Originally Posted by ademanuele

Some of you may have seen this "British Airways Changes: Adult Babies Throwing Toys"

A lot of support in the conversation at the bottom of the article. I suspect his views are not shared by many readers on flyertalk and I found it a rather offensive article, particularly his attempt to stereotype holders of BA status.

Originally Posted by KARFA

please note, after April this will be post 40000

Originally Posted by Boreas

Looks pretty wide open on BA and JAL for me, even for bookings earlier than this?

Originally Posted by Jaenks

BA Execution Club still has a change to come out of this without "loosing the face". Stating that the incorrect message went out by error during the holiday etc.
Let current TP collecting valid and just add � possibility to spenders,
Bronze 300TP or �3500 net
Silver 600TP or �7000 net 4 BA/IB segments
Gold 1500TP or �20000 net, Lifetime Gold 35000 TP or �550000 net, 4 BA/IB segments
Gold(GL() 5000TP or �65000 net, renewal 3000TP or �40000 net, Lifetime Gold(GL) 100000TP or �1,5 miljon net.
Everyone will be happy, TP earning travelers and � spenders,
BA can also confirm this validity ay least until March 31st 2030 to give stability to every member.

Originally Posted by PaulOM

The business fare in the screenshot is a promo fare with no refunds so won't be a J ticket. Think the original poster was referencing fully refundable tickets

Originally Posted by Jaenks

BA Execution Club still has a change to come out of this without "loosing the face". Stating that the incorrect message went out by error during the holiday etc.
Let current TP collecting valid and just add � possibility to spenders,
Bronze 300TP or �3500 net
Silver 600TP or �7000 net 4 BA/IB segments
Gold 1500TP or �20000 net, Lifetime Gold 35000 TP or �550000 net, 4 BA/IB segments
Gold(GL() 5000TP or �65000 net, renewal 3000TP or �40000 net, Lifetime Gold(GL) 100000TP or �1,5 miljon net.
Everyone will be happy, TP earning travelers and � spenders,
BA can also confirm this validity ay least until March 31st 2030 to give stability to every member.

Originally Posted by timlewis808

..and a free �500 BA voucher to make up for the trauma to all current Gold Card members :-)

Originally Posted by Jaenks

BA Execution Club still has a change to come out of this without "loosing the face". Stating that the incorrect message went out by error during the holiday etc.
Let current TP collecting valid and just add � possibility to spenders,
Bronze 300TP or �3500 net
Silver 600TP or �7000 net 4 BA/IB segments
Gold 1500TP or �20000 net, Lifetime Gold 35000 TP or �550000 net, 4 BA/IB segments
Gold(GL() 5000TP or �65000 net, renewal 3000TP or �40000 net, Lifetime Gold(GL) 100000TP or �1,5 miljon net.
Everyone will be happy, TP earning travelers and � spenders,
BA can also confirm this validity ay least until March 31st 2030 to give stability to every member.

Originally Posted by orbitmic

I can't answer for others but I can for myself: I routinely choose BA J over (better) EK J or EY J because because GGL gives me much better service/treatment in case of irrops/travel incidents (such as schedule changes, cancellations, etc), and as I've mentioned many times over the year, that is by far the primary function of an FFP for me. I used to take over 200 flights/year, slightly (but not much) below the 200 threshold in 2024 so one cancellation or big change can have devastating ripple effect�..(snip)�..they will find solutions to problems, but by and large, beyond that, that is the key reason why I want to keep much of my long haul flying under a primary roof in which I have GGL/HON/Ulti status even when cheaper and better alternatives exist on a specific flight and that has been GGL so far�

Originally Posted by timlewis808

..and a free �500 BA voucher to make up for the trauma to all current Gold Card members :-)

Originally Posted by etiene

...and a lifetime ban for anyone who ever worked at McKinsey!

...pretty please?

Originally Posted by ademanuele

Some of you may have seen this "British Airways Changes: Adult Babies Throwing Toys"

A lot of support in the conversation at the bottom of the article. I suspect his views are not shared by many readers on flyertalk and I found it a rather offensive article, particularly his attempt to stereotype holders of BA status.

Apologies if this link/article has already been posted, (moderator please delete if so).

Originally Posted by bisonrav

Got to go back to some of my comments when the years were aligned, as the conversation has drifted into BA centric areas. The key driver to this change is the belief that a standalone loyalty business can add about �4B at tech company margins (good double digit) and growth. This is an IAG corporate strategic pillar, announced in the report and accounts, and the point I've made a lot is that that this means that objections from within the business unit are overridden, and there are incentives and probably sanctions designed to move quickly.

Thinking it's to do with the champagne bill or crowded lounges is way off the mark, IMO. That's a very internalised view.

The changes can be very easily explained.

1) It is (too) easy to get status from flying under the status quo
2) therefore no-one will bother getting status from other activities
3) to create our loyalty eco system we need to incentivise use of other activities, including credit card spend, hotel bookings, other affiliated activities
4) therefore we must make status earning through flying much more difficult or impossible
5) Ego will force customers to use any means necessary to cement the travel privileges they value, which channels them into the eco system.

These are perfectly reasonable assertions, I am certain these were on the table when the year alignment was made. In a sensible business there would have been an announcement March 2024 that the new start date would coincide with a new method of earning status to be revealed throughout the year. Sit back and enjoy the revenue from the rush to GfL and BAH bookings on double tier points, explain the reasoning and give examples of the earning methods that will come in. Manage the change with your customers, gather issues, and behave reasonably fairly (you don't have to be nice in business, but you do have to appear fair).

That wasn't done - I am guessing because there was internal opposition to the changes (as GGLs we were all being interviewed by the HVC team on improvements to the offer, that was very confusing and misaligned) and deals were difficult to get to with suppliers in the absence of a reason for customers to take them up. Bad News Fairy gave detail in September, very accurately and with what looks like inside information, but there was still no announcement. So we get to the very last date where this can be announced to allow adoption April 1st, someone panicked about their performance bonus and pressed the "do it now or pick up your cards tomorrow" button, and it all happened with comms teams on holiday, no time to fully brief staff, and engendering a massive wave of hostility from customers, many of whom had expensive bookings to get half way to status after April, and who were also on holiday with time to get mad. I suspect a lot of what can be cancelled will be cancelled, and you'd be a bit nuts to book anything new. There aren't even important details like the soft landing (my guess is there was no soft landing in the plan, but that's been suspended while they think about it because they're worried about backlash and don't want to paint themselves into a corner; there's no real other explanation).

You literally could not manage a change like this in a worse way. Every single mistake you could make was made, But the reason it was done is valid in the IAG loyalty context (not the cost saving context although this would have been in discussions at the BA level). Please, forget the soul searching about abuse or lounge use. The underlying strategic thrust was in a different universe to that.

I would genuinely love to be a change management consultant to BA right now. The amount of sarcasm and finger wagging I'd employ would be delicious. But anyway they'll all get back into the office on the 6th and I'd imagine there'll be a bit of closing ranks, a bit of discussion about concessions around securing bookings after April, and some rolling of eyes and gnashing of teeth. Way to trash a brand guys.

PS BA, if you're reading, a great revenue stream would be to sell "fly on the wall" tickets for Waterside over the next few weeks.

Originally Posted by Wozza2404

Blogs will have played a significant part in the reasoning as to why these changes were deemed necessary. Articles offering step by step guides to hitting Gold for �2k. Articles advocating lounge crawling across T3.

The very pax these blogs were aimed at in order to generate ad revenue and points referrals for the authors are now the ones taking a kicking from those same authors.