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Lots of questions about which programme to pivot to courtesy of BA’s ‘customer led’ changes, but not a lot of answers so far. I’m sure HfP will do a detailed write up in due course, but the complexity is significant so I expect it will take some time. For now, has anyone looked at any specifics?
I’ve been exploring Qatar’s Privilege Club ahead of a trip down under next winter, and it looks slightly better than BA’s new offering, but definitely not a slam dunk.
Their tier currency is “QPoints”, with tiers reached at the following levels:
– Silver (= One World Ruby, ~ BA Bronze) – 135 QPoints in 12 months
– Gold (= One World Sapphire, ~ BA Silver) – 300 QPoints in 12 months
– Platinum (= One World Emerald, ~ BA Gold) – 600 QPoints in 12 monthsA return trip in J to Auckland in Qatar’s ‘Business Comfort’, currently selling for around £6k during a peak period earns 266 QPoints. Economy flights to Europe on BA would earn roughly 10-15 QPoints return. So one long haul plus 3’ish European hops should get you the equivalent of BA Silver, but at a cost slightly cheaper but realistically not too dissimilar to the £7,500 BA are asking. Not particularly fantastic.
Platinum however should be able to be achieved for roughly double those figures, which is a significantly cheaper cost than obtaining BA Gold directly at £20k spend.
I guess the big question as well as the shiny plastic card is what you do with the miles.
Just for the status, it looks like RAM have a good deal where you get a status miles boost for a couple of hundred Euros per quarter, but then how easy is it to spend the points?
Mindful of comments when people went all in on airlines like Avianca or Turkish to gain easy status, only to then find it a nightmare to spend the points. Am sure there was an instance of having to go in person to a ticket office to redeem miles….
Am sure there was an instance of having to go in person to a ticket office to redeem miles….
For Turkish, you had to, as the call centre was useless.
But cant we split the tier points vs redeemable points? Thought there was an option to change it either online or at checkin.
No you cannot split it so you credit the Tier points to one scheme and the points to another.
That’s another benefit of QR (and Iberia and AY) – it’s all Avios so redemption remains the same.
But cant we split the tier points vs redeemable points? Thought there was an option to change it either online or at checkin.
Suspect you’re getting that mixed up with using one FF number to gain benefits then another to credit the miles to. Vague memories of Finnair MMB having two fields here, or you could ask/beg the lounge/gate agent to swap it over once you’d enjoyed the status benefits on the ground…
When booking an Avios reward flight, how do you add a FF number from another airline to get the associated benefits (eg seat selection)?
Also, are there benefits of BA Bronze/Silver/Gold that are BA-specific rather than being common to all OW carriers? I’m thinking of nice-to-haves like 1A/1K seat reservations, the First Wing, blocked adjacent seats, first dibs on ordering in-flight meals, etc.
I’m not sure, but I’ve done it the other way around, e.g. booked a flight on AA or IB via BA.com, then in MMB it takes you to those websites to select your seat. For lounge access (if you haven’t got it with your ticket), show your membership card in the BA app (though it may well show on your BP).
To book an avois reward with a different program FF, I added profife myself in my friends and family list with the other FF. Then I have just booked for that ‘friend’
You can also just be logged out of BA and ass your preferred frequency flyer program when booking.
Also, are there benefits of BA Bronze/Silver/Gold that are BA-specific rather than being common to all OW carriers? I’m thinking of nice-to-haves like 1A/1K seat reservations, the First Wing, blocked adjacent seats, first dibs on ordering in-flight meals, etc.
OW emerald comes with access to First Wing, fast track security, extra baggage etc. Details here: https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/partners-and-alliances/oneworld/frequent-flyer-benefits
There are probably some nuances you might not get compared to BA Gold, but honestly if anyone is choosing a programme based on the ability to sit in row 1, they need their head read.
There are probably some nuances you might not get compared to BA Gold, but honestly if anyone is choosing a programme based on the ability to sit in row 1, they need their head read.
Never had Gold status, but the only value I’d place on row 1 seating is when two travelling in F if you both have a window seat preference as the 8 seat cabin now on the vast majority of F equipped aircraft means you can’t get two adjacent window seats without one of you being in row 1.
That was the bust up I had with BA ~ten years ago when they turfed us out of 1A/2A on a 787-9 which we’d had reserved for many months a couple of weeks before flying. We haven’t flown BA F since.
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