[Senator]

MartynSinclair, both SAS EuroBonus and Lufthansa Miles & More offer something close to this. Past the age of 60, and if you have earned your EBG or M&M SEN status for 10 years consecutively leading up to 60 and beyond, both programmes offer Gold card holders life-time equivalent status.

[FlightDoctor]

Dammit. I am due to renew BAEC Gold for the 10th year this autumn but will almost certainly undershoot by 200 or so TPs due to travel cut backs. Sod’s law BA will introduce this the month after I crash down to Silver and I then need to wait another 10 years!

[TominScotland]

I have held a Lifetime Flying Blue Platinum for a number of years now and, as far as I can tell, this is a regular premium card with no limitations on its validity. The irony is that, for a variety of reasons including a steep rise in many of their fares, especially within Europe, I don’t use KLM/AF much these days. Provided the conditions do not change, I see this as my ‘retirement card’, being able to access premium facilities and benefits when otherwise travelling alot less.

[FormerlyDoS]

“Requirement of four qualifying BA flights per year to ensure lifetime status is renewed?”

Then it would not be a lifetime card, would it?

[VintageKrug]

It is a requirement for membership of the BAEC that you take four qualifying flights per annum; to retain the lifetime membership, you must first satisfy the membership criteria.

[ChrisSimp]

I am Lifetime Platinum with One World carrier AA (American Airlines).
You get lifetime Gold after one million miles and lifetime platinum after two million.

c

[VintageKrug]

…important to note that “lifetime” membership is the lifetime of the airline, not necessarily your lifetime as bmi cardholders have recently found out!

I think it’s great to have a “long term incentive plan”, but I think the bar has to be set quite high, and that the benefits should be relatively modest (a “core” set of benefits as MS alluded to, but perhaps not the full Gold card benefits).

[FormerlyDoS]

” to retain the lifetime membership, you must first satisfy the membership criteria.”

Non-sequitur, as other lifetime schemes show.

If this would be the case at BA, then I don’t think it would be a fair description to call it lifetime membership (I would not be surprised if a couple of official bodies stopped it.)

Not only would it be limited to the airline life, but probably limited to the life of that particular scheme.

Airlines have been known to withdraw and replace loyalty schemes, with new versions with different terms and conditions.

[midorosan]

Found myself in a similar position a few years back I think I was close to the ten year mark and I was short 180/200 points. I called my local Executive Club and explained that shortly after the expiry I would be taking a flight that would more than cover this, after a very friendly chat they saw the wisdom of my argument and renewed the gold, naturally I took the flight and filled my side of the bargain, great service.

[Therapeutic_flyer]

I would have to say that they should do something about what to do with the extra “status” miles that are earned or achieved once you reach the required ones per period… I am now for 3″period” in a row 6 years, Platinum with Iberia Plus (equivalent to BAEC Gold/Emerald One World) and still have a year to go but have accomplished the 12500 Avios that are required… My calendar is still going to be busy with flights with One World, however, any Elite Avios that I accumulate will not be taken into account… or so is mentioned by Iberia… I guess that if I where to add up all the “extra” elite Avios, I could now be Platinum until 2022… but their policy will not acknowledge that… Very frustrating… these Avios are literally “thrown out the window”…so i guess that some kind of Lifetime membership or a higher Status is required…

[donkeyasia]

In 2010 QF gave me a lifetime Gold card. I do not know the mileage required but my balance at the time was 5,200,000 miles over 25 years. IN the preceding 6 months that had taken away my Chairman’s Club Card and then my Platinum Card. The Chairman’s Club presumably i do no longer live in Australia, and the Platinum Card, presumably i do not fly with the airline much any more. i continue to accrue One World miles on CX and when QR comes on board so much the better. The valid points made about “lifetime” being the definition of the airline are well made

[Raffles99]

BAEC lifetime status will be launched this year. Trust me!

Sadly (for me) to be based on TPs rather than miles earned.

[VintageKrug]

Any thoughts on the scale of TPs required?

[FormerlyDoS]

TPs will be problematic, I think and will require a very high threshold, because they don’t equate to the commercial value of the relationship.

I earn relatively few TPs (compared to others), but my long haul flights are usually very expensive because of the flexibility required and the time of purchase (late in the day.)

I’m not after a lifetime card, but the underlying point is that I probably give BA a lot more profit that many who earn multiples of my TPs and that’s the problem for them.

So it will be very high, if it is TP based, possibly in the range of 30-50K. (Just speculation, I have no inside knowledge.)

[superchris]

I do know that BA have a few ‘lifers’ at Prem level. Given out years ago. I agree this is overdue that people who have travelled BA all their career suddenly reduce travel and sink down the rankings.

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