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A guest BA post by The Rt Hon Nigel Evans, ex MP and Deputy Speaker of the Commons

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Rob writes: we very rarely accept guest articles on Head for Points. However, when politician Nigel Evans – who spent 32 years as MP for Ribble Valley and was a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons until the last election – offered to write about the British Airways Executive Club changes, I was interested.

What makes Nigel’s piece relevant is that it shows that unhappiness with British Airways runs deep and that interest in the topics we cover on HfP goes far beyond the hardcore frequent flyer community.

As Nigel said to me:

“I was chair of a number of a few committees, and was a delegate to the Council of Europe which took me extensively around the world . Needless to say I am Gold for Life with BA and at one stage was Gold on all three alliances simultaneously.

Whilst I will be unaffected by the BA changes – other than a beneficiary from deserted lounges in 12 months times – I am incensed by the cavalier way in which BA is treating its loyalty members.”

Over to Nigel. I have edited his piece and any errors are probably mine:

Nigel Evans

“They say that no one is as deaf as the one who chooses not to hear. British Airways whispered its changes to its well established and well loved loyalty programme during the Christmas break. It came as an unwelcome gift which would have been best left unwrapped. One can only assume there was no focus group played out with current members of BA Executive Club which would have quickly put this plan out of its misery.

British Airways is changing its loyalty programme to reward money spent rather than frequency of flying. There are nuances to it, but in essence the cost of getting elite status with BA is going to cost a huge amount more, in some cases by a factor of eight or more.

My friends who have been blindly loyal to British Airways for decades are in deep shock. They weren’t over surprised about the new tier points being awarded on revenue but they were traumatised by the huge increases required to have their loyalty recognised. Many have said to me they cannot retain their current status in the new scheme and are simply surrendering their planned trips with BA rather than even try.

There are a lot of savvy fliers who have engineered their business and leisure flights around gaining tier recognition with British Airways. A former owner of an airline once told me that frequent fliers have been known to fly in the opposite direction of where they want to go simply to fly with their chosen alliance and earn recognition.

Nigel Evans writes about British Airways

I was recently at a conference in Hampshire and there was only one side discussion of any note – who would people be transferring their loyalty to and which scheme would better reward their loyalty.

One former diplomat told me he had approached Virgin Atlantic to see if it would status match his BA gold card. Not only did they say yes, but they have since officially rolled out their status match with a further incentive of a prize draw for five lucky loyalty refugees to win a million points.

Another British Airways loyalty orphan told me he was switching immediately to Flying Blue on the day that Air France KLM announced its £99 status match. It also appears that Flying Blue is going one better and giving top tier status quietly to Gold Guest List victims. This is the highest level in their scheme and will allow enhanced recognition with extended lounge access to eight of your fellow travellers.

Another savvy frequent flyer texted me yesterday relating to his take on the changes – “I’m done with them”. He is looking at Flying Blue and planning his next BA-free break.

I am now waiting for Star Alliance to smell the stench from the rotting corpse of the BA bombshell and announce a status match offer. The scene is reminiscent of vultures circling above ready to swoop on the remains of an animal dying from, in this case, self inflicted wounds.

I have no doubt that British Airways has thought through these changes – after all they hide behind members feedback as their justification for the new scheme. I have no doubt some members have complained about lounges being crowded or the aircraft boarding by group number being a bit like the rush through the doors at the Harrod’s New Year’s sale. I have no doubt that the new scheme will rectify these problems but not in the way BA has intended.

Another friend is going to China next month and had already embarked on his loyalty journey with oneworld via BA. He has now taken out Flying Blue membership and taken a tier run to Scandinavia, he has a flight booked in business to Paris and next month will fly with SkyTeam to Shanghai. He would most certainly have booked BA to get him closer to his beloved Gold status but feels that BA have shown him no loyalty and two can dance that tango.

BA faces a big decision. It can plough on with its current proposals which have been universally greeted with total disbelief by the majority of frequent flyers I speak to or they can hear the screeching handbreak turns from former loyal members who are heading to pastures and alliances new.

The one thing I have learnt from my days in business is that the customer is always right and that they also have a choice. Unless British Airways wakes up and smells the Union coffee brewing in their lounges they will – without a doubt – soon be receiving fewer complaints from their incredibly loyal Executive Club members about crowded lounges. It will, unfortunately, be for all the wrong reasons.”

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Comments (336)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • BSI1978 says:
    20 Jan20 January 06:41

    “traumatised”, “deep shock”, and “victims”?!

    Whilst this could have been an interesting piece, the hyperbole here is completely unnecessary. Need to gain some perspective I feel.

    • m says:
      20 Jan20 January 07:21

      +1

    • Zain says:
      20 Jan20 January 07:48

      I’m guessing Rob added these words in for greater effect

      • Russell says:
        20 Jan20 January 08:21

        I’m guessing he didn’t, when has Rob’s writing ever been hyperbolic? It’s factual and sensible which is why I come to this website

      • Rob says:
        20 Jan20 January 08:30

        Do you think I would deliberately put words like that into someone else’s mouth without their permission?

        • John33 says:
          20 Jan20 January 08:54

          Why did you publish this drivel then? And why are you not publishing comments about this man’s character?

          • Rob says:
            20 Jan20 January 09:05

            Personal comments are always deleted, it’s a long held policy. Play the ball, not the man (person).

    • Vistaro says:
      20 Jan20 January 07:50

      +1

    • r* says:
      20 Jan20 January 09:07

      So out of the whole thing, your issue is the writing style? Go back to the daily mail lol.

  • Mikeact says:
    20 Jan20 January 06:44

    ‘Needless to say I am Gold for Life with BA and at one stage was Gold on all three alliances simultaneously.’

    Not out of his own pocket of course.

    • DaveP says:
      20 Jan20 January 06:56

      Similar to those who fly and gain status paid for by their employer/company, perhaps, as opposed to those who pay out of their own pocket??

      • Andrew J says:
        20 Jan20 January 07:11

        Indeed. Surely that was the whole point of the “executive” club.

      • Can says:
        20 Jan20 January 08:01

        Yeah but the intuition is that there must be a difference for public employees who travel on taxpayers’ dime.

    • Simon says:
      20 Jan20 January 08:19

      Yes, paid for by his employer. And this is why BA won’t change a thing here – because they have 55% of Heathrow slots, they know most business travellers will choose them most of the time.
      Now, whether betting the house on business travel over premium leisure is a sensible strategy… we’ll see. But that’s what they’re doing.

      • Andrew says:
        20 Jan20 January 09:35

        “whether betting the house on business travel over premium leisure is a sensible strategy…”

        Will depend on how much they improve their offering.

        • John says:
          20 Jan20 January 18:41

          My view from the U.S. is that BA is a decent leisure airline and nothing more. Does seem an odd strategy to make their loyalty scheme so focused on premium travel and high spend targets – but presumably they will follow US model and start throwing in multiple ways to boost status earnings and monetize lounges and other status perks directly.

  • Dermot says:
    20 Jan20 January 06:46

    Good article and resonates with me and I’m sure many others. But “handbreak”?

    • JAXBA says:
      20 Jan20 January 07:42

      I noticed that too. “screeching handbreak [sic] turns” – should be handbrake.

  • Jeff says:
    20 Jan20 January 06:46

    Why am I reading this guy’s opinion? This should have been a forum post.

    • Iain says:
      20 Jan20 January 08:16

      Good question. You should have stopped reading after, “A guest post by…”.

      But I get your point. An MPs opinion, of any political opinion, is one I’d usually skip.

  • NotNormal says:
    20 Jan20 January 07:25

    “it shows that unhappiness with British Airways runs deep and that interest in the topics we cover on HfP goes far beyond the hardcore frequent flyer community”

    Seriously? Being an ex-MP is not mutually exclusive to being a in a “hardcore frequent flyer community”.

    The audience of HfP is not representative of the wider BA customer base, or that of the general public and to suggest is is just daft.

    • Can says:
      20 Jan20 January 08:02

      Right, who knows if I am not an MP?

    • Mike Fish says:
      20 Jan20 January 08:43

      Weirdly, all the people at the front of the queue to get on a flight I caught a couple of weeks ago were discussing the change, lots of “well there’ll be a lot less Group 1 going forward” etc. To suggest the wider BA customer base is ignorant of the changes is anecdotally wrong.

      • Rob says:
        20 Jan20 January 08:49

        …. and indeed is the point this article is trying to make.

      • AJA says:
        20 Jan20 January 11:07

        @Mike-Fish That’s the crux of it. I really do wonder if “there’ll be a lot less Group 1 going forward”. I can see this might potentially only occur if soft landings disappear in April 2026. In the meantime people will still be flying BA to use their status.

        As Rob said in another post if you constantly fly in business class or higher you don’t need the status other than to access a different lounge.

        • Mike Fish says:
          20 Jan20 January 11:48

          That depends, the discussion was mainly amongst those in business class who were Group 2 (I was also in Group 2 but was sitting in a nearby chair) who were suprised by the large number of Group 1’s in the queue. Group 1 is higher than business class being Golds etc.

          I think the crux of the matter is do business people direct business at BA to get status, firstly to use for personal travel and secondly to give them more leverage/options when things go wrong. This is something above their business class ticket. If that’s the case, then this was a mistake as they will direct their business (when they can) to another airline.

          Only my personal opinion as someone who flew 6 long-haul business and 2 short-haul business in the last month and is a shareholder of IAG.

          Personally, I think they’ll do a Delta and reduce the thresholds. Or…. They’ll drop the other shoe and announce, what I assume, is the rest of their master plan which is significant point opportunities from everyday spend of their cards etc.

          Apologies in advance for typos… Can we make the comment box longer, I can’t scroll around easily on my phone?

          • AJA says:
            20 Jan20 January 12:15

            What’s your answer to your own question? You say you flew 6 long haul and 2 shorthaul business class flights in the last month. Did you fly BA? If so was that because you have status or did you do so because BA offered the most appropriate flights and priced at a rate you (or your employer) were prepared to pay? Did you even have a choice?

            If that is representative of your travel you should surely be GGL status but you say you had Group2 so aren’t even Gold but you should be just from last month’s travel. If all 8 flights were on BA /OW metal you should have earned at least 1,840TP last month alone (assuming they weren’t any redemption flights) You are surely not disadvantaged by the new scheme unless you were paying below £3k per business class flight?

          • Mike Fish says:
            20 Jan20 January 16:53

            @AJA There’s no reply button on your post so I’ll reply here…

            This month:

            4 long haul and 2 short haul done on Delta and KLM credited to VS.

            2 Long haul done using Avios and Barclays voucher done on BA (nothing to credit).

            I am my own employer.

            I’m Oneworld Sapphire and Skyteam Elite and some others like LATAM’s (though no idea what I am on that). I think I’ve dropped a few airline statuses over the last few months.

            Is this month representative of my travel? No, though I’m usually a few long haul returns in business class each year.

  • Robert says:
    20 Jan20 January 07:26

    Weird article from someone pointless saying nothing new at all.

  • John says:
    20 Jan20 January 07:27

    “Needless to say I am Gold for Life with BA and at one stage was Gold on all three alliances simultaneously.”

    What a waste.

    • insider says:
      20 Jan20 January 09:10

      isn’t he basically saying that in the past, he used to play the game too and once he got Gold on BA, would move his ‘loyalty’ to the other alliances to get Gold on them?

  • Champignon says:
    20 Jan20 January 07:27

    What you had was a mediocre but large international airline (albeit with very accomplished pilots) that was supported by a stellar loyalty program. People stuck around for the loyalty program and tolerated the airline, with it’s slow-to-roll-out hard product upgrades and marginal soft product. The IT and customer service are both laughable.

    Take away the loyalty program and you have the naked emperor. Some people will stick around out of habit, lack of other choices, or for cheap fares. Those who have options will look carefully at those, and many will leave and not return.

    • Flying Bird says:
      20 Jan20 January 10:06

      Very well summarised

    • Indy500 says:
      20 Jan20 January 10:07

      +1

    • L Allen says:
      20 Jan20 January 10:42

      Completely agree. I attained, and retained, status because it helped mitigate the dire customer service levels. If I were to drop the kind of money BA now needs to consider me a loyal customer, I’d want rose petals cast at my feet and a limo to drive me to the aircraft.

    • memesweeper says:
      20 Jan20 January 10:42

      the lack of choice (Heathrow slots) will help the naked emperor … for a while … but you are absolutely correct in your summary

      • AJA says:
        20 Jan20 January 11:22

        There’s plenty of choice of airlines at LHR. The advantage that BA has is that it offers both shorthaul and longhaul options. All of the competition is either long haul or shorthaul only from LHR. And that BA advantage only comes into play if you want to connect between longhaul and shorthaul flights.

        If you are based in the regions where you need to connect somewhere to take a longhaul then you have the choice of a shorthaul flight to several European hubs of which LHR is one.

        If London is your base then it’s a choice of a shorthaul to another European hub before the longhaul or just fly directly from London and then the choice is BA or any of the others.

        And again status only really comes into play if you are flying economy and want access to the overcrowded BA or other alliance lounges . If you’re flying business or first class then status doesn’t really matter unless you want to access Galleries First when flying CW or CE or economy.

        • Duncan says:
          20 Jan20 January 18:02

          Agreed. I’ve never bothered chasing airline status. If I’m flying CE or CW I’ve to pay for seat selection, and that’s the only real advantage for me, which I can live with.
          I’ve read about meltdown with a largely raised eyebrow. Some of the DYKWIA behaviour has been quite remarkable.

    • can2 says:
      20 Jan20 January 11:21

      +10000

    • Paul says:
      20 Jan20 January 13:18

      Excellent analogy !

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