BA's Book with Confidence Policy has Ended

silvercar

jimi_man said:

Sandtree said:

jimi_man said:

It was designed for everyone - business and leisure travellers - since everyone was equally at risk of having their plans disrupted by Covid. Bearing in mind BA's most profitable routes are business routes, I doubt they didn't consider that risk. 

But the reality is you could use it to change your plans for non-covid reasons too... you get a better offer on the day you were supposed to fly out you could simply get a refund for your flight if you wanted to.

Yes that's correct, we did. Though of course the money still stays with BA - you couldn't actually get a refund.

I still think that BA were almost certainly aware of that risk but were probably willing to take it to attract customers to the brand at a time when the industry had suffered a huge setback. Bearing in mind that companies like Squeezy and Ryanair were awful in comparison (in relation to BwC) and the charter airlines even worse. It was only ever a temporary thing so having attracted people they can then go back to normal, having increased their business share. Having travelled to the US last week and going again next week, as well as numerous other flights this year, I can confirm that their planes are pretty full! My wife has done around 50 flights this year and says the same.

I still have several hundred pounds in vouchers which I need to use at some point and I'd imagine there are a lot of people in the same boat (plane!) all of which is business for them.

I have a lot tied up in vouchers and was rather annoyed that I couldn't use them for recent avios bookings.

silvercar

Sandtree said:

jimi_man said:
I still think that BA were almost certainly aware of that risk but were probably willing to take it to attract customers to the brand at a time when the industry had suffered a huge setback. 

Clearly it will have been done with eyes wide open and someone will have done the maths on the loss of flexible/semi-flexible tickets -v- the uptick in sales generally etc and decided that the numbers stack up. 

Not sure I would have called it "abuse" either but inevitably the openness of the scheme has probably hastened the demise... a more closed scheme would have required proofs and that would have caused a host of other challenges but could have extended its life. 

The only flights we've been on that were quiet were Q2 last year where you had to have a legitimate need for travel and have a declaration form (not that anyone checked them at all). Even when the flights were fairly full there was still plenty of reward seats available though which was great for making dents in our Avios and Airmile counts.

BA (and others) are cancelling lots of flights, so those that do fly tend to be full. Also, certainly on leisure routes, there are passengers whose LCC flights were cancelled at short notice desperate to get home and pay whatever BA was asking (and no doubt hoping to be able to claim back from insurance or under EU261).

I've noticed a big reduction in long haul availability of reward flights plus an increase in the taxes and charges. If I didn't have so much tied up in vouchers I would be looking elsewhere.

jimi_man

silvercar said:

Sandtree said:

jimi_man said:
I still think that BA were almost certainly aware of that risk but were probably willing to take it to attract customers to the brand at a time when the industry had suffered a huge setback. 

Clearly it will have been done with eyes wide open and someone will have done the maths on the loss of flexible/semi-flexible tickets -v- the uptick in sales generally etc and decided that the numbers stack up. 

Not sure I would have called it "abuse" either but inevitably the openness of the scheme has probably hastened the demise... a more closed scheme would have required proofs and that would have caused a host of other challenges but could have extended its life. 

The only flights we've been on that were quiet were Q2 last year where you had to have a legitimate need for travel and have a declaration form (not that anyone checked them at all). Even when the flights were fairly full there was still plenty of reward seats available though which was great for making dents in our Avios and Airmile counts.

BA (and others) are cancelling lots of flights, so those that do fly tend to be full. Also, certainly on leisure routes, there are passengers whose LCC flights were cancelled at short notice desperate to get home and pay whatever BA was asking (and no doubt hoping to be able to claim back from insurance or under EU261).

I've noticed a big reduction in long haul availability of reward flights plus an increase in the taxes and charges. If I didn't have so much tied up in vouchers I would be looking elsewhere.

Yes, though it seems to be short haul that are cancelled (unsurprisingly) and long haul is nowhere near as affected. I don't do much short haul so don't tend to see it, though my wife does a bit. 

GingerTim

So by inference you can now book with no confidence at all?