British Airways has been accused of abandoning the leisure market following a revamp of its Executive Club loyalty scheme, which is being replaced by a revenue-based system.
The new regime, simply called the British Airways Club, will launch on April 1 and is apparently “based on members’ feedback”.
Under the changes, the system which rewarded travellers proportionately for distance flown and the cabin type booked has been axed for a programe which offers members more loyalty tier points, the more they spend on a flight.
Passengers can attain bronze, silver or gold status in the airline’s Tier Points programme, with one point earned for every pound spent, excluding taxes.
Bronze will now be awarded at 3,500 points, silver at 7,500 points and gold at 20,000 points. Members will be able to earn Tier Points and collect Avios by buying a contribution to Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), earning up to 1,000 Tier Points per year. Avios can be used as a form of payment, via a dedicated landing page.
British Airways Holidays customers will also be able to earn Tier Points based on the price of the entire package, with no limit in place.
BA says it will make it “possible to earn elite status in fewer trips than under today’s offer”.
But some industry experts claim the move will hit leisure travellers, who could previously hunt around for the best deals on flights to earn the rewards.
“BA is effectively washing its hands of the leisure market,” said Rob Burgess, editor of frequent flyer website Head for Points. “Realistically, it will now be impossible to earn gold for small business travellers, economy travellers or self-funded leisure travellers.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly Executive Club members have taken to social media to air their grievances, with phrases such as “this is a kick in the teeth”, “totally stupid” and “betrayal” widespread.
However, Gilbert Ott, of frequent flyer website God Save the Points, said the move would “reward overall spend with the brand, rather than incentivising people to take lots of connections to artificially hit status”.
The airline said the changes, part of a wider £7bn transformation programme, mean there were now “more ways than ever before to earn Tier Points”, claiming the move will bring BA in line with a “model used by many other airline loyalty programmes across the world”.
BA chief commercial officer Colm Lacy said: “The changes we have announced today underline our continued investment in our loyalty programme and in our customers.”
The Avios loyalty programme, which is run by IAG Loyalty and also includes Iberia Plus, Aer Lingus’ AerClub, and Vueling Club, is not affected by the move.
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