[MartynSinclair]

A lot of comment on these threads and various Facebook / travel blogs about people walking away from certain airlines and creating new loyalties with other airlines.

I keep detailed records of all flights taken going back about 15 years and I have certainly seen my loyalty change recently.

My 2 main current business routes are Malta and Bangkok/HKG. In the past BA were my first choice and generally each year 75%+ of all flights were with BA. In 2022 my BA sectors are down to around 15%.

In the case of Bangkok and Asia, BA are not currently flying the routes I need. Finnair and QATAR are getting 100% of that business with service levels far exceeding anything BA have provided over the years.

Malta, I was using BA, until they moved flights back from Heathrow to Gatwick. Air Malta flight times are far more pleasant. At 61, I have chosen NOT to take early morning flights before 7am and quite honestly, the Air Malta service far exceeds the BA service, except for the airport lounge offerings in London.

I am lucky that I only need to take hand luggage to both destinations as I am able to store clothes and computer equipment in the hotels I use – so undelivered luggage, for me is fortunately not a driver.

Interested to hear which airlines are being avoided and which airlines are getting your business (and why).

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DerekVH, Bullfrog, sparkyflier

[rferguson]

I am doing exactly this. I used to be very loyal to OneWorld/BA (aiming for gold year after year) but I am now trying alternatives and spreading myself more widely and now have Silver with BA and KLM FlyingBlue Gold (oneworld silver equiv).

I just don’t understand these people that will moan and moan and moan about being disappointed with the airline they are ‘loyal’ to. Unless there is zero alternative – try elsewhere!

I have really enjoyed trying new airlines and experiencing new lounges. So far this year I have tried four airlines for the first time for long haul travel in premium cabins –

Air France – pretty much as expected. Impressed with the food, mediocre everything else.

Aeromexico – exceeded my (admittedly low) expectations onboard. Beautiful cabin on the 787-9, great catering, friendly service, puntual. Possibly the worst lounge I have every experienced at an airlines hub however.

LATAM – disappointed. Beautiful cabins, decent lounge (GRU), dreadful onboard service and catering.

Air Canada – great. Loved the experience. Above average in every category.

Have flights coming up in biz on EVA, ANA and SQ also (first time for all in biz on longhaul) so will also get silver equiv STAR status.

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DerekVH, sparkyflier, Bullfrog

[YorkshireTraveller]

Air Canada was pretty impressive the two times I have used them recently in Economy and Business. Crew were actually better and more committed to serve in Economy, and nice extras such as liquors after dinner in Eco. I use Jet2 whenever I can for short haul. They never cancel anything, the staff clearly love their jobs, they are pretty much always on time, and they have their own in house baggage handlers at UK airports who are quick – I avoid any airline using Swissport at Manchester.

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Johnnyg, Bullfrog, sparkyflier

[Henryp1]

I haven’t changed very much at all over the years and stick to British Airways, Qatar, Qantas, American and an Asian airline in the premium cabins, as they have routes where I currently visit. Normally prefer to have direct flights as much as possible. As I don’t tend to hang around before flights, I may not use lounges unless in transit.

I don’t necessarily always have high expectations before particular flights, and it’s nice when I’m surprised. The extra baggage allowance which comes with FF membership, is always a bonus.

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Bullfrog

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

I guess a pertinent question in this is whether you are impacted by pricing points – or whether it is just down to schedules and timings. Likewise whether your base currency is GBP – or USD for example (given huge change in £ v $ – trans pacific fares that can easily be $10-15k round trip in business are nearly now equivalent in £ see a significant increase in “cost” – on top of airline price rises).

I imagine “loyalty” may get stretched if price for optimal schedules become to high. With travel every route / date combination is unique (which makes what I do immensely fun) given schedules and right now due to demand the question of whether you can even get a seat!

If it was me – I’m looking for value and schedules (whether direct or indirect) and have no memberships of any scale. I have airlines I’d prefer to use but I simply wont pay vastly more to use a preferred carrier. And it is nice to try something new (also useful in my role!)

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Bullfrog

[FDOS]

I’m feeling my way back into international travel, so don’t have a lot of business to place at the moment and clients are insisting on using their TA’s, which further complicates matters.

From this micro perspective, here is my favoured list and unfavoured

Favoured

American (competitive premium product, acceptable service delivery)
KLM (steady eddie)
easyJet (generally decent airline)

Unfavoured
BA (poor value, half hearted service)
Lufthansa (had to sue them to get a refund after they cancelled my flight and refused to re-route me per EC261 reqs)

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fatbear, YorkshireTraveller, Bullfrog

[Mark]

[postquote quote=1234935]

Was a mileage hunter and status queen previously!
BA was the preferred option to the USA. Asia was anyone offering a decent J fare.
Will use Tui as a starting point from UK and start a journey in Europe.

Flying BRS-RHO-JED-SIN-KUL this weekend with stops in RHO and ATH for 2 and 1 day stays.
Asia will be a jumping point to SYD if all turns out well.

Have to book my return flight yet

All based on price

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Bullfrog

[cwoodward]

My travel from HK was much restricted and troublesome until a few weeks ago
But since then I have perhaps predictably used Cathay, Singapore, HK Express, Cubu and have upcoming flights with Cathay to Europe and Bangkok Airways.

All old favourites.

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Bullfrog

[first_class_please]

For me, with airlines running limited schedules / connections on my main routes since Covid, over the years i have gone from top level FFP with BA, to Etihad, to Oman Air to now booking by schedule / price since 2021.

Have had a few Lufthansa flights this year, which are not great, but i had miles to spend and got 6 round trips in J class.

Qatar next week to Bangkok.

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Bullfrog

[stevescoots]

was doing some limited flying during covid UK to Asia, most of it with QR and EK. previously was almost always CX.CX have been my Go to for several years now but since the end of covid restrictions have been using QR and even BA due to CX pricing. Saying that I am on CX Saturday MAN-HKG-SGN, but having to come back into LHR. Only way to get a Tier point run in before year end or CX would have dropped my Diamond level which after 2 years of rolling over is understandable. taking price out CX will still be my top choice for the service level and schedules but i can see me doing more QR if the pricing gap remains so big

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Bullfrog

[nevereconomy]

I suppose it is often dictated by the route. When I was working I flew whoever offered the best aircraft/service on a route,within the OneWorld alliance. Now my most frequent route is to PHL,so basically BA or AA. AA has good J seating and service and I used them a lot out of MAN, but not sure if that route will ever return. AA out of LHR I have to change terminals, so it will be BA by default. Have used LH a couple of times in the distant past when they had F on that route, but current airport mess in FRA knocks that option on the head.

[AlanOrton1]

Many moons ago I used Star Alliance with UA as my ‘home’ airline as I travelled a lot to NY, Chicago and FL.
As I could never fly non stop back to the UK from FL with them, I switched to OneWorld with BA as my ‘home’ airline.

With twice yearly trips to HK, SG & China, OW also had the edge over Star, due to the ability to use CX around Asia.

With China & HK essentially still off limits for relatively short business trips, my main business travel is just NY & FL, so will stick with OW, though I try to use AA over BA where practical.

For all BA’s many faults, the sheer volume of flight options LHR-NYC, is still a big plus for me.

[Senator]

I maintain the highest tier now in each of the three global alliances. Mostly due to SAS’ credit card relationships in Sweden, I have two Star Gold cards. I decided during Covid to hedge my bets. My choice to spread out is driven by varied travel across North America and Europe, with the occasional Asian foray.

Having said that, the Lufthansa Group and Swiss International specifically, is my first choice. However, with Delta’s re-entry on the ARN-JFK route, Finnair’s decision to place A350/A330 at ARN to serve JFK/MIA/LAX and BKK/HKT the fares on OneWorld and SkyTeam has been better compared to my usual Star Alliance North Atlantic Joint Venture.

As a small business owner, I am “double-dipping” into the SMB loyalty programmes as well. To my surprise, I have found the Lufthansa Group programme to be miles ahead (pun intended) compared to BA/IB and AF/KL. I tend to use my LH Group benefits to upgrade from Swiss Business to First and I find availability about 70-80% of the time.

I use a mix of price, timing, status needs, routes, and who is paying when I pick carriers. Occasionally, on night flights I will make an extra stop to ensure the departure time fits my sleep cycle, and to pick up decent product I know I can get a good night’s sleep in. An example is I will now avoid the Delta B767-300ER on the JFK-ARN night flight, and pick one of their A350 or A330-Neo routes instead via AMS/CDG despite adding a segment.

I am about seven years of ten for Lifetime Star Gold with SAS, four out of ten for Flying Blue Platinum, about 70% there for BAEC Lifetime Gold, and whenever Lufthansa decides to deploy the planned changes, I will be Lifetime Senator. I personally believe after 23 years with highest status somewhere, it still matters when travelling, especially when irregular situations emerge. However, all tags have been removed from my bags 🙂 I keep a low profile.

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cwoodward

[TominScotland]

Interesting question about airline choice, Martyn

I currently hold Platinum for Life with KLM (my retirement option!!) and Gold with BA although my post-COVID travel pattern means that I will lose this in 2023. C’est la vie….

In 2022, I have flown with BA, KLM, Turkish, SAS, Norwegian, Easyjet and Ryanair with up-coming bookings with Lufthansa, Malaysia, JAL, Qantas and Jetstar. My bookings have been in a mix of classes.

I guess I am now looking much more closely at value, timing and reliability in making my choices. So each new booking is a fresh adventure – which service proposition offers me the best outcome against these (obvious) criteria.

[MickBettesworth]

I used to be a BA follower but recently have used Cathay, Finnair and Qatar in biz on long haul and Air Malta and Easyjet in economy on short haul. Easyjet have been surprisingly consistent – you get what you pay for and the crews at least are normally cheerful. All the long haul carriers offer a level of service (imo) far better than BA. Sad but true.

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