Despite being on here 22 years I have been guilty, maybe more than most, of still asking basic questions, knowing that I will get a quick and knowledgeable answer. I still do so - vide my recent question about missing TPs - but I find I check in here less and less often because I ask my friendly AI first. Of course it is often referring me to FT as a source, but it takes me straight to the point and I usually know enough to know whether it is right, or that I need to come here and dig deeper.

To keep this on BA topic, another reason I may check in less is that there seems to be less to talk about in the world of BAC. For all its complexities it is actually pretty straightforward, and I no longer expect to find some interesting way to Gold let alone GGL. You pays your �20k or you don�t get it. End of. And there�s not much going on with seats etc now that CS is basically done and no sign of new F actually appearing in my lifetime

(As an aside, I recently logged into FT without my usual adblocker on. I hoped the Mods don�t block this comment but it�s horrific and unusable. I would happily unblock this site and let it earn a little from a sensible level of intrusive ads, but this was next level.)

I appreciate for many people FT is more of a community than a community knowledge bank, and I still smile to read comments from Pucci and other old hands (dodging the hairbrush as I write that). And if I am ever needing quick input and help I know c-w-s will be my online saviour. But the pull of the bot is real I fear.

Not quite - you can get Gold for as little as �4-5k by doing a DONE3/4, and if you consider an Avios to be worth 1p then the effective cost is only �3-4k!

I love this site & its posters.

Use it or lose it.

AI is not real & will never come close to the exchanges & interactions on here. The personal messages of help when you need it are on another level.

The instant info on this site is invaluable. CWS and Karfa, plus the entertaining and knowledgeable comments by Pucci, are priceless. AI can answer specific questions but, I actually come for the wealth of knowledge and perhaps the desire to go to a new destination. Everyday, I learn something in this page about the numerous airlines or destinations that interest me. If I just asked AI about my flight tomorrow, I wouldn�t have that knowledge.

It would be interesting to know what things you ask AI, and whether the answers are accurate.

I think the benefit of this forum is certainly the depth and breadth of experience - not just from the most prolific posters either. if i ever post something that is not correct it is quickly peer reviewed and corrected

Given how AI works and the preponderance of incorrect information out on the web (including the BA website), I generally view all AI search results with scepticism. Obviously YMMV.

AI wont tell me if I’ve been the subject of the DYKWIA thread, so I manually have to come and check myself.

Is there any doubt?

David

No.

There are various things to use AI for but Flyertalk isn�t just about asking and answering questions.

i love looking at pictures of lounges, uploading my own too. I love looking at pictures of Club Europe meals and menus too. I also love looking at the pictures from BA thread. And of course, I love some of the silly lighthearted threads on here and always reading the quite varying differing opinion on topics such as �bag tags� and �confronting someone sitting in a unallocted seat� and so forth.

AI cannot replicate the above in the same way.

some may disagree, including the old timers on here, but the ba forum does feel *slightly* quieter than previously but then go and look at other airlines and sometimes there are no posts for days!

it depends on the question!! Below is the gemini response related to one current thread on this forum, which seems quite good, but it cannot give me availability for BA 296 LHR-IAD on 6th July.

For answers like below, most of its info is from reddit

The short answer is that British Airways does not have an official "free upgrade" policy that you can request or sign up for. In the airline industry, free upgrades are officially known as Operational Upgrades (OpUps), and they are never handed out based on a nice outfit, a polite request at check-in, or a special occasion like a honeymoon.​Instead, free upgrades are entirely automated and triggered by a computer algorithm when a flight is oversold.

The Selection Hierarchy​

If the airline needs to move people up, they look at the following criteria in order:

​Frequent Flyer Status: Members of the British Airways Executive Club holding Gold status are prioritized first, followed by Silver, and then Bronze (along with equivalent Oneworld alliance status tiers like Emerald or Sapphire).​

Ticket Fare Class: Passengers who bought fully flexible, higher-fare economy tickets are chosen before those who bought heavily discounted, non-refundable tickets.​

Internal Revenue Algorithm: BA's system also utilizes an internal algorithm that sometimes selects passengers who normally buy premium tickets but happen to be flying economy that day, or passengers who show a high statistical probability of purchasing premium seats in the future if given a "taste" of the higher cabin.

I check FT less often because I'm pretty well done with BAC and the BA forum isn't as interesting as a lot of the old regulars seem to be less engaged now. I still check here out but as BAC has gone purely revenue it's much less interesting as it's mostly the very high spend individuals left whereas before it was a good mix

If you don't care if your answer is accurate, sure, use a LLM.

Me, I prefer to actually research something and use a real brain to analyse it not a LLM.

I see how wrong AI often gets the answers to things I do know about, so I assume its answers to anything I don't know about will similarly be quite unreliable.

Even AI knows there are no bread plates in Club Europe.

Just been wondering if TAROM have a 24 hr cancellation policy - AI search �summary� confidently given me both possible answers within the space of two minutes.