-
Is there any point to BA Gold card anymore? You aren’t in group 0. You will never get upgraded (6 years and counting of flying every single week without an upgrade). The first class lounge has seen better days and there isn’t even table service or even a menu (which existing pre-covid). What is the point of keeping the Gold card over Silver? Even if you continue to fly that often you can maintain two loyalty programmes rather than just sticking to one. By chasing the 0.0001%, BA has neglected the 1% and treated them with contempt. I for one will be keeping BA silver for lounge access and then Star Alliance Gold for equivalent access/better service.
Silver is the sweet spot.
But Gold is hugely powerful especially on short haul, due to the Row 1 block and the ‘no neighbour’ block in Economy.
I was on a 99% full flight to Budapest yesterday. I booked at short notice but still got 1D and 1F was empty.
So ….
*soft landing to Silver guaranteed
*extra Economy Avios seats
*First Wing at Heathrow
*exit row and neighbour seat block on economy short haul
*Row 1 block on economy Business
Etc
I was Gold for about 5 years and dropped to Silver last reset.
I used to think the answer was First Wing, but the B gates lounge is just as comfortable as the Gold lounge and less crowded. I miss the amazing security experience, but the Gold lounge was always just OK for me.
Bulkhead CE is a big one though. I personally think CE is a terrible product as legroom is something I am happy to pay for, but only Gold gets that.
I don’t chase Gd but have obtained for last 3 years organically. First wing is useful, the lounge has been refurbished a bit and it slighly more civilised than galleries club. The extra redemption seat availability on ShortHaul is useful.
I don’t fly BA long haul as the service on other carriers as a gold card holder is markedly better. Access to cathay 1st class lounge, the QF First class lounge in Sydney Melbourne and the Finnair lounge in HEL. It’s a nice to have but not essential.
Like everything else at BA it’s a product that has been gutted of benefits over the years and it’s only at 2500 tier points that any tangible benefits accrue.
Things I miss include
1. Lounge access even when not flying BA
2. Additional reward seats at double Avios on RFS. Now all priced at £1 destroying value… this was a huge loss.@Rob – the “no neighbour block” in economy also benefits the other passenger sharing the row with the Gold card holder
GOLD —BLOCKED— BLUE
– so if the passenger is a Blue member, they benefit from the Gold cardholder’s expenses and hard work.
Gold being pointless to you doesn’t mean it’s pointless to everyone.
I find silver pretty useless, as I almost always fly in business and silver is all about giving you some business class benefits when you’re too cheap to pay for a business class seat.
Gold gives you genuine extras that money can’t buy. I miss some of these now I’ve dropped a tier: bulkhead seats in CE, First wing at T5, Cathay F lounge in T3, and lots of extra Avios availability.
Other flyers’ Gold benefits now cause a first-world problem for me as a lowly Silver. Flying in the small 8-seat F cabins with a partner is a right pain, as only one of the four window seats is bookable without a baby. That mean’s it’s impossible for my partner and me to both have window seats, regardless of how much we paid for our tickets…a pretty non-premium experience, in my view.
If you want free upgrades, swap to American Airlines, and fly with them. It’s not a BA benefit, it is a US thing.
BA will only upgrade you when your cabin is full and the one ahead has space, not when the cabin ahead has empty seats. Fly WTP on busy flights and you’ll get a pretty good hit-rate for free upgrades. Club on a 4-class plane with lots of business people but not many F tickets and you’ll have a decent chance.
Otherwise, if you’re booking at the back, enjoy the chance of a spare seat next to you if the flight isn’t totally rammed, the extra avios seats for holidays with family/friends, row 1 in CE for speedier service, and a much higher chance of being able to stash your bag overhead from group 1 boarding.
Things I miss include
1. Lounge access even when not flying BAIf you mean getting into a BA lounge when flying the likes of easyJet then that benefit went well over a decade ago.
Is the neighbour block in economy new? I had BA gold for 2 years pre covid and don’t remember that being the case!
I’ve never chased Gold – Silver is great for lounge access. First lounge at LHR is awful IMHO, much prefer Galleries (or of course CCR if F). But they should definitely be looking after their Gold members!
Only benefit I ever got from Gold card was a long time ago… – was bumped from a flight to Moscow, Said “you need to bump my (Gold card) colleague as well then”. Seconds later – boarding pass!
On a busy route flying economy and choosing the extra leg room seat as a gold means you get the middle seat blocked (until checkin when someone else asks for it)…
I dropped to silver on the 1st and flying four times in the next two weeks all in row one with my good lady. I appreciate things could change and I get booted out of row 1 but I am starting to think that 1C is not a good seat anyways. Sure there is a little extra leg room but your constantly bashed as backpackers get on , there is often nowhere to put your bag, you get the crew gassing away most of the flight , the curtain ends up on your leg and there is often someone hovering around wait for the lavatory.
I would rather be gold but silver is the sweet spot and I am not angry …
Is the neighbour block in economy new? I had BA gold for 2 years pre covid and don’t remember that being the case!
Been around for a couple of years but it’s an unofficial benefit and obviously falls away when the flight is full. It doesn’t BA a penny which is why they like it!
There are only 3 reasons why Gold remains worth it for me:
1) Soft landing to Silver next year
2) Fast track first class gates at Heathrow
3) You can seat select anyone else you are travelling with for freeOutside of this, I do think silver is the sweet spot like someone else mentioned above!
I just always travel business class, usually on Avios, whilst knowing I’m probably amongst BA’s least profitable frequent flyers. You can often find Row 1 becomes free when online check-in opens anyway. It’s why I’m not tempted by tier point runs – very little benefit and resisting helps to rewire my primitive status-conscious brain in the process!
I think the most common use case where status pays off is if travelling for work regularly in economy, or for those who don’t have the luxury of being able to travel when Avios has availability!
Out of interest, I understand Silver also gets a blocked seat, but it’s just that obviously this all depends on how full the flight is and only on a very empty flight will they end up actually getting one.
On a busy route flying economy and choosing the extra leg room seat as a gold means you get the middle seat blocked (until checkin when someone else asks for it)…
I dropped to silver on the 1st and flying four times in the next two weeks all in row one with my good lady. I appreciate things could change and I get booted out of row 1 but I am starting to think that 1C is not a good seat anyways. Sure there is a little extra leg room but your constantly bashed as backpackers get on , there is often nowhere to put your bag, you get the crew gassing away most of the flight , the curtain ends up on your leg and there is often someone hovering around wait for the lavatory.
I would rather be gold but silver is the sweet spot and I am not angry …
1a if travelling on my own( which is rare.) 1d/f for both of us and that side of the plane gets better views coming in to London. Avoid 1c for same reasons as @Roberto. Currently Silver but finding row one is opening up a good few days before flight
Out of interest, I understand Silver also gets a blocked seat, but it’s just that obviously this all depends on how full the flight is and only on a very empty flight will they end up actually getting one.
I’m silver and both ways on a return trip to Istanbul recently I noticed a few days beforehand on Expertflyer that the seat next to me was blocked in an almost full cabin, so it does happen with a bit of luck.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
