Bye Bye BA OneWorld Status

January 31st. That was the day my OneWorld status reset.

In previous years I’d earned Silver or Gold status with BA — which meant free seat selection, among other perks. It saved a fortune when travelling with the whole family. Extra luggage allowance meant I could take my bike touring as a second checked bag. There were lounges — some good, some bad — priority boarding (no hunting around for overhead locker space), and the occasional upgrade. Though, if I’m honest, I got very, very few of those.

I’d originally got status via a few well routed low cost business flights - those ones that take 4 or more separate flights to go from A to B (usually an Eastern European airport, to London, to New York, to LA and then onto Hawaii and back). On one trip - the flight times were that poor, I slept overnight just outside the lounge at JFK. I wasn't alone, but I was first into the lounge showers and got to have a hot breakfast in the lounge, and then caught up on sleep in a flat bed on the first flight of the day - so not all bad. But alas, BA put an end to those shenanigans, and closed that method of gaining status at a reasonable price, and so me and a good number of fellow value travellers lost our status this year.

My last flight as a status holder was on 31st January, returning from Japan. We had naff seats and, of course, didn’t get upgraded. But we did get to spend some time in the very nice Cathay Pacific Lounge in Tokyo. It was a pity it was so early in the morning — I wouldn’t have minded a few more self-pour beers while watching the planes land and working my way through more of the noodle bar menu.

And now I’m back to flying without the perks.

I don’t feel that sad about it, though. I had a good run. I enjoyed the lounges — enough, in fact, to get a little bored of them. The BA ones in particular no longer felt special or different.

We still have Priority Passes through our American Express Platinum card, which give access to non-airline-branded lounges in most airports. That made Heathrow a bit more comfortable last week — though it wasn’t amazing. Madrid was better on Priority Pass, but again, not great. Still, I’d take a crowded Priority Pass lounge over paying inflated airport prices for mediocre food and drinks in the main terminal.

On our South American adventure — so far at Quito, Galápagos, and Guayaquil — all had Priority Pass–accessible lounges, which at least provided somewhere to sit and grab a bite to eat. And the food was local and pretty good.

I can't see myself ever qualifying for similar status again, which is a blessing in ways as chasing renewals can steer travel a little too much.

I'm expecting that this will mean more short hops into Europe from local airports for shorter and more frequent holidays. We'll also try a few more cycling holidays - where we either take the car or the ferry into France or Netherlands. The change will be good for us, and keep the travelling fresh.