[richardofFrancepp]

Just fly another airline. I have done this on lon-jnb and bod-lgw.

[JonathanCohen09]

I agree with RichardOaten and voted with my feet some time ago.

I am curious to hear from those who are loyal to BA how much more their Gold or Silver card benefits would need to be eroded before they would be tempted or convinced to vote with their feet and use other airlines?

I regularly read BAEC gold and silver card holders say on this forum how annoyed they are with BA about various decisions they have made and that they have written to complain or have spoken to someone in the EC in order to register their protest. Can anyone tell me if that has that ever led to BA doing a U Turn on something because they heard and understood from their most loyal customers that they did something that they should not have done?

For example there was a big uproar when BA started charging passengers to book seats in the CW cabin unless they had Gold or Silver status. If BA now wanted to charge gold and silver members to do that, would that be enough for you to say enough is enough and fly with somebody else?

For the record, I am not BA bashing here I am genuinely interested in hearing the views of those posters who still choose to fly BA.

[SimonS1]

Same here – about 10 years ago now and have never looked back.

Even though the premium propositions are old hat now, 90% of BA travellers on here will still be with the airline in a year’s time due to a combination of a) no choice – it’s the company that is actually paying for their travel, b) too painful to divorce Mr/s Avios, c) can’t bear to be seen without the status and d) inertia.

For the record I think BA is right on this one. Whilst there are always winners and losers there are people out there who achieve Silver through lots of cheap SH/domestic flights whose value to the airline doesn’t warrant the cost of the lounge, monopoly over front row seats.

I’m sure there is more to come, prepare for a limitation on lounge access for HBO travellers and/or guests and/or domestics.

[TMCWoking]

BA319131, I couldn’t agree more, BA are simply nickel and dime’ing EC members which seems silly to say the least. My point was simply that if you book a fare which does includes hold luggage (for £10 extra) you get the seat of your choice in advance, also, if you ever book an HBO fare and subsequently require hold luggage you’ll be forced to pay another £20 on BA.com; not the point I know but it circumvents not being able to get the seat of your choice.

[MrDarwin]

I just don’t get the whole loyalty thing. It’s a complete misnomer. A listed company exists solely to return a dividend to it’s shareholders. It’ll do so by delivering it’s product in the most cheap, profitable way, that keeps a customer buying.

I see having an ‘alliance’ more about what I can get out of it rather than what is ‘owed’ to me for my custom. I’ve switched alliances three times in the past 10 years, usually because I felt that the service had degraded below what I considered value for money, and/or the benefits to me based on my custom were no longer considered a good return either.

By remaining a customer you’re inadvertently giving your approval to the changes you’re complaining about. If you’re not feeling the love, then go elsewhere.

[canucklad]

I agree about loyalty, companies including to an extent my own, do a lot of talk the talk and will make headline grabbing proclamations about, the customer being at the centre of everything we do, or the customer is always right, and in the case of BA , we’ve been listening to your feedback and…….etc, etc .

Sadly, very rarely do they walk the walk, and empower their customer facing staff to do the right thing when they’re interacting with us. And the primary reason, is that the fear of failure and the need to protect profit margins is linked , thus inhibiting top management to release the potential of their frustrated people who want to do the right thing.

Why, because IMO, Ultimately, our business model in the western world is designed wrongly from the outset. Stock markets choosing to recognize failure rather than success. Sadly this drives companies into trying to squeeze every last penny out of their customers, and giving less and less back in return.

The good news is that BA made a profit this year of £ X , now, if that profit under the same conditions next year doesn’t increase then BA and their management team are deemed to have had a poor year.

A classic example of this mad thinking is Tesco… 1.4 billion, yes BILLION in profit, and yet the headline news is…..
Tesco suffers fresh blow, or Crisis at Tesco.

So what to do….. cut back, charge more, cut back, find new ways to increase revenue, then cut back some more, in the believe that profit margins will increase, as will annual profit growth. Unfortunately it’s a very dangerous strategy, because in our ever increasing global village there are companies out there that don’t follow that mindset.

And Simon, it’s that very model that inspires BA to launch it’s HBO fares, Why, so they can fill their seats. If I didn’t book an HBO fare someone ‘else would. . WHY, not because I wouldn’t choose another fare but because BA allows me too..

And your point about many domestic short haul flights is well made, but I’ll challenge you to who was more loyal to their chosen carrier. Me who averaged 80 + flights a year , and complying with my company policy of booking flights , my spend was around £100 -£150 a sector, or the company Exec who makes an “ F” class flight to HKG every 3 months ?

You’ll find it’s far more difficult for me, a weekly customer to gain access to the lounge than the quarterly customer. And I’m talking maintain my status not using my ticket class.

[lesmclaren]

As these are hardly “great” fares to start with does anyone know how much its going to cost to change your seat [which I bet is a middle one regardless of EC status!] which will further reduce these “great” fares?! As has been said, another kick in the butt from BA. Been a member for over 20 years, many of them Gold but wonder why I am bothering any more. Will never make “Gold for Life” because my flights have always been short haul and I am already working beyond retirement age! Also does BA not realise that because there are no lounge alternatives [such as Priority Pass] at T5 then people like me who value this will simply stop flying with BA? So far this year [with more to come I suspect] a great business plan BA – how to loose your best customers in one easy lesson! Overall KLM offers a much better deal, time to fly more with them methinks.

[Eastbourneguy]

/BA319131

Well done for writing in…I hope a lot more people do.
It’s all very well walking away, but unless they are made aware of how people feel and what they are doing then nothing will ever be changed.

Be interested to know your reply

For example I did a couple of tests yesterday comparing the same LGW AMS flights with HBO fares with both BA a and EZY, adding on seat selection fares, and the difference I could save with EZY was over £47.00

If i used BA for the flight I would only have been awarded on the new scheme I would receive 125 Avios each way and pay over £47.00 more

However, If I use EZY and really needed the Avios I could spend the £47.00 on purchasing 2000 avios for the same flight

the only the thing I would loose is the use of the lounge, and unless you have not seen the new one at AMS …then don’t bother…it’s not worth the 20minute walk from check in!!

[SimonS1]

@canucklad – the customer that matters most is the one that delivers the most profitability to the airline.

Taking 80 flights a year is loyal in your eyes, highly commendable etc, but if it does not deliver profits to the airline then I can see the problem. I would expect the F traveller to deliver greater profitability from their 4 flights than your 80, and it in turn involves 8 possible lounge visits compared to your 80.

In practice both are important (economy travellers do generate incremental income) but if I had to retain one of the two clients I know which one it would be.

[SurreyTraveller01]

I won’t publish a long post. But after the very disappointing changes to the BA EC, this last decision adds insult to injury.

Eastbourneguy hit the nail on the head. If our loyalty is not appreciated, LET’S WALK AWAY from BA. Like for the electricity companies, let’s do a “BIG SWITCH” book on the lowest fares with other airlines, pocket the difference to enjoy more travels or treats .

Tell everyone to do the same and to declare on public forums, facebook, twitter when, they opted for an alternative airline. When BA’s reputation and bottom line is affected, then they will show a bit more care and attention about what their (former) customers think

[lesmclaren]

SimonS1 – I agree that in a purely statistical argument your point regarding the income generated by the 4 x F rather than the 80 x ? is correct and there it would appear lies the current “executive thinking” of BA. However it ignores the old adage “the bread and butter is needed to gain the cake”. When doing my business studies many years ago one of the economics text books was titled “Lies, Damned Lies & Statistics” , says it all really!!. The suspicion has to be that BA is on a crusade to cull the number of members of the EC at the higher tiers which would enable them to close many lounges, no doubt at T5 to enable even more extortionately expensive and upmarket shops to take their place. What BA does not seem to realise is how many loyal and longstanding customers they are going to loose in the long run. But then perhaps their long term plan is to join the “low cost” carrier brigade?!!.

[BigDog.]

@ lesmclaren – 08/03/2015 10:53 GMT
….But then perhaps their long term plan is to join the “low cost” carrier brigade?!!….

Similar views are becoming prevalent and getting more traction in the press Les.

…How Ryanair and British Airways are trying to be like easyJet. Ryanair is trying to be nicer to customers, British Airways is becoming meaner…..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/columnists/nicktrend/11454649/How-Ryanair-and-British-Airways-are-trying-to-be-like-easyJet.html

[openfly]

Hey Bigdog….thanks for the link. So much truth in the article.

[SimonS1]

@lesmclaren – you could alternatively argue that all BA is looking to do is direct available benefits to the people who are of value to the airline.

The thread on Flyertalk is up to 62 pages, quite a lot of them filled by posts from people who think that travelling a lot of domestic/SH legs on the cheapest tickets (cheaper in real terms than ever before) automatically makes them high value, important and entitles them to lounge access, front row seats etc. The same people who moan when the quality of catering is reduced, cheaper champagne provided etc. Most of them flying on other peoples’ money, moaning about wines and champagnes they would never buy from their own pockets.

I don’t know about plans to close lounges down but there are plenty of people who think a thinning out of people entitled is in order due to overcrowding etc. The risk is that without doing this the airline risks losing more travellers like this who are paying genuinely premium fares and getting a second rate experience.

http://www.businesstraveller.com/discussion/topic/T5-this-morning

@SurreyTraveller01 – completely agree with you, vote with your feet, but you know 90% of people who claim to be aggrieved can’t or won’t.

[SurreyTraveller01]

The person at BA who took such decisions should seriously consider his or her position in the job. How can they can get so wrong. I fly business with BA, I also fly economy on short haul route. If my experience of the latter is impacted, it’s my overhaul experience with BA which is impacted, I’ll walk away and chose other airlines…. Simples.

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