British Airways launches a status match – but only for US and Canadian residents

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• Lux says:

  9 Apr9 April 16:01

  Pedantic point that it’s BA itself, not HfP, that considers Norway and Switzerland to be outside of Europe [shrugs shoulders].

• Paul says:

  9 Apr9 April 16:12

  Business not going well on TATL routes. Delta pulling off LHR LAX, 50% reduction in Virgin reward flights and now this from BA.
  Was talking to some people yesterday who say some BA flights, outwith peak periods, are not even 1/3rd full. Personally struggle with that as every ShortHaul I take is rammed.
  Mind you the sooner there is a down turn, especially premium leisure the better. Fares need to return to their normal dizzying levels rather than the insanely stupid levels they are no

  • Willmo says:

    9 Apr9 April 16:38

    BA flights dont need to be full if fares are high.
    I imagine many BA TATL flights still make big money even with J at 30% occupancy.

    • Scott says:

      10 Apr10 April 10:12

      Every BA flight I’ve been on since Covid has been full in business, and 90-100% down the back.
      Flying PE next week to PHX and that’s at a good 70%+ at present, and I guarantee not a single CW suite will be unoccupied.

  • Jay says:

    9 Apr9 April 18:46

    Sorry, what’s the news on a 50% reduction on virgin reward seats?

    • Rob says:

      9 Apr9 April 19:45

      The one they did a few weeks ago.

      • sturgeon says:

        10 Apr10 April 07:21

        Did I miss that news? Dont remember reading it.

        • sturgeon says:

          10 Apr10 April 07:22

          Oh sorry, a 50% ‘discount’? I thought this was saying a reduction in availability as it wasn’t at all clear! Thanks

• Nicholas Pike says:

  9 Apr9 April 16:21

  The Atlantic flights may be empty, but the LHR lounges are rammed. Or at least they are when I am in them. Mind you, the never ending double tier point offer from BA Holidays may be in part responsible.

  • Harry Holden says:

    9 Apr9 April 16:43

    Respectfully, I disagree. Therymay be at other times of the day, but I am often in them (am in GF right now) mid afternoon into the early evening. There are less than 10 people on the GF terrace and the lounge is as empty as it has been all year. Famous last words, a group of Americans have just arrived to tell the world they are travelling “Club” not “steerage”

• Ivan says:

  9 Apr9 April 16:30

  From what IAG said, BA has been very dependent on US point-of-sale for transatlantic traffic since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, so perhaps this is not surprising.

  Aside from the downturn in business traffic, pretty much everyone from the UK who goes to the US now says the same thing, with inflation and a weak pound, it’s just too expensive.

  A colleague was also even charged by a chain hotel in New York to put his bags into storage after check out.

  • Lux says:

    9 Apr9 April 16:39

    I’m in the US now and it is astonishingly expensive for even average things. Combination of the weaker pound and higher prices. I spent $40 on a rubbish pizza last night, every coffee is £6, not finding even an average hotel room below $200… the world has changed and, unfortunately, my brain is stuck in the past.

    Sun’s out in California though, which is nice.

    • Scott Katsinas says:

      9 Apr9 April 18:11

      Problem is not that you are in USA, but that you are in California

      • AlanC says:

        10 Apr10 April 08:06

        Yes its location location. Spent a week in small town rural Michigan recently. Coffee shop under 3 bucks. Mom and pop diner had a lunch 15 dollars all in. Yet NYC layover and speechless at the prices.

        • Scott says:

          10 Apr10 April 10:05

          I’m in California next week and a lot of hotels are around £150 a night, even on historically quieter days or in areas that aren’t favoured at present due to crime and the homeless + parking on top of that.
          £150 or thereabouts in some mid-west hotels.

          Quite a few sold out in San Francisco, so there must be something on to bring people in regardless of it’s present reputation.

          Some US flights are cheap to get to certain places, but a lot could be £200 for a 1hr flight in economy, which then cancels out hotel savings.
          I’ve booked a train in a week or so as it was a quarter of the price of flying, and I don’t think it will take much longer.

          Last time I was in NY, £400+ for hotels (or say 120k IHG points), even those well out of the way, and the ones in the financial district. Flew down to Miami and had 2 nights there for less than 1 night in New York.
          (Sometimes it’s cheaper to stay in Philadelphia and catch a train for $25 or less each way)

    • Throwawayname says:

      9 Apr9 April 18:59

      I am writing this from a UA lounge in the US waiting for my flight back to Europe. This country isn’t just expensive, it’s also plagued by very low standards in terms of food quality, cleanliness etc. As part of planning the trip, I had read reviews for dozens of hotels where cockroaches and/or bed bugs were an issue- not only ‘budget’ places, but also some described as 4-star ones and/or belonging to international chains. I haven’t seen anything like that even in obscure places in Africa. Ended up paying over £200 per night to stay at a bloody Best Western next to a motorway. Even the most flexible/expensive domestic economy fares don’t include checked luggage – you need to fork out extra money as well as faffing about with apps etc.

      Also what’s the point of a 20% ‘suggested tip’ when you have to order at the counter and then be standing waiting around for the barista to make your coffee (and putting enough foam to create a cappuccino instead of the macchiato you’d ordered)?

      And don’t get me started on the enormous queues for passport control, security etc. There may be some interesting places to visit and whatnot, but it really isn’t worth the bother unless you’re also travelling due to work/family reasons.

      • Lux says:

        9 Apr9 April 23:56

        Having seen the immigration queue (when we were allowed to reach it) I was pleased to be paged for interview by an immigration officer. Must have saved me two hours!

      • Hugo says:

        10 Apr10 April 07:32

        When Europeans have to buy Energy in USD instead of EUR (and into RUB), everything in USD becomes more expensive.

        An unfortunate consequence of the issues of the last few years.

    • Andrew. says:

      10 Apr10 April 09:30

      If I’m booking a US City trip, I make sure that the hotel is a HIX style with breakfast included and that there is a Wholefoods nearby for the buffet/pizza counter.

      • Scott says:

        10 Apr10 April 10:19

        Always have pizza from Whole Foods when in San Francisco. A couple of blocks from the Howard Street IC.
        Tasty, reasonable hot and probably one of the most affordable foods there 😉
        2 slices for $8? or thereabouts.

      • John says:

        11 Apr11 April 08:58

        Who would willingly eat a US HIX breakfast

• NorthernLass says:

  9 Apr9 April 16:56

  Have I missed something? If the flight needs to land in the EU, Norway or Switzerland, then LHR isn’t going to qualify!

  • BBbetter says:

    9 Apr9 April 17:23

    Well, it says Europe right now, Rob’s speculating. If you wait for 9 months, LHR will qualify even if its EU.

  • Shl says:

    9 Apr9 April 18:49

    No, you are correct. London is not possible. Here is the fine print from the registration page:

    Qualifying Flights
    5. A Qualifying Flight is a published fare or a net fare negotiated by BA for various corporate customers, for a round trip flight in First or Club World (Business Class) in any selling class, with: a prefix of British Airways (BA) and operated by British Airways (BA), American Airlines (AA), Iberia (IB) or Finnair (AY)

    between North America, Canada, Mexico and Europe, Norway, Switzerland only.

    The promotion does not apply to travel on flights operated by any other BA franchisees, codeshare partners or oneworld Alliance members.

    • Richie says:

      9 Apr9 April 19:04

      Mixing countries and continents is confusing. BA is very good at unclear Ts & Cs. They should replace ‘Europe’ with the countries they are referring to.

    • Rob says:

      9 Apr9 April 19:45

      You’re missing the point. It is almost certainly bad wording by BA and the UK IS included. If they’d just said ‘Europe’ then we would all assume the UK is fine. It’s only because they add ‘Norway and Switzerland’ which makes you think they mean EU and not Europe and therefore UK excluded.

      • NorthernLass says:

        9 Apr9 April 20:11

        Have you changed the wording of the article? I’m sure I read earlier that you were warning people to be wary of booking outside the EU, hence the comment about LHR!

        • Rob says:

          9 Apr9 April 21:36

          Yes, because I’m sure BA means UK.

          The ‘Qualifying Flights’ wording is also wrong in places.

• Voian says:

  9 Apr9 April 17:21

  I’d flag that one difference between having a US and UK address is that for US residents, BA uses GPB 1 = USD 2 exchange rate for all taxes/surcharges. This is why I’ve kept a UK address in my account despite moving to the US – the difference on reward flight can be shockingly high.

• Chris W says:

  9 Apr9 April 17:32

  If BA are trying to attract more Exec Club elites, does this mean the Double TP’s offer will last forever?

  • Dace says:

    9 Apr9 April 18:23

    I suspect they will. BA seem to have cottoned on to the fact that if you give people ‘status’ they become very loyal despite the loyalty being laid out to everyone. Just look at Costco for instance.

• TomB says:

  9 Apr9 April 18:14

  Have BA not heard tragedy of the commons was an economic concept invented to describe their lounges?

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