Sorry, leisure travelers: British Airways plans to shift to an income-based program for earning tier points, which determine status qualifications at the airline.
The change will take effect from April 1, 2025, and will accompany the rebranding of British Airways’ loyalty program, the Executive Club, to The British Airways Club.
Here’s what you need to know.
Tire point overhaul
Currently, tier points are earned based on flight distance and fare class. These points are required to earn status with British Airways. The current system favors Budget travelers, allowing them to hunt for cheap fares without sacrificing tier points.
Starting April 1, 2025, members of the loyalty program will earn 1 tier point per £1 spent on their flight costs, seat selection and ancillary purchases such as additional baggage, sustainable aviation fuel purchases and British Airways holidays vacation packages.
The shift will also allow loyal flyers to earn tier points through new means such as cobranded credit card spending. However, according to British Airways, the ability to earn bonus tier points through this method will come later in 2025 instead of April.
It is important to note the currency for US flyers. Considering current conversion rates, you’ll need to spend just over $1 to earn 1 tier point. While that may not seem like much, it can make a meaningful difference when considering the cost of thousands of dollars.
In addition to shifting to this new system, British Airways is changing its status qualification requirements as follows:
- Bronze Status: 3,500 tier points
- Silver Status: 7,500 tier points
- Gold Status: 20,000 tier points
- Gold Guest List Status: 65,000 tier points
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It’s important to note that Gold Guest List status requires “at least 52,000 tier points earned on British Airways-marketed flights, qualifying add-ons and British Airways holiday packages.” You will need to earn at least 40,000 [Tier Points] To maintain Gold Guest List status, “with a minimum of 32,000 [Tier Points] Earned through British Airways-marketed flights, qualifying add-ons and British Airways holiday packages.”
Tier Points can be accumulated between April 1 to March 31 every year, a change from the previous Tier Points collection year that will be implemented in April 2025 as well.
Gold status versus silver requires a significant jump in costs, which hinders leisure and budget travelers seeking Gold status benefits such as first-class lounge access, additional free checked bags, gold upgrade vouchers and more.
Using cobranded credit card spending to move up to elite status will help, but it won’t provide meaningful support for anyone who can’t afford to spend $25,000 (£20,000) a year.
Related: The Best Airlines in the US for 2024
The bottom line
This is an unfortunate, if expected, change in the way British Airways earns status. the most Airline loyalty programs are moving toward revenue-based elite status levels, making it difficult for everyday travelers to achieve meaningful status with their airline of choice.
British Airways’ decision to jump on this trend reinforces what we preach here at TPG: always earn transferable points and miles. While transferable awards won’t change how you earn status with British Airways, they allow you to transfer your business to different airlines if these changes make you lose interest in remaining a British Airways exclusive flyer.
If you choose to earn British Airways status in 2025, be sure to plan your spending to determine which status tiers you can achieve.
Related: British Airways Avios: How to earn rewards