Originally Posted by
Skipness One Foxtrot
They're all c***. All of 'em The Business Class hard product across (most) legacy European A320 fleets (and KLM's B737s) is the bare minimum they can get away with and they literally do not compete on product because they're all inferior to the wider global market. It's a cosy wee cartel where no one upsets the applecart of a high revenue low cost business offering by actually offering a higher cost quality product. What saves them all is the power of their loyalty programmes. BA would be nowhere without the status chasers of the Executive Club. And there's a massive misnomer in 2023 let's be honest.
Spot on Skip those loyalty (bribe) programmes are specifically designed to lock in and gain upfront CASH, maintain that at a high(er) margin and actually deliver relatively cheap “awards” down the line . They also include an elemental risk assessment that many many many hundreds of thousand perhaps millions of points are unlikely to ever be redeemed.
Further add hidden expiry criteria and constant reviews of “offers” and redemption rates and it’s simply a license to print money for these companies at your expense (They got your money upfront at x2 x5 and x10 base price and its in their bank making them and the partners money but not yours)
That said people “value” the concept and at a physiological level potential for future “Free Stuff yes please “ sells !
For the average person that travels to a beech for 14 days or even that millennial that weekends in Ibiza the number of points gained on a typical credit card in a year might just pay for a basket of Christmas goodies, however its alluring to think you could someday get that free trip and bath tube seat , on tap champers and a Maldives hut on a coral reef someday.
Scam is a loaded word through they aren’t far from it !