Executive Travel : Airline to Reward Its Full-Fare Passengers

Business travelers, who commonly pay more for tickets than leisure travelers, have long complained that the airlines don’t recognize their greater contribution to airline revenues.

In an acknowledgment of this, British Airways starting in January will award passengers paying full fare with Executive Club Points in addition to their miles, so those passengers will be able to advance to elite status in the frequent-flier programs faster than their discount-flying peers. Members can also earn Executive Club Points when they pay full fare on British Airways’ alliance partner USAir.

Most airlines, including British Airways, already have tiered membership programs giving more perquisites to those who fly the most. The typical perks for those who have reached an elite level range from free upgrades, bonus miles on every flight, priority on waiting lists and special lounge or clubroom memberships.

The new British Airways program does not change the number of miles earned by either the full-fare or discounted-fare passenger, airline spokesman John Lampl says. However, it does enable those who are shelling out more to get the benefits of elite status sooner.

Given the competitive nature of airline travel programs, frequent-flier program watchers expect other airlines to follow British Airways’ example.

“They are the first to value the ticket price more than the frequency,” said Diane Turner, co-owner of Flyer’s Edge, an Indianapolis-based quarterly guide to frequent-travel programs.

The problem has been deciding how to reward the higher-paying people. One solution was to offer upgrades. However, it was soon clear that the demand for upgrades exceeded the number of first-class seats available, said David Stempler, an airline passenger consultant and aviation attorney in Washington. “It got so that they were crowding out the real first-class passengers,” he said.

Partly in response to that, airlines created a new upgrade option, typically for a place in the front of the coach cabin with middle seats unoccupied.

But even that hasn’t been enough, Stempler said. “The airlines are asking, ‘What else can we do?’ ” Rewarding passengers for the fare they paid is a logical solution, he said. “It’s a very cheap way for them to manage the problem. It’s a great idea.”

In a recent issue of his bimonthly magazine InsideFlyer, Publisher Randy Petersen is more cautious in his assessment of the new program.

“I’m guessing that British Airways decided on this change to simplify a confusing method of gaining elite status in their various schemes worldwide. By initiating this change, their program becomes a bit more consistent, although it remains to be seen what they will do in the U.S., where economy mileage accumulation is king.”

Under British Airways’ new plan, members who fly on discounted economy fares will not see any changes in mileage accumulation, but they will not be able to rise to Silver or Gold status unless they buy some undiscounted tickets.

The airline has three tiers of service: Blue (the most basic), Silver and Gold. One round trip from the United States to London twice a year in first class, or three times a year in business class, or six times a year on certain eligible economy fares, earns a member enough points for Silver status.

Silver status provides members access to more than 190 British Airways, USAir or Qantas lounges, and to special check-in desks. They also get automatic 25% mileage bonuses on all British Airways and USAir flights.

Gold status confers all that plus use of first-class lounges all over the world, first-class check-in regardless of the class of service the ticket is for, a 100% mileage bonus, and a free companion ticket for every 60,000 miles flown in a year on British Airways or USAir.

“It makes so much sense,” Lampl said. “It’s like having showers and breakfast in the [British Airways] arrivals lounge at Heathrow. You think, ‘Why didn’t they do that before?’ ”

Carol Smith is a free-lance writer based in Pasadena.