TheRealBabushka

So word on the ground, for business the year 2020 is a write-off - we’re in economic hibernation. Companies preserving cash, employees stood down, furloughed or retrenched. Lots of people are in pain and this post is not intended to diminish that.

[Mod: rule 12 breach redacted]

For those of us that are lucky enough to retain a job, and one that still requires significant travel, what are your strategies for retaining CCR if your current accrual period is less than 12 months?

There is only so much flying at the pointy end that you can do in the time left, assuming normality (no, normalcy is not a word even if a former US President had used it) returns at the tail end of Q3.

What are your strategies? Will BA relent and relax CCR or GGL retention requirements?

Gastrocnemius

Wait and See

Not much else I can do at the moment- it is outside my, or anyone else's control

Swanhunter

My hunch is that circumstances will see BA roll everything forward a year. I see DL have done just that in the last couple of days.

Misco60

Normalcy is a word; it's a synonym of normality. It appears in the online Collins and Merriam-Webster dictionaries, and also in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary I have on the shelf here in my study. Its first recorded use was in 1855.

rockflyertalk

Hope for a blanket 12 month extension to all BAEC members. Why BA haven’t implemented this for ease and positive experience on both sides amazes me.

BA decide instead to...Let’s make it difficult and reduce the threshold by 30%, across only 3 months which surely is more challenging and impactful to implement within their business, then just an extension to ALL. One email, one message, one business process.

Anyway I’m now discussing what’s already been discussed in the other thread.

fatmac70

I for one hope they don’t extend or renew status this is a good time to reduce no of Golds, GGLs and CCR members to allow the lounges to be less crowded and reduce cost. Also this could support long term Social Distancing.
Just myself speculating - but I can’t see the CCR’s reopening once the Covid19 crisis is over. With this BA should take the opportunity to reduce some cost and complexity. No need for CCR cards if no CCR rooms!😀😀.
I don’t think any other OW or JV carrier has a CCR type arrangement.

Tobias-UK

Wash your mouth out you!

fatmac70

your right - hot water and soap all lined up😀😀😀

Mike P

I wonder if we will ever return to what we viewed as 'normal' before this crisis? I suspect that a lot will change and some things may never go back to how they were.

Anyway, I drift off topic. The answer to the OP's question is above; wait and see. It's all any of us can do. I'm fully expecting a blanket extension at some stage later in the year once things become slightly more clear.

peter h

This has been / is being discussed ad tedium in the dedicated thread.

As for BA's concessions? With no end in sight of the effects and scale of COVID-19, nor any idea when airline travel will return to any semblance of what it was even 2 months ago, who knows? I can understand the case for not making a one-off knee jerk response when the end of the pandemic isn't known. It seems reasonable to take more steps periodically as time goes on and I hope that BA will do that. Maybe they'll issue another update tomorrow?

As for the OP - my advice would be to plan to earn 5,000 TPs and hope for the best!

KEJABEDSM

Unless BA suddenly decides get rid of F, then I can’t see the CCR’s going away. They play a critical purpose for frankly, not that much additional cost.

In terms of other OW carriers with a CCR arrangement? AA FFD or the Al Safwa (QR) in DOH...

While F is likely to reduce in total seat count over the coming years (regardless of COVID), its a key part of BA’s brand and strategy.

And the CCR is a critical differentiator on the JFK-LHR route for high profile passengers.

HighwayToHEL

I'm on 4515 points, and both my 500 TP trips in May and July are canned, and my year ends in August. A year roll-forward would be nice.

That said, I think the world will not be the same again after this, and I suspect travel will reduce for a lot of people, myself included. I used to attend lots of conferences in the US but most have now "transitioned" to being virtual, and probably won't transition back again, so even if I do get a 12 month extension, I expect it'll be the last time ever that I approach the 5000 TP again.

KEJABEDSM

I'm sure its slightly industry specific but we normally pay the big bucks to sponsor conferences (which is of course what makes them viable). I can't ever seen focusing more than a token of our sponsorship spend on virtual conferences. Just paying for a speaking slot is only half the game. We want to be able to have casual interactions, drinks, and dinners with clients and potential clients at conferences. And people's attention span will never be there with virtual conferences to the same extent as in person.

Back to the core point - I think you can be pretty confident you will get a CCR card with 4500 TPs to date an an Aug expiration. No guarantees but I wouldn't be sweating it.

Dave Noble

Af Safwa is a 1st class lounge , not akin to the Concorde Room

AA's dining is akin to BA's dining offering at some airports

What makes it a critical differentiaor over other carriers 1st class lounge offerings?

corporate-wage-slave

I think once you've been in the Concorde Rooms you would appreciate there is a difference from other such lounges. It doesn't work for everyone, and there are plenty on here who would put the Cathay Lounges as more enjoyable than CCRs, but I don't share this view. If I never go into a CX lounge ever again I doubt it would register much with me, whereas I would genuinely miss the CCR if that didn't open again. It's partly the people who work there, who bring a wide range of personalities to serving customers there; it's the customers, whether a first timer en route to a trip of a lifetime or a multi Oscar winning household name; the seats and location within T5 and T7; the different facilities from the boardroom to the high tables. It's just different to other lounges, and you can tell that from the almost daily questions in this forum in the past as to how to get into CCR when departing from other terminals or transferring between flights or whatever.