[Anonymous]

[Binman62]

Oh look another enhancement to service. They have clearly listened to their customers again. Given that silver now gets the same miles as a gold can anyone other thanVK give me a good reason for being a gold card member of the executive club. This seems mightly petty.!!!

[BlackTower]

Quite. I will probably loose mine over the next year and I’m not sure I care

Saying no when the Gatwick North Terminal lounges are full would have been enough surely?

[VintageKrug]

While I find it somewhat galling the email contained the phrase “following feedback from our customers” which is just not true, this was an inevitable “enhancement”.

I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I have used Anytime Access (flying Virgin America from SFO, no longer possible as they switched terminals) and on Alaska from SEA.

This move was especially brought about because of the co-location of EasyJet with BA at Gatwick North. The numbers of Easyjet customers with BA Goldcards using the Terraces lounge (free mags/newspapers, food, champagne, showers, net access) was no doubt a significant factor in this decision.

It is a sensible business model to focus valuable perks on those who actually drive revenue towards British Airways and its oneworld partners; with reciprocal access to oneworld alliance lounges/flights now available from many airports, it seems sensible to make access to such facilities conditional on pushing some money oneworld’s way.

When this Anytime Access policy was formulated, oneworld did not exist.

I was initially disappointed to receive this email, but worked out that in fact it won’t affect me, as I usually fly oneworld/star alliance/skyteam carriers for which my top tier status permits lounge access, and if that fails have American Express/Priority Pass access to other lounges.

The advent of such non-airline lounge access schemes is another reason the Anytime Access perk was not as useful/essential as was once the case.

http://www.ba.com

[Daytripper]

I too barely used Anytime Access, but nevertheless it seems remarkably petty of BA.

Surely BA’s financial position hasn’t improved so significantly as to flippantly ‘piss off’ the folk who put most money onto their balance sheet?

[StephenLondon]

Well if, as VK points out, it was LGW that tipped the scales towards this “enhancement”, why didn’t BA just stop open doors at LGW but leave the perquisite for the rest of the world? I have doubts it was costing BA much in monetary sense (apart from LGW), certainly less than what they received in terms of loyalty and added revenue from customers who value their benefits.

I have heard BA pax at LGW complaining of not being able to find seats in the First Class Lounge as there were so many customers with Easyjet boarding cards slurping wine, gin and champers. I would guess these are the customers who have given “feedback” – and perhaps rightly so in their individual cases.

It was good to use the lounges when BA or OW didn’t fly certain routes like Denver – Houston. What I really liked about it was the ability to read a UK paper for half an hour, not to booze or snacks. It was a “touch of home” whilst overseas. I’ll miss that. I do think BA could have been a bit softer when thinking about this “enhancement”.

[VintageKrug]

Easyjet customers should not have been in the LGW First lounge as even with a Gold Card, Anytime Access only permitted Terraces/Galleries Lounge access.

Nonetheless, I now see where they are coming from re: customer feedback, so moderate my former statements on that score.

I don’t think it’s just at LGW where this was an issue, but it may be a move which presages other changes later in the year to the Gatwick operation. I have a feeling Maizey will be re-focussing on longhaul operations.

Are there any other airlines which offer a similar scheme to Anytime Access?

[Swissdiver]

This is just infuriating me! Countless times I have used the Anytime Access lounge benefit. Countless! I am a Gold member for now more than 10 years notably because this program gives more in my view. If they intend to become a Miles & More clone, well I am wondering if it is still worth it…

[Swissdiver]

Dear Sirs,

I am shocked by your email. This is a clear loss of a very valuable service to your most loyal customers, one that was, among others, behind our motivation to fly BA. But worse, I cannot believe this is “also based on feedback we have received from Executive Club members” and feel betrayed by the fact this seems to be a blatant distortion of the truth by a company I so far trusted.

As a premium member of all three big alliances furthermore, I can judge and appreciate what each membership can bring me. Currently BA is doing its utmost not to give anything more than the others. Focusing on the premium segment requires on the contrary more differentiation. This kind of decisions is just achieving the contrary at a time the Middle East and some Asia based airlines are precisely offering more.

Very disappointed, I remain,

Yours Faithfully

[cityprofessional]

Hate to mention it, kids, but the clue is in the question “Are there any other airlines which offer a similar scheme to Anytime Access?”

[Swissdiver]

@cityprofessional: None to my knowledge. But at a time when competition in the premium segment is increasing, it is absurd to give up a competitive advantage… Especially if this was done just because of LGW as it was mentioned earlier…

[VintageKrug]

It’s not really a competitive advantage.

It’s actually a competitive disadvantage.

The policy encourages customers (even loyal ones) to choose a non BA flight, and particularly cheaper LCC flights, where one exists from the same terminal.

LGW North Terminal is a useful illustration of this, but it’s not the only illustration (LHR T3 is another where BA has moved from a terminal – T4 – with few other operating airlines to a terminal with many).

Plus those passengers are likely to make more, not less, use of the many facilities available in the BA Galleries/Terraces lounges, knowing on board service will be charged for.

I can imagine a couple of glasses of fizz, a few mags/newspapers and a couple of plates of sandwiches soon add up to tens of thousands of pounds per month across the network as a whole. Add in the revenue lost to competitors who actually profit from Gold Card holders putting business their way, and the need for action on this policy is even more apparent.

The email was dismally worded, but the “based on feedback” seems to be to do with passengers complaining of overcrowding in the lounge, and while this does seem to be stretching a point, I can sort of see where they’re coming from.

It would have been better to emphasise the:

– need to preserve quality and tranquility by re-affirming exclusivity
– many benefits of maintaining loyalty to oneworld over LCCs/others
– ability to take advantage of oneworld’s unparalleled lounge network globally when flying oneworld as a Gold Card holder
– fact that oneworld options did not exist when the Anytime Access policy was formulated

Keep flying oneworld and you’ll still get ALL the lounge access options offered under Access Anytime.

[Hippocampus]

Aside from the problems at LGW, with competition between airlines increasingly on an alliance basis, it was something of an anomaly offering a valuable benefit to your customers when they fly with airlines outside your alliance.

From a customer perspective, withdrawing a benefit is never going to go down well, but I can see the business rationale, which was not articulated particularly well in BA’s communication.

[FlyingChinaman]

Swissdiver: Cathay Pacific offers this Anytime Access to their top tier flyers in their Business Class lounges when not travelling on their flights..

I used this option once or twice a year when I had to fly with another carrier not covered by the CX/Oneworld route map.

Since I am also the top tier flyer with the other Alliances, this perk is not as important to me in most situation.

LGW must be a big issue with BA as VK has rightly pointed out that NO commerical concern can soffer and ubstain this nice perk when there is no actual revenue received from such traffic!!!

I personally would not enjoy entering into a crowded lounge where it is filled with passengers NOT even using that carrier!

This new measure may anger some passengers but a good thing in the long run.

[Binman62]

So it appears this enhancement was a sledgehammer to crack a nut ie Easy Jet Customers at LGW North. Has to have been though up by some graduate trainee just out of some expensice business school and without a ounce of sense.
If LGW was the issue then LGW should have had a separte arrangement. To remove this perk with such little notice is silly and petty.
This decision has resulted in hundreds if not thousands of anti BA posts on another travel site and is is clear there is a geat deal of anger from those it does affect.
A gold card in the UK requires 1600 tier points or 9 first class sectors or 14 J a class. At an average of £3500 for first and £2600 for club that is a lot of revenue to get a perk that most GCH appreciated but rarely used.

Makes no sense at all and I fear that further enhancements are on their way for both gold and silver. As suggested elsewhere perhaps the loss of the soft landing from Gold to Silver or hikes in redemption charges……though there would have to be seats first!!.

I got my Gold just in March, though thanks to BA incompetance I still do not have a card or bag tags. It will be my last.

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