaps a few extra GUFs for all the wet rag, party spoiling teetotalers like me. I've run the numbers, and on a conservative estimate, I have saved BA �9'327.62 in the last year by not drinking any champagne in the lounge or onboard!

Pilot37

In relation to status still being granted on a case by case basis, I too have heard (2nd hand) of multiple instances of GGL members (albeit GGL for many yrs) being renewed their status without being anywhere near the 3K level. So it puzzles me if BA are going to try and keep a minority of their top (earned) status level members happy by gifting an extension, only to p*ss off the majority of that same cohort who earned their status by cutting off CCR access!

The only thing that would make sense was if BA were to redraft the thresholds for all tiers thereby reducing the pressure across all lounges and perks:

Bronze 300 > 500
Silver 600 > 1000
Gold 1,500 > 2,000
GGL 3,000 > 4,000

That would be a sure fire way to filter those who just scraped over the threshold and free up lounge space across all areas of T5!

Pilot37

lost_in_translation

Indeed, but as per above a lot of these changes would just be redistributing which overcrowded lounge status passengers are in rather than really reducing overall crowding, the main pinch point is created by extensions plus the BA Silver threshold being further reduced recently from what was already arguably a quite low level compared to many other OWS statuses in the first place. BA Gold requires almost 3x the TPs of Silver which is really quite an unusual level of differential - the difference between earning required for OWS and OWE on CX is 2x, JL is 1.6x, AA is 1.66x, QR is 2x, etc.

zen100

And this is what would really annoy me.

If BA wish to dole out even more renewals to long standing GGL members who haven't shown much loyalty over the past few years - in the (probably vain) hope that said GGLs will return to their previous travel patterns, that's their call.

But at the same time, stating they have too many GGLs - and reduce the benefits who have actually have been flying quite a bit for the past few years - that's one way to p!$$ us off

Of course, all speculation still...

Wozza2404

Yup. An example of a good friend of mine, that I've seen with my own eyes - extended despite being 1000TP+ short of even the reduced GGL threshold. Their status ends on Mar 8 and they've had an extension email and their card is already showing as having an April 2024 expiry.

So this is definitely targeted based on something other than being close to the threshold.

Rubecula

BA has to have an official policy regarding the ending of extensions. I was very fortunate in having a December renewal as a GGL and believe I benefitted from the last automatic extension of any executive club member. BA would be very short sighted if they were not prepared to offer some extensions after this date.

With the double tier points for BA holiday bookings and generous extension I will take at least one more holiday than originally planned this year in order to renew GGL. Possibly good business for BA.

GGLwannabe

Well this thread has got a lot of people, me included, engaged over the last 24 hours.

Over on another thread about a jaded flyer deciding to give up on GGL status after a particularly poor experience, a regular contributor dropped into the discussion that as the CCR is so much busier than it used to be, and as numerous stake-holders have, it seems, complained about that, BA have listened and the overcrowding situation is going to change later in the year! While it's always nice to be privy to inside information, I'm not sure that dropping it into a thread like that is the best way to ensure an ongoing supply of said inside information.

As an only-just re-qualifying GGL, I would, of course, resent any change that would deprive me of CCR access; but is it really significantly overcrowded these days?

Most people who have commented on the crowdedness of the CCR, including several who fly an awful lot, and who command a lot of respect, have stated that they have not found CCR overly-busy except possibly during times of flight disruption. That's certainly been my experience over the last few months, It's not been even remotely busy most times I've been there; and at the crack of dawn I've found that there are a lot fewer people around than pre-pandemic (although to my consternation there was someone sitting at my preferred corner terrace table at 05:30 recently).

As Covid-related GGL extensions start to drop out, and given the significant reduction in F seats available, it would seem to me that if there is any real problem here, it is one that will likely sort itself out over the next few months. I definitely hope to hang on to this perk which I do really appreciate.

AdBoy

Exactly! BA wouldn't be offering this benefit (which has been extended and extended and extended again) if it wasn't highly lucrative for them.

That additional revenue generated would surely outstrip the pressure on any lounge network costs.

I have to say, I haven't found the CCR any busier than it was from about 2015 onwards when I first qualified. Yes, the quality of the food is much reduced but I don't see that shooting back up even if the numbers consuming it 'need' to be reduced to make former CCR holders feel more exclusive again. They'll continue to complain things 'just ain't what they used to be'. As is their right.

With the loss of the CCR in NY (which for me, was always streets ahead of its London cousin) and the general malaise amongst all things BA, I'm no longer pushing for the 6k/7k tier points I used to accumulate.

If BA reinstates the 5k requirement for CCR access (of which there are now half of them with still no access in DXB/SIN to the various CC bars) then so be it. They won't then revert to the better food and beverage offering. That's just not what BA does. Ever.

Though there might well be a few more empty seats, which seems to be what people are after, having waded through this thread.

And getting themselves a bit more attention, obviously.

Bluekjp

Gosh, one year ago everyone was complaining that QR was doing this and LH and VS were doing that regarding extensions and that BA were doing nothing or were too slow to do anything, but now 'its all BA's own making' that too many people have status. BA just can't do a thing right.
Like the water from the leaking pipes in T3 and T5 eventually finds its level, so will the issue of people/status/lounge entry. Patience please.