British Airways terminal moves announced at Heathrow airport

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• Mr(s) Entitled says:

  28 Jun28 June 04:36

  Credit where credit is due, the Armed Forces Day is good gesture from BA.

  I’m looking forward to the Malaysia Airlines review. Hopefully we can be spared lots of unconsidered opinion about their safety record in the comments.

  • BJ says:

    28 Jun28 June 04:52

    +1 on armed forces, would like to see veterans afforded the same respect and recognition here as they are in the USA.

    • Gibfoe says:

      28 Jun28 June 06:08

      That would, in fact, be the worst possible outcome.

      The ‘uniform worship’ in the US is cringe and borderline fascistic. We have already imported their culture wars we don’t need the rest.

      • BJ says:

        28 Jun28 June 06:22

        I did not mean in that sense, but rather in the sense that practical support and fair treatment was made available to them, particularly by central government. It must be remembered that probably for most, their military careers end in their late 20s or 30s which, if they cannot exploit skills they learned in the military, can be an aukward age to start rebuilding another career and domestic civilian life. . That is before you even get to issues such as health and welfare. The facts speak for themselves, I just think they deserve a better than they get.

        • David says:

          28 Jun28 June 06:42

          IMO They already get a fair deal. Good pay, good pensions. Good career support.
          There are areas where I think more should be done, including support for people with life changing disabilities, but the same holds true for everyone with such injuries, not just MOD personnel.

      • N says:

        28 Jun28 June 06:22

        +1

      • David says:

        28 Jun28 June 06:43

        +1
        This is a ghastly american thing. It does NOT make me at all enamored with BA.

        • Lewis says:

          28 Jun28 June 08:14

          Not to be pedantic but aren’t there 4 club lounges in Heathrow?

        • David says:

          28 Jun28 June 08:19

          They don’t sit empty.

        • AJA says:

          28 Jun28 June 08:25

          It’s a tad ironic that you used the American spelling for enamoured in your post.

        • David says:

          28 Jun28 June 08:39

          Agreed! lol
          (although as I’m currently using a computer that has a keyboard for a different language and windows is running in a different language to this also (?!?), getting the browser auto correct into any form of English was a challenge.

  • David says:

    28 Jun28 June 06:52

    It is either a transparently meaningless gesture, or it is a very silly one. Either way it does NOT reflect well IMO.

    If the numbers on the day are small – it’s not really much of a benefit and is all about publicity (which I don’t think looks good), or the numbers are not small – in which case BA are needlessly overcrowding their lounges.

    Do you propose the same for Nurses day? What about research scientists (often on quite low pay) working on curses for diseases?
    What about those on in the security services? Especially if their can’t reveal the nature of their work?
    Firefighters?
    Lifeboat crew (unpaid volunteers)?

    This is just a daft road to go down.
    And if you think the impact is slight (which I would not be convinced about), then its a publicity seeking gesture.

    • Matt says:

      28 Jun28 June 07:01

      David get over yourself, and have respect for those that lay their lives on the line for the country you live in.

      I suspect you’re writing your comments just to get a rise out of people, which I often ignore, but well done you’ve got a rise out of me.

      • David says:

        28 Jun28 June 07:07

        Where do you see a lack of respect?

        Oh, and I’m not saying this “just to get a rise out of people” – these are my honestly and sincerely held views.

        But please tell me where you see a lack of respect (for anyone) in my post? Especially a lack of respect for people who “lay their lives on the line”? Given the very comments you are directly replying to.

        • David says:

          28 Jun28 June 07:46

          Well you haven’t suggested free lounge access for bankers or management consultants – that seems like a lack of respect for them, if everyone else is getting it!

        • David says:

          28 Jun28 June 07:56

          David – exactly, I’ve not suggested free access for anyone.

          Otherwise you end up trying to rank contributions different people have made.
          And some can’t acknowledge theirs.
          It is simply flawed to try to acknowledge people at the point of delivery of a service (BA).

        • Shoestring says:

          28 Jun28 June 08:41

          Which David is The Original David?

        • The Original David says:

          28 Jun28 June 09:05

          I’m the one without the picture in my avatar – my only comment here has been the one immediately above about bankers…

    • Mike says:

      28 Jun28 June 07:13

      David – It almost appears as if you are saying you do not view the Armed Forces with respect

      • David says:

        28 Jun28 June 07:33

        But that is not what I’m saying. And I believe my posts make that clear.

        Firstly, need to be careful with the word respect, as some people think respect must requires or come with submissive deference – which is unhealthy. Be it a historic ‘respect for elders’, or otherwise.

        You can fully respect people and fully recognize and appreciate what they do without that. Otherwise, it has the potential to transform into worship, which is unhealthy.

        What I’m saying is there are MANY highly worthy activities people undertake that involve personal sacrifice and risk. I listed some above, but the list would be endless. And some of these the people who do them are not able to publicly acknowledge.

        Therefore, I believe it is a flawed road to go down to try to personally recognize such contribution to society by these people at the point of provision of a service. It also takes you into territory where you are asking people to rank the worth of contribution.

        I certainly have just as much appreciation for people who work in the security services and people who work as voluntary life board crew, or aid doctors in conflict zones, etc as I do for military personnel.
        And I appreciate the work undertaken by everyone who does things that benefit society. (which includes protection)

        • Marcw says:

          28 Jun28 June 08:03

          +1 – people confuse respect Vs worship. I respect the military services the same way I respect doctors, nurses, police officers, canteen workers, receptionists, scientists,… But that doesn’t mean I worship them. Remember, military services is a career choice. We’re not talking about early 20th century when people (even children in some countries in Europe) where forced to go to the front line… Today, it’s a choice.

        • Bagoly says:

          28 Jun28 June 08:43

          I agree that taking borders from one area (occupation) and applying them to another (provision of services) leads to arbitrary and per se unjustifiable distinctions.
          But then companies use all sorts of arbitrary distinctions for limiting discounts.
          I think this is really just corporate PR, and less hypocritical than a lot of greenwashing is..

      • Rob says:

        28 Jun28 June 08:06

        You mean ‘with more respect than any similar public service profession’, I think.

    • Rob says:

      28 Jun28 June 08:08

      Since this was only announced yesterday, meaning no-one has an opportunity to book specifically with BA to take advantage ….

    • Andrew says:

      28 Jun28 June 08:54

      There are plenty of military nurses, military accountants, military doctors, military dentists and have you ever heard of the miliary research facility at Porton Down? They do a lot of work on Ebola.

      Offering discounts to military staff doesn’t exclude any career path, it’s just exclusive to a single employer.

      My best mate retired from the armed forces this year. He’s 45, has a full military pension, but still works 3 nights a week as a Consultant in A&E. He’s flying tomorrow, but will be in the Concorde lounge as usual.

      If you are employed, there aren’t many people who *don’t* get discounts of some kind. BMI used to do deals with my old employer for fixed price, flexible flights as long as there was a seat available on the plane, with automatic Silver lounge access. £80 return every time between London & Edinburgh. I get 12% back on all Virgin flights, 20% off all Virgin & LNER train fares, “special discount” prices on most major hotel chains. 20% back at Morrissons at the moment, and if I flash my ID badge in Superdrug 10% gets knocked off at the till.

      • TescoTease says:

        28 Jun28 June 09:16

        As an armed forces veteran I’m not aware of a military beautician. Happy to be proved wrong.

        • Andrew says:

          28 Jun28 June 09:20

          Not sure about the UK.

          There is definitely a salon in the Pentagon though.

    • Thomas Howard says:

      28 Jun28 June 10:06

      David, the idea that the armed forces get good pay is ridiculous. A trained private earns £18,859 a year, £15,230 in training – for a job that requires you to risk your life on the whim of a sheltered minister. For comparison a research assistant at Leicester University earns £27,830. Good pension? Two thirds of not a lot isn’t great.

      The lack of appreciation from sheltered metropolitan types is pretty offensive.

      • marcw says:

        28 Jun28 June 10:30

        Except that for a postdoc position you need A levels, BSc, MSc/MRes and a PhD. AND PostDoc positions are NOT permanent, most contracts run 2-3 years. Then usually you have to move on. Lectureships and other permanent research position are scarce and tough to get.

        And again, everyone that joins the army today, it’s a choice. You are free not to join.

        • BJ says:

          28 Jun28 June 12:43

          You don’t need a Masters degree (for those that like tobe precise about such things).

        • marcw says:

          28 Jun28 June 14:38

          It’s very difficult to jump into a PhD straight from your BSc. I did – but was very lucky.

        • Sandgrounder says:

          28 Jun28 June 16:43

          Amex waive all annual fees for US military personnel on active duty. Now that is a discount worth having.

• hingeless says:

  28 Jun28 June 05:04

  “Whilst most UK-based readers are travelling point-to-point”

  Those in the regions won’t be happy with this comment !!

  • David says:

    28 Jun28 June 07:38

    Hah, I was about to make that exact comment! Just wait until they manage to load the page from their dial-up internet, and I’m sure they’ll be out in full force…

    • Froggee says:

      28 Jun28 June 08:15

      Dial up internet sounds amazing. We still use carrier pigeons up here.

  • Rob says:

    28 Jun28 June 08:10

    Updated 🙂

• Sapiens says:

  28 Jun28 June 05:10

  Looking forward to it Rhys. Always good to see Asia Oneworld content

  • Rhys says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:29

    You’ll have to persuade Rob to let me do more of it 😉

• Michael C says:

  28 Jun28 June 05:11

  Hope there’s a mention of why there’s so little Avios availability on Malaysian ex LHR!

  • M Todd says:

    28 Jun28 June 06:20

    Also how since the rebranding of First ro Business Suites its no longer bookable via Oneworld partners!

    • Rob says:

      28 Jun28 June 08:10

      That is an IT issue unfortunately. You can buy up at check in.

• BJ says:

  28 Jun28 June 05:13

  OT IHG status match: my Hilton Diamond has been matched to Spire. Status updated in account but no email confirmation was received. Not surprisingly, no sign of any bonus points under the benefits tab. However, the Hertz status benefit was available. Big question now is if my existing bookings will count for retention or if I would be better to cancel and rebook even though rates are now higher.

  • John says:

    28 Jun28 June 06:48

    Retention of what? Spire? You need to requalify each year, not sure what cancelling and rebooking will achieve. Bonus points are awarded when you get the 75K base points/75 nights, so unlikely to be given if you status matched. You can probably requalify by buying Ambassador, or by hoping there is an IT error like in my case where I retained Spire for 2019 with only 10 nights (all on points) in 2018

    • BJ says:

      28 Jun28 June 06:59

      With the status match we just get spire for 90 days, we need to stay 10 nights during that 90 days to retain spire through the end of 2020.

      • Chris says:

        28 Jun28 June 07:20

        Unless you’re staying a LOT at IHG – I doubt the bonus points you get as Spire will be worth shifting 10 stays (if you need to shift them)

        • BJ says:

          28 Jun28 June 07:46

          I was thinking more whether it is necessary to both book and stay withn the 90 days or if existing bookings with the stay only occurring within the 90 days will qualify.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          28 Jun28 June 08:38

          25k points is worth 10 nights in my opinion (if you get them)

          Honestly best way to earn spire is to get the IHG premium card. Well worth £99 a year.

      • Lee says:

        28 Jun28 June 07:54

        BJ, I also get match to spire and considering stay 10 nights, however by reading their T&C, a night is sounding more like stay.
        A “night” is defined as one night or consecutive nights at the same hotel, regardless of frequency of check-in/check-out. A night is Qualifying when paying a Qualifying Rate.

        • Adam says:

          28 Jun28 June 09:24

          Agreed. I too received the Diamond -> Spire match and why they’ve changed terminology I’ve no idea. I agree that 10 STAYS are required. Off to search for some Sunday mattress runs and bargain basement single nights …

        • Olly says:

          28 Jun28 June 09:47

          BJ/Lee, how long did you guys have to wait for the status match to go through as I did it on the day it got a mention here but nothing yet. I am holding back on a booking for next month to make sure it goes towards the 10 required?

        • BJ says:

          28 Jun28 June 12:51

          Not a problem for me, we will use it as an excuse for another driving tour around one or two English Counties, staying a different hotel each night. That is how we did the Hilton version.

        • ankomonkey says:

          28 Jun28 June 15:27

          Mine was processed to exactly the same timeline as BJ.

      • Olly says:

        28 Jun28 June 09:10

        BJ, I get what you are asking, will stays booked before the match count toward the 10 to keep Spire? I would anticipate they would not but give CS a cal.

        • BJ says:

          28 Jun28 June 13:07

          I did mine the day it appeared on LoyaltyLobby, I think Rob posted here late the same evening as he was on a flight to NYC. So if you never saw the article until next morning then perhaps yours will come through tomorrow. It did say within 14 days.

  • EwanG says:

    28 Jun28 June 12:50

    I’m pretty sure that I read in the status match T&Cs that if you get Spire via this route you don’t receive the Choice Benefit (25k points or gift Plat).

    • Rob says:

      28 Jun28 June 13:07

      I would be shocked if you did. My Spire got rolled over this year despite not qualifying and I did not get it.

• Shoestring says:

  28 Jun28 June 07:25

  AMEX25OFF is back & working last night, usual card enrolment methods also now back up & working – £25 off £40 at Amazon with your Amex green/ gold/ plat, new users only.

  • BJ says:

    28 Jun28 June 07:43

    Harry, I followed your approach of try, try and try again and it finally worked for me early this morning. Thanks for that.

    • Shoestring says:

      28 Jun28 June 07:47

      Nice one. There’s a deadline of 30th June, which might even be true this time. People with more than 1 Amazon a/c (eg one for everybody in the family) can use the same Amex card to get the £25 off £40 offer multiple times. 8 in our family, miaow.

  • n_g says:

    28 Jun28 June 08:15

    Managed to use it earlier this week but not I’m curious as to whether Supplementary card holders can also do the same? I assume not?

    • Shoestring says:

      28 Jun28 June 08:23

      no – because they do not have the right to spend MR points, only the main cardholder can do that – it’s largely irrelevant, though – the person who is the supplementary cardholder & has their own Amazon a/c can simply use the main cardholder’s Amex card to get the £25 off £40 deal

  • Olly says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:54

    Thanks for both bits of info H, I got the two bottles of Auchentoshan when you first mentioned it and just used my missus Amazon account using my Amex card with points and got two bottles of Roku Gin, on offer anyway in the daily deals from £30 to £25, for £25. Result.

    • Sam says:

      28 Jun28 June 12:39

      Had my AMEX card replaced last week due to fraudulent use (never got it replaced in the aftermath of the BA Data Breach) so thought i’d give it a go again. Worked! Thanks for the free single malt!

      • Shoestring says:

        28 Jun28 June 15:18

        you’re both v welcome 🙂

  • Shoestring says:

    28 Jun28 June 21:35

    is it the first time you’ve used the code?

    • James says:

      28 Jun28 June 21:59

      Thanks for replying quickly. Yes, first time this evening, including having a card registered for paying with MR.

      I even tried it with the scotch you suggested, after it failed with the bourbon, and it wouldn’t accept the code with that either.

• Audrey says:

  28 Jun28 June 07:26

  We stayed at both Four Seasons in KL and Langkawi last September. Let me know if you need any additional photos or feedback – got loads!

  • Rhys says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:30

    Do you have any of the fantastic entrance/lobby areas at Langkawi? I was so impressed by the grandeur that I forgot to snap any!

• Sam says:

  28 Jun28 June 08:15

  Hoping (beyond hope?) to get feedback on MH’s A350 economy – especially their 3 rows of extra legroom seats. Just for those of us for whom their businesses don’t stick them upfront!

  • Rob says:

    28 Jun28 June 08:25

    Don’t hold your breath 🙂

    • Sam says:

      28 Jun28 June 10:39

      Fair enough 🙂

      I *know* the aim of the game is get upgrades, status etc, but have you ever quizzed your readership about what actual classes they fly? Be interesting to know (and perhaps gear reviews accordingly?).

      If I look purely longhaul in the last couple of years i’ve flown GA & EK (J) but then BA (Y), EK (Y), TG (Y), SQ (Y) QR (Y) GA (Y) so I only read reviews of flights likely to be relevant to me – which would include WY & MH in Y/PE! I may be the odd one out here, but ultimately most people fly Y!

      • Rhys says:

        28 Jun28 June 11:52

        We do and that’s why we don’t cover economy!

        • Sam says:

          28 Jun28 June 11:57

          Oh? Bold statement!

      • Russ says:

        28 Jun28 June 12:40

        Depends what makes sense at the time really. I usually fly business unless it just isn’t worth it i.e. a short hop on a prop or, when the lounges either end are almost non existent. I think a lot of people weigh up the pros and cons before making a final decision.

  • Connor says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:07

    I flew in this seat a few weeks ago – it’s still a long way off PE but the extra legroom is quite considerable, especially in the bulkhead row where you can easily access the aisle from the window seat without disturbing your neighbours. Nothing else about it is different to regular economy.

    • Sam says:

      28 Jun28 June 10:42

      Thanks! It’s carefully thought through as by not differentiating further or having a cabin divider it means they can avoid charging the extra £75 APD ex-UK that proper PE attracts – i’m happy to pay for extra leg space and will survive not getting the extra glass of bubbles. Being 6ft6 i’d rather pay for an Emergency Exit in Y than for PE…

  • Jon says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:11

    I flew MH A350 economy when they put the aircraft on KL – Penang for the initial familiarisation flights. I was in the first row of economy, so one of the extra legroom seats (though as I haven’t sat in any of the regular economy seats I can’t comment on that aspect). It was a while ago now, but my impressions were:

    – Very comfortable seat; slightly softer than that on the A380 I think (though maybe that was because it was a brand new aircraft), and if I remember correctly it had some (more) padding / back support at the sides (a bit like some car seats), but otherwise very similar to the A380 (which I always felt was the best economy seat in the sky at the time).
    – Good recline.
    – TV screen was excellent, very sharp and clear picture.

    Of course, mine was a very short flight, so I can’t comment on how the seat would feel after 12 hours, but I do remember thinking at the time that it should be pretty ok – as economy seats go, I was impressed.

    • Sam says:

      28 Jun28 June 10:44

      I miss the A380’s even though they were starting to fall apart. The upstairs economy class cabin was originally built to be a separate Premium Economy cabin, but MH never got around to designating it as such. Because of the poor state of their IT, you could book these seats FOC if you booked through a travel agent, but couldn’t book on MH’s website if you booked direct, so for years it was my regular route into Asia. But havn’t been on their A350’s yet.

      • Jon says:

        28 Jun28 June 11:23

        In case it’s of any use to you – I have a vague recollection that the economy extra legroom seats (on A350) can be booked free of charge if you have Enrich Platinum status (and possibly also Enrich Gold, not sure). Pretty sure I didn’t pay for them on my Penang flight, anyway. Not sure whether that would also apply for OneWorld Emerald equivalent, eg BA Gold.

        Another possibility, if you have your own business, is to register with MHEnterprise. I’m not sure whether or not this is an official benefit, but I’ve so far always had free seat selection for my domestic/regional economy flights, when they were showing as charged-for otherwise. Don’t know whether it would apply also to longhaul. You also theoretically get a discount on the flight price and free date/time changes, though I’ve found that a bit inconsistent so far – perhaps it only applies to certain fare buckets. May be worth playing around with though if you have a business.

  • BJ says:

    28 Jun28 June 13:14

    Not sure but I think MH has a bid for upgrades system? CV3V would know if around.

    • Polly says:

      28 Jun28 June 19:37

      Yes they, and often v worth while. We usually book Y on MH and wait for the upgrade offers to roll in.

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