[Brooklyn]

Confirmed “Downgrade to Silver fulfilled”.

I have no problem with that.

[NTarrant]

I have to say Brooklyn that given your admission that your tier points were nearer 0 than 1500, BA made the right decision to drop you to Silver. I would have been a bit annoyed having exceeded 1500 TP’s myself that someone with close on 0 retained the tier.

In Cedric’s case I think BMI was wrong, he had a booking and was ill, but was also near the limit. I had a simular thing with Hilton last year where I had to cancel a booking in the December due to the weather. Result 15 stays and not 16 to retain Gold, I was reduced to Silver but protested the circumstances to be told that it was “not financially viable” to give me gold. Thinking that was it I did go back and say that if my bookings were no longer financially viable I would make Hilton my last choice of hotel and go with ICHotels who I was sure would welcome my business. A reply a few days later said I could have it “just this once”!

[VintageKrug]

Sorry to hear that, Brooklyn, however a year of Silver Card is still worth having!

It does seem to have been the right decision, and of course there’s nothing to stop you taking a Continental sojourn during 2011/2012 and focussing on achieving the 800 Tier Points required to reach Gold while registered at your second home.

BA can be flexible about flights taken close to the annual threshold (eg with a week or so of BAEC year end, but which would have pushed you over the re-qualification limit) and has in the past few years been more generous about comping customers with evidence of a few years Silver/Gold loyalty for whom the recession/ash/strike might have significantly (but temporarily) reduced their TP earning capability.

But just as business is picking up, and fares are becoming less elastic, so a more commercial view is taken; I think all frequent travellers who benefitted from discretion over the past few months will have been grateful for this, but as others have said if BA is maintain a premium product it must focus on providing the best it can for those who pay.

This is the right course of action, and focussing on serving regular, loyal and paying customers will allow for genuinely premium service to be delivered.

Remember your still have F check-in, F lounge and Open Doors access until 1 June as your current card doesn’t expire until then.

[Capedoctor]

With all due respect to batraveller2, I’ve been a gold card on and off for about 10 years, showing pretty decent loyalty to the airline. This point year we were buggered around first with the debacle at the end of the year with three days being added to my flight to africa and flights cancelled losing points. Then flights to cancun were rerouted on another non oneworld airline without subsequent points being given. My year end total ends up at 1325.

I don’t know yet whether I will retain my status or not but I won’t be happy if I lose my gold one. And according to bat I would deserve it

Neither brought

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

I’ve just been downgraded from gold to slver.

What does this mean?

Basically, I still have all the benefits that I value and have now engaged with other airlines to get better routings/deals/service on certain trips.

Depending on this autumn’s ‘enhancements’, I’ll either do enough to retain silver or accept blue next year.

There is a life after BA.

[Cwyfan]

I accept the right of BA to set the 600 & 1500 limits, though it irks to see other EU residents getting a better deal, but surely, once achieved in year, they could leave in your account any excess of the threshold as a step towards you retaning status, and them retaning customers

This would particularly benefit long term loyalists who just have a bad year

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

I can get gold for 800 points.

And I am not a loyalist. BA does not even fly to my country and they still give me nearly a 50% discount over you.

Are you really going to put up with that and not investigate alternatives? If so, you deserve to be treated this way, as BA are only doing what the UK banks do and relying on your inertia to prop up the inequity.

[Author]

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