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BA Set to Reverse Club Status for Thousands of Members After IT Error
There we have it, it was an error after all, exactly as we predicted in yesterday’s article by Michele.
Unlike almost every other blog, we held off reporting on the unexpected status extensions at first, as something didn’t feel right and we suspected there was more to the story.
When the emails first started landing, we said the random nature of the extensions didn’t make sense and that it looked like an error. We also said that BA would likely have to reverse them, despite the obvious PR fallout. That now appears to be exactly what’s happening.
As we covered yesterday, a seemingly random group of members (officially less than 1% apparently) received status extensions for another year, with no clear logic.
As the day went on, the situation started to shift. Early on, some agents were offering to submit requests for review, but by mid-afternoon, multiple reports suggested BA had changed position, with agents saying it was a mistake and refusing most requests.
We can now confirm from multiple sources that the extensions were indeed sent in error. The Financial Times reports that BA is dealing with the fallout.
In addition, a regular TLFL reader and contributor, Mark from @markstrainsplanes, got in touch after receiving a message from BA’s Head of Public Affairs, which backs this up:
“I wanted to follow up with you as IAG Loyalty has done some investigatory work today and discovered that due to a technical issue, some members (fewer than 1%) were incorrectly told they had retained status, when they hadn’t earnt it, or been entitled to it. Because of this, we’ll be contacting those affected to apologise and reinstate their correct tier.
I wanted to clear this up with you directly, given our previous discussion and information I had given you, which was correct at that time.”
Crucially, BA is now expected to go back through accounts and revoke extensions where members didn’t actually qualify, again exactly what we suggested was likely yesterday.
Taking the quote at face value, 1% of all members would equate to around 100,000 people, but most of those would be inactive Blue members. In reality, as this relates to status, the affected group is likely limited to Silver and above. Based on typical programme ratios, that would suggest the true number is far lower, likely in the thousands rather than tens of thousands, perhaps around 5,000–10,000 members.
It’s not a great situation either way. Leaving them in place would be unfair given how random they were, but taking them away won’t exactly go down well either.
This is a bit of a mess for BA, and honestly, there’s no perfect way out. It looks like they’ve decided to rip the band aid off and hope it blows over quickly.
For now, if you got an extension, I wouldn’t rely on it just yet.
Did you get one, and has anything changed since yesterday? Let us know in the comments.
Ryanair to Change Bag Drop Closing Times: Should Other Airlines Follow?
The new EU Entry and Exit System (EES) has caused delays across the Schengen area, and now Ryanair has announced that bag drop will close 60 minutes before departure (currently 40 minutes) from 10th November 2026.
This will cover all flights, whether your destination/departure point is part of the EES system or not, even in destinations like Greece where the EES is currently suspended.
The change is designed to reduce the small number of passengers who go on to miss flights after getting caught in airport security or passport queues.
If you are travelling with cabin baggage only, nothing changes. You can continue to arrive at the airport as you normally would, provided you have checked in online.
Ryanair is also planning to install self-service kiosks at more than 95% of its airports before October, which should make the bag-drop process quicker for passengers who need to check luggage, though only 20% opt to have a checked bag.
Bag drop closing 60 minutes before departure is already pretty standard with most long-haul airlines. As for short-haul flights, the policy varies by airline and even airport, usually from 30 to 60 minutes.
A 60-minute closure time is pretty sensible at the moment, but it won’t solve the problem. An EasyJet flight this month from Milan Linate resulted in 120 passengers missing their flight and just 36 making it on board! Some passengers had arrived more than three hours early and still failed to reach the gate in time.
No matter what time the bag drop closes, you should plan to arrive at the airport a little earlier this summer.
Stansted Strike to Go Ahead Over the First May Bank Holiday
Industrial action is back on at London Stansted Airport, with around 100 staff set to strike over the May bank holiday period from 3rd to 6th May. The affected workers are employed by AMB and assist passengers with reduced mobility.
Strikes were originally planned to start in mid-April, but an improved deal was put forward, which has now been rejected due to concerns about low pay and increasing workloads. Stansted passengers increased by 2% last year, reaching 1.89 million.
While this is not the kind of strike that usually leads to cancellations, it can have a domino effect and cause delays, as around times are affected due to some passengers taking longer to board. Stansted has a high volume of short-haul flights, so even short delays can have a knock-on effect.
There are contingency plans in place to maintain services, but disruption is still expected. All roles will be covered, and extra operational and management support will be in place. If you’ve booked assisted travel during this time, be prepared for disruption, keep an eye out for updates, consider arriving at the airport a little earlier and make sure support is pre-booked and confirmed.
Unite says that if AMB come back with an offer, the strike could easily be called off, but until then, members will strike until their voices are heard.
5 comments
Maybe if “almost every other blog” had kept their mouths shut like you did, then BA may not have noticed, especially as it took “forensic analysis” to work out what they had done wrong.
So if customers get their extensions pulled, they know whom to thank for tipping off BA
Re Ryanair bag drop:
It would also be useful if airlines, like BA, opened their check-in/bag drop a little earlier than the current 2 hours before departure, that seems to be the norm at most European airports, until EES settles in. This would be especially useful at destinations where passengers are likely to be travelling with hold baggage and families, and at destinations where the larger Airbus 321 is used.
2 hours 30 minutes would be a good compromise, allowing people to get their bags dropped off in a timely manner, get through security and then on to the negotiate the EES gates. This would also be particularly useful when there are a number of flights leaving for destinations where passengers need to be processed through the EES gates.
The argument that overseas handling agents dictate check-in times is nonsense. Airlines set the service standards and customers pay the handling agent’s fee through their fare, so it’s not unreasonable to ask for an improvement in the passenger’s experience.
I think STN has more pax than the 1.89million you quote.
Exactly what I have been thinking as well. They shouldn’t need to be told – but of course it would cost them money.
If other companies ran their loyalty schemes as badly as BA, they would disappear from existence.
But because airline loyalty is such a niche product I doubt this will adversely affect BA too much, but it should! They are a shambles of a company.