The BMI to BA integration continues

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BMI Diamond Club members received an e-mail yesterday confirming what most people already knew – that holders of Lifetime Gold status under BMI were getting nothing special from BA, that BMI gold card-holder upgrade vouchers are no longer valid (even on flights which still have a BMI flight code) and that Europcar and Purple Parking are no longer BMI partners.

I suppose we should be grateful that the remaining perks such as redemptions on Virgin Atlantic are (at least for now) still available, but anyone planning on a VS redemption should get a move on. The information in this post re Europcar should therefore now be ignored.

It is difficult to know how to feel about this. These moves are certain very sudden – I’m sure people had eGUV’s in hand to use tonight, and probably prepaid Europcar bookings as well. On the other hand, it is difficult to say what exactly IS a BMI flight now given that most are losing their BMI flight numbers – flights booked on a BMI code are being cancelled and immediately rebooked with a BA flight number.

The plane may or may not be repainted in BA colours. I’m sure there will be similar gripes about the loss of Lifetime Gold, but I’m not sure what else BA could have done – most Lifetime Gold’s will have flown the majority of those miles on other Star Alliance carriers anyway.

At the end of the day, remember that BA has been very generous with the takeover of DC – most forum commentators were expecting a Diamond Club to Avios conversion of worse than 1:1, if at all, and certainly not a direct Gold to Gold status match. And now it is clear that the match can be for as long as 23 months if you time it right, and includes a soft landing to Silver and Bronze. Really, there is nothing to complain about there.

One other interesting titbit has appeared on the BMI website, but was not in the newsletter:

Please note, we are implementing a “status freeze”, which means that until further notice no Diamond Club members will be downgraded from their tier level as at 14 June 2012.

Whilst this appears generous (and for some people will work out well, especially those who can now delay doing a BA status match until their BA membership year ticks over), I think BA sees it as another way to kill off Diamond Club. After all, if you don’t need to requalify for DC status, there is no point crediting your flights there.

Meanwhile, BA is offering Europe and Africa based Executive Club members double miles on certain ex-BMI routes from 4th July to 31st August, with a maximum of 10 sectors qualifying. Given that this is hardly the most generous promotion ever, and in any event requires registration by the BAEC member before it kicks in, it seems odd to restrict it to non-UK members.

FWIW, I also had to cancel a Diamond Club redemption today. It was very straightforward, and you would hardly have known BMI has been taken over. I got the same Indian call centre, the same ID process and my flights were cancelled for the standard £25 per person fee. The miles are already back in my account, and hopefully the taxes will soon be returned too.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus: