[Anonymous]

[wishbone]

Logged onto my BAEC account today to find (thanks to a few long haul flights) I am now Gold for the first time.
Have been Silver for quite a while now and are used to all the benefits such as lounges, reward flights etc.
What can I look forward to now I am Gold? First lounges are they much better than Business Class lounges? Is there more availablity of reward flights and are they cheaper than when I was Silver? etc

[Gin&Tonic]

http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/tiers-and-benefits?source=MNVEXC1_tiers_and_benefits&link=main_nav&link=main_nav

[LuganoPirate]

And according to some, a better chance of a free upgrade.

[TominScotland]

LP “a better chance of a free upgrade” – I wish!! I am Gold and have had just one upgrade for the two of us (AUH – LHR) from PE to Business over the past couple of years.

That said, I am flying later today from BNE to GLA via SYD and LHR (BA from SYD) and the QF system (to which I am directed) will not let me check-in at all. Does this mean an upgrade or an off-load? I will wait to see with interest!!

[Gold-2K]

Having just read animal farm for the umpteenth time it’s perhaps worth remembering “all gold card holders are equal but some are more equal than others”. There are a lot of gold card holders, including Gold Guest List, life time golds and members who have been gold for 10+ years. So there are lot of people in line for the invol upgrades which as we know only happen on BA when flights are overbooked. Simply having gold does not give access to a world of numerous upgrades and redemption flights 🙁

[nevereconomy]

Some nicer lounges and you may be able to actually redeem AVIOS
for Premium cabins on longhaul flights by using the “Double Miles” option available to Gold Card Holders. That’s about it as far as advantages go.

[trippleF]

Agree with TominScotland: Upgrades only happen when a flight is overbooked. On a recent LHR-ORD I got upgraded to Premium Economy, and a Gold member walked past me into the Economy cabin with his daughter…
But interesting question @wishbone! I have been BA Silver for several years, and never felt the need to “go for Gold”. I’d rather mix my travel to maintain a Star Alliance status, too.

[seasonedtraveller]

I am Gold with BA with more than double the required tier points (currently 3,500), & Diamond with SAS. My LH Gold has just lapsed.

I was 9 years Gold with BMI & in all that time, I never got an upgrade once travelling to Europe or the USA.

Twice this year I got upgraded from WT+ to CW with BA (economy was oversold in both cases) on ORd to LHR sector. I was exteremely happy about this, I have to admit BUT in reality, I know it’s because it suited BA, having oversold economy, to move me up – not as a personal favout or a loyalty ‘thank you’ to me……

[LuganoPirate]

Hence my saying “according to some”!

In fairness I should add, I’ve been a Senator / Gold with LH/LX for 10 years, prior to that for 5 years I was Silver. In all that time I’ve never once been upgraded, either from Y to Business in a Europe or Business to F long haul.

[wishbone]

Thanks all,
Just spent some time looking into reward flight availability with my new Gold status. Definately a lot more availability than Silver, but only in Economy.
Another question is after looking at the link ‘Gin&Tonic’ posted, I found the following benefit only for Gold

No booking or service fees for
Priority Reward bookings

Yet the same fees (£35 economy and £50 club for short haul) apply for Gold i.e. no saving. Am I missing something here?

Interesting to read about upgrades. In my experience upgrades were a lot more common 10 to 20 years ago than what they are now. In the last 5 years I have had one upgrade from Economy to club short haul. More likely PE to Business long haul but only because the PE cabin is so small.

[first_class_please]

The extra bag allowance can be useful.

http://www.oneworld.com/ffp/emerald-privileges/

[TiredOldHack]

first_class_please: yes, especially when skiing 🙂

[RaveAroundTheWorld]

LP

I ve been Senator Gold with LH/LX for 5 years and I get upgraded rather frequently – both from Y to J and J to F.

Strange, but it happens mostly on LH and not LX I must admit.

[Senator]

In regards of complementary upgrades as a Miles & More Senator since 2000:
Swiss (LX) – I have purchased five long-haul round-trips in Business, and I think I have been upgrade twice due to overbooking and paid once with vouchers to First. Short-haul, my sample size is like four segments booked in economy with no upgrades in the past decade.

Lufthansa (LH) – I have purchased perhaps 15 long-haul trips in Business in the past decade, and been upgraded three times to First. In Europe, I’ve only been in economy class once in the past ten years due to error made by SAS on the BGO-FRA segment. On the same journey, I was upgraded from FRA-ARN due to SAS mistake at the gate.

British Airways (BA) – I have purchased perhaps six Club World round-trips in the past three years and been upgraded twice from CW to First. I’ve only been once in EuroTraveller with no upgrade. My first upgrade on BA was when I was a mere Blue member… Only one upgrade as Gold, but sample size rather small.

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