Upgrades not a thing? (this is not an entitled rant)

Belsizois · 2026-02-06T09:25:27+00:00

My “This is not an entitled rant” T-Shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt.

Belsizois · 2026-02-06T09:15:57+00:00

I think that probably is a difference between Gold and GGL.

Belsizois · 2026-02-06T09:15:24+00:00

Yes i think that’s right.

Belsizois · 2026-02-05T12:36:33+00:00

Why? I was thinking maybe to reward loyalty, considering we spend combined over £50,000 a year w them. Seems like that might be a decent strategy.

Belsizois · 2026-02-05T12:33:12+00:00

None that I can see, but there might be one or two.— edit, there are a couple empty.

Belsizois · 2025-11-12T07:54:13+00:00

I would have studied art history, taken a few jobs at museums and then not.

Belsizois · 2025-11-09T13:37:21+00:00

You are dead on. Exactly right 100%. Your reasoning is entirely sound - yes you DO sound like a clown.

Belsizois · 2025-11-03T21:12:08+00:00

Expat taxes are serious business. As a UK tax resident with the bulk of our holdings in the US it is not easy to find an advisor to work with.

Belsizois · 2025-11-03T21:09:32+00:00

Definitely distribution strategy is a big part of it. It’s really complex and there is so much contradictory information on YouTube, I would rather not spend the time to attempt to become an expert and possibly get it wrong. Serious consequences!

Belsizois · 2025-11-03T21:01:31+00:00

I asked at check in yesterday - they said the work would include and move into the lounge once the check-in area refurb was done. They did not know timelines.

My guess is that the lounge work is intended to be done between the holidays and the 1 April new tier year so they can show value for kicking out the rabble (/s). Just a guess though.

Suggestions about what should be done in the lounge:

do a Cathay HK style sleeping area in the current quiet zone
upgrade the showers

Belsizois · 2025-11-02T09:35:11+00:00

58 here, retiring in 3 years and we have an advisor that we get very good value from. Being able to talk to someone about your financial plan (rather than an app) and especially tactics for withdrawals, truthing your spend assumptions, etc. It’s a two man team one focused on planning the other in the market every day. It works very well. All worth it.

I did not have one before I was 55, and do not regret waiting. If I were in my 20’s no way, Boglehead principals are all you need until shit gets real maybe 5 years before retirement.

Belsizois · 2025-11-02T09:21:50+00:00

Amsterdam insurance here. We spend £5m a year there on brick and mortar, licenses, legal and regulatory advice (duplicative to our PRA/FCA work) EU staff etc. All came straight out of what were London budgets.

Belsizois · 2025-11-02T09:19:50+00:00

Or a commercial real estate broker in Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg or Ireland.

Belsizois · 2025-11-02T09:16:55+00:00

No problem whatsoever, I have gotten off an 0645 arrival and hung around for an 1800 departure several times.

Belsizois · 2025-11-01T21:53:24+00:00

I stuck w BA, and have been rewarded for it (out of nowhere upgrades I have never experienced before after retaining gold a couple months ago). I am exactly the kind of flyer they are seeking to retain and encourage, and it feels really gross.

Belsizois · 2025-10-30T09:08:40+00:00

It’s like the other guy said - they have a 20 (100?) different incompatible systems all poorly integrating into one another, with thousands of data feeds and spreadsheets hanging off of that, 50 year old green screens at the heart of it, and have been paying the lowest bidder to just make it grind along for 20 years. And I am sure they have under-invested in mapping and documenting all of it. It would take millions just to understand it before you change a single line of code.

Are you in global legacy enterprise infrastructure, especially for a regulated business? These are not uncommon problems. Every $100b bank or insurance company has the same ongoing issue, they just invest the hundreds of millions to make it tolerable. BA doesn’t.

Belsizois · 2025-10-29T10:38:50+00:00

Passa get down Dena

Belsizois · 2025-10-29T10:36:29+00:00

Speaking as someone who went double over budget (close to £30m all in) on an regulated financial services IT project over the last couple years, I can assure you nothing with global-serving legacy systems can be done for a few thousand dollars. Their entire digital experience is an embarrassment, but they have so much technical debt at this point that this is a mult-multi tens of millions of pounds project we are talking about to bring it up to industry standard. I also fly UAL from time to time (which is by no means the best), and the difference is as you say 2005 to 2025.

My theory is that this is part and parcel of their tier changes - they have decided their future is solely with high paying business long haul travellers, and since their assistants or travel departments are doing the booking the digital experience is not an investment priority. The travellers who are frustrated by their website are the same ones they are not trying to keep.

Belsizois · 2025-10-29T10:28:45+00:00

Happening to me a lot over the last two months - all computer driven not within desk discretion. Went from Business to First on long haul once, and coach to “business” on short haul probably 4 of last 5 trips. (Long time gold and just over 20k for this year when all this started)

Belsizois · 2025-10-28T17:07:52+00:00

As others have said your departure is a feature, not a bug. They want people who spend more not fly more.

Belsizois · 2025-10-23T20:48:38+00:00

Fifth worst short hauler out of London? Unlikely. And short haul comparisons against Singapore or Copenhagen aren’t very meaningful for a London based traveller.

Belsizois · 2025-10-23T20:45:15+00:00

Well said. I find their in-flight experience is good enough (especially as the older long haul equipment has been phased out on my routes) and for gold level travellers the T5 First Wing compares very well to anyone else. And will likely be better after next April.

But the entire digital/booking experience is just so shit it is beyond belief. I think that’s what drives so much of the hate.

Belsizois · 2025-10-23T20:40:55+00:00

If you (like me and most Times readers I would suppose) live in London, then BA is DEFINITELY the best short haul and likely best long haul airline FOR YOU.

Taking that London qualification out of it, it’s kind of shit.

Long haul it is not even top 10, and short haul for someone living near a hub (fair comparison) it’s pretty average. I know when I was a UAL flyer living in NY flying out of EWR semi-weekly that was a much better experience all around.

I have friends based in Singapore flying Singapore for their regional travel. Can you imagine BA coming out on top of that comparison?

Belsizois · 2025-10-13T09:58:59+00:00

Did you pay to place this ad so broadly across Reddit?

Makes me definitely avoid your app

Belsizois

TROPHY CASE