Dial B for Bronze… Dropping a level in frequent flyer status

British Airways have finally sent me a note to confirm my frequent flyer status has dropped to Bronze. After six years at Silver and a heady 18 months at Gold, it’s time to try out a new level.

I knew it was coming as I haven’t flown nearly enough to renew my status. For my troubles, I will receive a brand new Executive Club card festooned with little brown shapes.

British Airways Are Sorry I Dropped to Bronze

Once upon a time, I went through some great Mary Gober customer service training, where negative words were highlighted. Take the phrase, “Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions” which people often use at the end of an e-mail. Well, the word “don’t” is negative, “hesitate” is also negative. Instead, a better example is, “Please let me know if you have any questions”.

Check out the above excerpt from my “Dear Mr Flight Detective, Welcome to Bronze” e-mail. It is filled with negative words, such as “sorry”, “not”, “unfortunately”, “disheartened”. I mean, I could almost cry (and Mary Gober would be apoplectic!). Another fun fact is that Silver and Gold frequent flyers have their e-mails signed off personally by “James Hillier”, while us Bronze people have, “Your Executive Club Team”. Weeping, I tell you…

All Bronze, All The Time

Everything changes when you change levels in the Executive Club. My British Airways homepage uses Bronze as its colour. I actually discovered the “My Account Details” from the main page for the first time. It was Silver before so it blended in and I didn’t notice it!

Seeing the important details at a glance is quite handy. I had always been curious as to why I had to log in further after already logging in and now I see why! In the app, it’s also now tinged with a brown hue so I well and truly know my place.

Overall Thoughts

I’m not as bothered as British Airways at my drop from the heady heights of Silver. The reason for this is that I’ll be reclaiming my status in November, when I take a long overdue trip to see the family in Australia.

Even so, it is interesting to compare the Bronze soft landing communications to the jubilant letter you receive when you reach Gold. I miss those words such as “pleasure”, “exclusive”, “privileges” and “personal”. No doubt it’s all designed to get me flying more!

What do you think of the Bronze Executive Club downgrade communications? Were you aware of the effect of negative words? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image by Francesco Crippa on Flickr via Wikimedia Commons.