Try buttering us up, BA, not battering our loyalty points

The nation's flag carrier has blamed the Budget for its latest round of penny-pinching, only confirming to James Moore that flying has become a thoroughly miserable experience

- James Moore

The national carrier has told them that from 15 December, the cost of a “reward flight” via its Avios loyalty scheme will go up due to a “combination of factors”, including tax hikes on flying, in Rachel Reeves’s latest Budget.

Other “factors” include “third-party charges, changing market conditions” - whatever that means - and “inflation” (duh).

But in its statement shared with The Independent, “air passenger duty” was front and centre. “We’ve given members as much notice as we could to help them plan ahead,” it added.

Well, thanks, guys! That’s mighty Christmassy of you. What’s next? A lump of coal with your crisps on that flight to Barcelona?

Here’s what struck me when I read this: the changes to the scheme come into force from 15 December. The Budget’s inflation-busting taxes on flying, on the other hand, don’t land on customers until April.

I rather suspect that this has been in the works for a while because figuring out changes to fairly complicated loyalty schemes isn’t something that happens overnight and requires high-level approval. On the other hand, it is fairly easy to update a customer email and/or press statement to divert attention from your own penny pinching in favour of blaming an unpopular chancellor.