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Virgin Atlantic is targeting frequent flyers who lost out on controversial changes to British Airways' loyalty program, in the latest salvo in a decades-old rivalry between the two carriers.
The airline, owned by billionaire Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, said it would match BA's “gold” status and “silver” executive club members if they switched to its loyalty program.
The change “makes it easier for customers who feel no love for their existing airline to experience Virgin Atlantic's award-winning hospitality,” said Anthony Woodman, executive in charge of Virgin's “Flying Club” loyalty program.
In an effort to target inactive BA customers, Virgin said that, until February 14, it offered five “eligible” customers 1mn air miles, enough to fly from London to the east coast of the US 10 times.
ARE THEY it drew criticism to many customers last month when it announced major changes to its loyalty points program where passengers receive rewards such as free seat selection and access to the airline's lounge.
Under the change, which will be introduced from April, “tier” points will be awarded based on the cost of flights or holiday packages instead of the class of travel and the length of the trip.
To reach the coveted “gold” status passengers will now have to spend around £20,000 a year flying BA.
The tier points system is separate to Avios loyalty funds that can be used for flights and holidays.
Many frequent flyer experts said the changes meant BA was pricing out more leisure travelers from the higher tiers of the loyalty program.
But some customers have welcomed the move, which will bring BA into line with many of its rivals and better reward passengers who spend more with the airline.
Gilbert Ott, of the frequent flyer website God Save Points, said a growing number of airlines were using point-of-sale to grow their customer base, but Virgin's was a strong offering.
“When airlines smell of dissatisfaction, they extend these warm and fuzzy offers to customers looking for new love,” he said. blog post. Like getting people to switch banks, convincing top travelers to switch flights was not easy, but “quick access to the 'good life' is a wise temptation,” he wrote.
BA said that comparing status is common in the travel industry. “Our customers who choose to check-in on other airlines retain their status with us and continue to enjoy the benefits we offer such as lounge access and priority boarding, seat selection and bonus Avios.”
With 45 flights, Virgin is a much smaller airline than BA, which has five times as many. But Virgin focuses its flight on the transatlantic market, which is also BA's biggest profit engine.
Its offering has been extended to 11 top airline customers, including American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Lufthansa.
BA and Virgin have been estranged since Branson founded the carrier in 1980, and Branson successfully sued BA in the early 1990s. “Dirty Tricks” customer success campaign.
The competition, while still fierce in the trade, has heated up a bit in recent years and the two businesses have worked closely during the pandemic to push for an end to the government's travel restrictions.