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Virgin Atlantic stated it was progressing towards enrolling “many thousands” of discontented British Airways flyers into its reward scheme, propelled by its recent unconventional promotional drive aimed at attracting patrons from its main competitor.
The carrier, established by Sir Richard Branson and partly owned by Delta, commenced an offer around Valentine’s Day, proposing to elevate BA customers to a superior membership classification if they joined its Flying Club program.
Virgin targeted BA’s frequent travellers last year after the UK national airline drew the displeasure of passengers following a complete revision of its loyalty scheme that will result in some long-standing patrons losing their standing.
BA sought to prevent congestion in its lounges by employing a novel system based on funds expended rather than distance covered, which became active last April. BA loyalty members will experience the consequences of these alterations next month. Virgin’s plan is more generous than those of Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, which are attempting to entice BA flyers with a “status matching” initiative.
Clients have criticized BA’s overhaul, which will make it more challenging for leisure travellers to attain Gold tier standing.
Virgin’s newest initiative, named “Preserve Your Tiers”, featured placards in Heathrow’s Terminal 5, BA’s primary operational hub, as well as across various social media platforms. It extended an upgraded membership to anyone with an upcoming Virgin Atlantic flight reserved, irrespective of whether they were already members.
Since launching the promotion, “we’re firmly in thousands” of individuals joining, “and we’re only halfway through,” Anthony Woodman, head of Virgin Flying Club, informed the FT this week. “We anticipate a significant volume to come through in the next half . . . hopefully we’ll reach many thousands.” The offer remains valid until February 23.
“Between this and all the other ventures, we expect our [Gold and Silver members] to expand by double-digit percentages comfortably over a 12-month duration,” he added.
He remarked: “It’s not going to double the size of Flying Club Gold, but it’s going to be substantial growth, which is the objective. We desire these customers to try us and to experience what we believe is a superior encounter.”
Drawing new participants from BA could ultimately incur costs for Virgin, especially if they book to travel with an airline associate such as Delta or Air France, utilizing the Virgin Gold status to gain entry to their lounges. Virgin would then need to reimburse the associate for the lounge usage without the flight earnings.
The airline anticipates that people will then opt to fly with Virgin in the future. New members will retain their status for a year and will need to fulfill standard prerequisites to re-qualify.
“It made my commercial colleagues quite apprehensive about how many people we would attract,” Woodman stated. “But I think quite candidly it’s the appropriate action for customers.”
He mentioned Virgin was “not troubled” about its own lounge becoming excessively crowded due to an influx of patrons who had transitioned from BA. “We’d have to observe an enormous amount of expansion for that behavioral danger.”
Virgin operates approximately 70 departures daily, roughly a tenth of BA’s scale.
BA labelled Virgin’s plan “a well-executed public relations maneuver,” adding that “customers discern these campaigns and the figures speak for themselves.”
The carrier noted that since it applied modifications to its frequent flyer program, it was “consistently ranked in the top category of airline loyalty programs globally.” It asserted it was “confident we’re compensating and acknowledging our members more equitably.”
In addition to implementing the alterations, BA mentioned it had lowered the expense of travel using frequent-flyer points and “increased the quantity of seats obtainable for redemption flights.”