What Does British Airways Have Against us Yankees?

I really can’t believe how bad the new British Airways Avios Program is.  There has been a lot of speculation on the blogosphere about the changes that were announced to take place yesterday.  Some would say that the British Airway Avios program has changed a loyalty program into a disloyalty program.

What are They Thinking?

First, there is no chart or website that allows you to easily find the value of your points.  Instead you have to use their online calculator.  This makes me think that they will change the value of the points as it suits them.

Second, British Airways advertized that Avios Points would be 97% cheaper.  But this was only based on flights originating out of London.  For everyone else in the world Avios Points are more expensive.

Third, BA has eliminated one of the great perks of flying on British Airways—the free connections.  If you were an Executive Club Member you could book a flight from Salt Lake to Munich with a 3 day stopover in London.  You could use miles for the entire trip as if it were one flight.  Now you will be charged points for the trip from Salt Lake to London (with some leg between), and you will be charged points for the leg from London to Munich.

Can you Translate That from British to American for me?

Yeah, it is going to be much harder to accumulate points and much more expensive to use them.  In most cases it will be a 40% to 100% increase in points cost.

·       Have you had to change any travel plans because of the new Avios Program?

·       Please share any stories about how this has affected you.

·       Also, let me know if there is any good news coming out of this new program.