BA Executive Club Changes

[norodnik]

BA announced today the revamped Executive Club scheme

Bean counters have worked out that stopping the FF's flying for free will save money.

SO, up go the mileage requirements, lots of other benefits withdrawn, tiers harder to retain etc etc

What madness, don't the bean counters realise that FF are the life blood of the airline. You have to fly LOTS to get free flights and now you can't even get those.

Say hello to empty cabins. The people you most want to keep are just about to go elsewhere

[Few Cloudy]

It's a difficult policy to reverse - once people have got used to it. Better perhaps not to introduce it in the first place but lower the fares instead?

[soddim]

Having enjoyed many free air miles flights I have often wondered how long BA could afford to support the old system. On one occasion we earned a free ME/LHR return simply by taking advantage of a very much reduced ME/LHR/Africa return - sheer madness if you want to make a profit.

Now that times are hard for all airlines I expect very little in the way of freebies.

Even without free air miles I would still choose BA. I have tried most of the rest and found them wanting.

[Leclairage]

BA's best attribute for securing future business is that the cabin service is consistent. Not great, but consistent.
Many others are better some days, and worse others, Virgin being a shining example of this.

Especially in these troubled times airlines HAVE to reward loyalty, and any denegration of a system already in place will act as a 'we dont want you as much as we did' message, and encourage the brand evangelist to become the brand assassin.

But. When did bean counters ever listening to sound marketing reasoning!

[gulf_slf]

Having just lost my Gold card status and been provided with a Blue card for the first time ever(joined in Auckland back in 1989) I am concerned to say that BA does give recognition to long term loyalty of its members.

Most of the Executive Club members will have done significantly fewer miles in the last couple of years (having been loyal in previous years) due to the economic downturn. BA should take into account the goodwill that has built in past years to those who have not managed tp re-qualify, if only marginally!

One way to overcome this shortfall is to give memebers not re-qualifying at the right level the choice of going to Blue cards or pay a reasonable fee for that year(GBP 50??) to retain the Silver status card so that members can still benefit from the lounges etc

At least it would contribute to the running costs for the year, while members try to get back into the air!

BA are going to find it more difficult to attract SLF's back to them having imposed a (blanket) policy of taking all Gulf flights via Larnaca, due to the FCO warnings on the area. (Note: UAE & OMAN do not have a 'non-essential travel warning applicable to them)

Emirates, Gulf Air and other airlines(Royal Brunei) who fly direct from here on their way to London must be rubbing their hands in glee!!

Emirates have renewed my membership status although I did not acheive the required level ...so looks like I shall remain a BA Blue member for a while longer!

And AA have given me a Gold card so I shall still enjoy access to BA lounges, gain recognition etc for the next year due to links via 'One World'.... so large raspberries to Mr Eddington & co!!

[EGLKFlyer]

I travel UK - US fairly reglularly (4+ times / year) and other places around Europe; as does my boss. I used to fly BA almost "religiously" because they are my home carrier but got fed up because I didn't get any rewards - staying on a blue card for years.

Then I switched to Star Alliance. OK, so flying United isn't as great as BA, but at least I get my points.

The result: after 34 airline trips last year, I got a gold card (which I felt I deserved after enough flying hours to get a CPL). My boss, who has stuck with BA, is still on a blue one. Other people may think differently, but this is our hard evidence.


In my view, the Executive Club was a no-hoper long before they introduced these changes. Then they turned me off totally with the great Air Miles theft a few years ago. Amongst my colleagues, who have similar jobs to me, everyone who's on a Star Alliance programme (SAS / BMI / Lufthansa) is gold; anyone who's with BA is blue.

I'd actually prefer to fly BA because of the in-flight service and the attitude of their crews (I'm not having a go at the customer-facing parts of BA so don't get defensive), but they - as a company - will need to start recognising their frequent flyers properly.

[Ozzy]

Hi guys, well I usually fly private jets but what I thought should be recognised by the airlines is the amount of money spent on them and not the miles flown. Some flights don't qualify for BA points but if I buy four first class tickets MY card should eb credited for the total dollars spent not the miles flown - Peace man

[Bumz_Rush]

I have also changed from being a BA man to a star alliance man. As previously stated BA do no believe that their passengers deserve the loyalty, that we would like to extend to them. BA lounges are 100% better than any other. But I travel now "cross pond" with AA, leg room that fits me, and either AA lounges, or BA lounges, (till my Silver expires), and then I will use the Diners lounge. So BA will not gain any revenue from me unless I have NO choice. Loyalty begats Loyalty.