I consider myself to be a very loyal person. Once someone or something has caught my attention and come into my life it takes a lot for me to ever really lose my affection and let that same thing leave my life.

At times I can be quite fanatical about my allegiance and single minded in my approach. Whether it is towards a relationship which is well past its sell by date or a designer label that suited me when I was 18 but at 31 looks ridiculous, sometimes my loyalty totally impairs my judgement.

My relationship with British Airways is a perfect example. I have always been a big BA fan ever since my first ever flight with them aged 5. I remember admiring the pretty air stewardesses and the handsome air stewards and wondered how real life people could look like my Barbie and Ken dolls. A decade later and as a stroppy teenager I was utterly delighted when I got upgraded on a flight to Kenya due to an accidental overbooking. The luxury of travelling business class (and the free upgrade!) intensifying my zeal.

Such was my passion for BA that when I worked for Miramax I point blank refused to fly any other airline but BA. This led to a number of rows with my then boss, the feisty but wonderful Harvey Weinstein whose eyes used to water when he got my expenses sheet to sign off. Why oh why he would ask wearily do you have to travel BA when flying another airline will provide the same quality of service but will save me thousands? I would repeatedly answer that I loved BA, felt comfortable flying with them and really didn’t like flying any other airlines.

However like many great love affairs the love was one sided and BA finally came a cropper last December. I was spending my first Christmas on the slopes and it was my first ski trip for seven years. To say I was excited was an understatement. On the morning of the flight I received a text message half an hour before we were due at the airport to say that the flight had been cancelled with no other explanation. It was the 22^nd of December and as I was headed to Zermatt which is a very long train journey from Geneva it was almost not worth going on the trip unless we got ourselves on another flight immediately. Good old EasyJet came to the rescue and later that evening we sat in our chalet looking at the Matterhorn so grateful that we had managed to get another flight and make our Christmas in the snow. It was a truly magical holiday, one of the best Christmases I have ever had and will always look back on fondly. We all forgot about the BA flight issue until the long train journey back to Geneva when we started calculating how much we had spent as a result of the cancelled flight. As a group of four adults and two adorable little ones we spent approximately £1,500 as a direct consequence of BA’s cancellation of our flight. Soon after we returned I wrote a long letter to BA and asked them to reimburse us for the expenses we incurred and to refund the cancelled flights. I explained (in detail) my long-standing love affair with them and how I felt that they should not only do the right thing and refund our flights and reimburse our expenses but also make a gesture towards loyal customers to show they valued our business.

Four months on and I have only just had my flight refunded (I don’t believe my fellow passengers have as yet) and been offered a mere £94 compensation which I rejected yet has been sent to me in a cheque anyway. And this has been after four months and numerous correspondences. It has utterly enraged me that BA appear to have absolutely no interest in doing the right thing (they are actually obliged under EU laws to reimburse customers for expenses incurred as a result of cancelled flights) for the right reason – to show a long standing customer that they do appreciate their loyalty and wish to retain their custom. Like many flagging relationships sometimes you need a real slap in the face to get your perspective back and walk away.

And that’s exactly what I am doing. I am now a fully fledged born again Virgin. Mr Branson will be getting my business and loyalty with pleasure….