I would like to like the BA Executive Club more. Why such a confusing sentence?

PERKS
I love the Executive Club even though I've only flown with British Airways once. This is mainly because with some of the other airlines I've flown with, you can't join their frequent flier club until after your first trip with the airline. That sucked.

Another one of the main features I like about the Executive Club is that you can pre-set the meals you would like to receive on the flight. I, for one, have numerous food allergies so I can request a specific meal - all without having to step on the plane and ask for it there. There were so many different meal options I didn't know which one would adhere to my food guideline! There were meals geared to various vegetarian options, religious faiths, etc. I thought this really catered to customers and was fabulous on BA's part.

Another perk of the Executive Club is their versatility - you can purchase tickets with a combination of points you've accrued while a member of the Executive Club, and out of your own pocket. Also, you can convert these points into miles with other airlines. Furthermore, family members can combine points together.


CONS
It is difficult to access your progress as a member of the Executive Club. That is, it is quite easy to access your account online and learn how many miles you have accrued thus far, but it is difficult to find out how many more miles you have left to achieve free tickets and all the other goodies the BA Executive Club brags about. I clicked on so many options and links but couldn't find anything specific or easy to follow. This, I did not like - I felt like BA Executive Club wasn't really an Executive Club and was just making up fake benefits.

The descriptions are very vague for how the Executive Club works. But I think it works this way: you can earn miles through BA or through their airline, hotel, or car rental partners. These transfer into points in which you go through three different levels of membership. There are three tiers - blue, silver, and gold - and one has to acquire enough points within a span of 12 months to stay with the tier, and that each tier has different benefits.

For example, the benefits of the silver tier include 1.25 miles for every 1 mile flown on BA, lounge access, priority check-in, etc. but that kind of stuff only matters if you are a frequent flier on BA, which I'm not.

BOTTOM LINE
Heck, it's good to join a frequent flier club if you are going to be flying constantly on the same airline, or a few of the airlines which combine their frequent flier miles together, but BA Executive Club as of now needs improvement on explaining how their system works. If you are a one time flier per year or years, the Executive Club really is not of much use since they require you to maintain your status quo in the tier within a span of 12 months.



Recommended: Yes