Just gone Gold... what's about to change?
Sep 18, 2009, 6:37 am
#31
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: EGLL, KAUS, KLAX, KJFK and PHNL
Programs: BAEC, SK *G, Hyatt GP Courtesy Card
Posts: 161
I completely agree with this. For me, gold is a blip for a few years, caused by traveling a little more for work than I'd like. Yes, GF is lovely and the other benefits help, but I won't be weeping salt tears when inevitably I return to silver.
The bottom line is that the gold bar is set 2.5 * that for silver but the benefits are nowhere near being 2.5 * better.
The bottom line is that the gold bar is set 2.5 * that for silver but the benefits are nowhere near being 2.5 * better.
Sep 18, 2009, 7:48 am
#32
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: New York, NY, USA
Programs: BAGold; AA3MMPlat; UA1MMGold; FBGold; MarriottAmb; AccorPlat; HHGold; ICPlatAmb; HyattDiscoverist
Posts: 4,378
Agreed. However, the open doors policy is actually very useful, especially when you have that odd flight that wasnt booked on BA for whatever reason, perhaps flying LH in economy or whatever. Its nice to have access to a lounge on those occasions (instead of relying on priority pass for example)
My first couple of years as a Gold, I also really enjoyed both spa and Arrivals lounge access when flying in WT+, which back then I did several times, as MFUing on my very inflexible travel dates was often impossible. Nowadays, CW sale fares seem to have made CW more attainable and in any case the spa treatments are less enticing (I still miss the 20-minute back massage), the Elemis personnel at JFK less accommodating to Golds, and the waits often prohibitive.
I really enjoy the GF lounge at T5, and in general I would consider that to be one of the primary advantages of Gold status, but in my own case, as an AA EXP, I get access to it anyway. (What I do enjoy is the access BA Gold affords me to the AA FL lounges, but that's valuable to me because I fly AA out of JFK a lot, and am not infrequently in LA and ORD. If I were based in San Francisco, and flew mostly to DFW, it would not be a very meaningful benefit.)
I've had one courtesy UG from CW to F as a Gold when the BA seat stealers took my beloved 62K and bounced me down to the lower deck and one op up from WT+ to CW, but nothing at all in the last two years.
Here in the US, BA phone reps routinely waive the telephone ticketing fees for Golds; I believe I've read here that they are waived in the UK, as well.
After a couple of unhappy experiences with BA, I've been thinking hard about whether it's worth continuing as a Gold. It's great to be able to reserve 62K at booking, but when it morphs into 15F on a 777, the value is dubious, and, more to the point, with those 777's mushrooming on the JFK-LHR route, there's nowhere in the CW cabin I WANT to sit.
In my own case, I'm probably going to wait and see what happens with AA's request for ATI, and then decide. But change just a couple of my circumstances (e.g., airports, routes or terminals), and Gold would be well worth having.
Sep 18, 2009, 10:19 am
#33
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 235
Hello FT,
yesterday my points count was finally reset, and the website is all gold & shiny now..
Other than the obvious (Flounge, FIRST Checkin at T5, 1A/K reservations, ...), what were the changes you noticed most when you went Gold (if it's not too long ago...
)
Cheers,
pcf
yesterday my points count was finally reset, and the website is all gold & shiny now..
Other than the obvious (Flounge, FIRST Checkin at T5, 1A/K reservations, ...), what were the changes you noticed most when you went Gold (if it's not too long ago...
)Cheers,
pcf
Congratulations PCFlyer!
It may be that nothing much is going to change, but my points too have crossed the threshold today and should hopefully reset over the weekend, and I have a strange sense of excitement. For someone who travels incidentally to the main job rather than for it, GGL and the like will always be unattainable, so Gold feels like I have arrived.
It is only 2 years since I ditched bmi and the Star Alliance and I am very pleased with the whole package I have received from BA and One World. Of course there are things I am unhappy about (and they are largely the same as everyone else), but I was generally happier as BA Silver than when I flew as *A Gold, and I look forward to being happy even more of the time now!
Well done BA - your loyalty programme is working for you and for me.
Sep 18, 2009, 11:17 am
#34
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: All over the place often South Wales and Lake District
Programs: BA Gold for Life Accor Platinum
Posts: 4,552
I think it really depends on your travel patterns. Open doors was one of the reasons I originally pushed to make Gold; I was flying UA frequently at the time, and it was a real treat to walk into the Terraces lounge at JFK's T7 (the terminal both BA and UA use there), rather than the dreaded UA Red Carpet Club. Flash forward a couple of years, and UA's virtually pulled out of NY except for service to its hubs, and I'm no longer flying them, so that's a benefit I now only get to use on one of my rare forays on EC (and even then I had to fight for access at EWR. Not that it was worth fighting for).
My first couple of years as a Gold, I also really enjoyed both spa and Arrivals lounge access when flying in WT+, which back then I did several times, as MFUing on my very inflexible travel dates was often impossible. Nowadays, CW sale fares seem to have made CW more attainable and in any case the spa treatments are less enticing (I still miss the 20-minute back massage), the Elemis personnel at JFK less accommodating to Golds, and the waits often prohibitive.
I really enjoy the GF lounge at T5, and in general I would consider that to be one of the primary advantages of Gold status, but in my own case, as an AA EXP, I get access to it anyway. (What I do enjoy is the access BA Gold affords me to the AA FL lounges, but that's valuable to me because I fly AA out of JFK a lot, and am not infrequently in LA and ORD. If I were based in San Francisco, and flew mostly to DFW, it would not be a very meaningful benefit.)
I've had one courtesy UG from CW to F as a Gold when the BA seat stealers took my beloved 62K and bounced me down to the lower deck and one op up from WT+ to CW, but nothing at all in the last two years.
Here in the US, BA phone reps routinely waive the telephone ticketing fees for Golds; I believe I've read here that they are waived in the UK, as well.
After a couple of unhappy experiences with BA, I've been thinking hard about whether it's worth continuing as a Gold. It's great to be able to reserve 62K at booking, but when it morphs into 15F on a 777, the value is dubious, and, more to the point, with those 777's mushrooming on the JFK-LHR route, there's nowhere in the CW cabin I WANT to sit.
In my own case, I'm probably going to wait and see what happens with AA's request for ATI, and then decide. But change just a couple of my circumstances (e.g., airports, routes or terminals), and Gold would be well worth having.
My first couple of years as a Gold, I also really enjoyed both spa and Arrivals lounge access when flying in WT+, which back then I did several times, as MFUing on my very inflexible travel dates was often impossible. Nowadays, CW sale fares seem to have made CW more attainable and in any case the spa treatments are less enticing (I still miss the 20-minute back massage), the Elemis personnel at JFK less accommodating to Golds, and the waits often prohibitive.
I really enjoy the GF lounge at T5, and in general I would consider that to be one of the primary advantages of Gold status, but in my own case, as an AA EXP, I get access to it anyway. (What I do enjoy is the access BA Gold affords me to the AA FL lounges, but that's valuable to me because I fly AA out of JFK a lot, and am not infrequently in LA and ORD. If I were based in San Francisco, and flew mostly to DFW, it would not be a very meaningful benefit.)
I've had one courtesy UG from CW to F as a Gold when the BA seat stealers took my beloved 62K and bounced me down to the lower deck and one op up from WT+ to CW, but nothing at all in the last two years.
Here in the US, BA phone reps routinely waive the telephone ticketing fees for Golds; I believe I've read here that they are waived in the UK, as well.
After a couple of unhappy experiences with BA, I've been thinking hard about whether it's worth continuing as a Gold. It's great to be able to reserve 62K at booking, but when it morphs into 15F on a 777, the value is dubious, and, more to the point, with those 777's mushrooming on the JFK-LHR route, there's nowhere in the CW cabin I WANT to sit.
In my own case, I'm probably going to wait and see what happens with AA's request for ATI, and then decide. But change just a couple of my circumstances (e.g., airports, routes or terminals), and Gold would be well worth having.