British Airways Partially Reverses Spend-Based Status Changes

British Airways A319 in Hamburg

British Airways has long relied on an established system of Tier Points for retaining status in the Executive Club. These points are awarded based on distance bands and booking or travel class. However, as announced in December, a spend-based system will be introduced in April 2025. Passengers flying with BA, Iberia, and AA would then need to spend e.g. £20,000 annually to achieve Gold status.

It was foreseeable that the Executive Club would lose a significant portion of status customers due to this change. We calculated that it would require up to six times more flights to achieve Silver or Gold status under the new system. The temporary promotion of awarding additional Tier Points during the transition period did little to offset this.

Apparently, British Airways was somewhat caught off guard by the negative feedback. Now the airline is partially backtracking on the new status system. Contrary to the initial announcement, it will still be possible to achieve status based on the number of flight segments. Additionally, the promotion for extra Tier Points in the initial phase will be significantly expanded.

Qualification Through Segments Still Possible

Originally, it was announced that as of April, it would no longer be possible to attain British Airways status through the number of segments flown. This decision has now been reversed entirely. The previous criteria remain in place:

  • Executive Club Bronze Status with 25 British Airways flights
  • Executive Club Silver Status with 50 British Airways flights

Gold status, however, remains unattainable through segments. Instead, it will require 20,000 “new” Tier Points compared to 1,500 TP under the old system. Due to differing calculation methods, these values cannot be directly compared.

Additional Tier Points for Flights Until December 2026

To participate in the promotion for additional Tier Points, a one-time registration on the offer page is required. Initially, the bonus was intended to encourage short-term bookings, applying only to bookings made by February 14, 2025, for travel until early 2026.

Both periods have now been extended. Bookings can be made until December 31, 2025, with travel possible until December 21, 2026. The number of additional points has also been significantly increased, particularly for long-haul flights:

  • Short-haul flights:
    • 75 50 Tier Points for Euro Traveller (excluding Basic Economy)
    • 175 100 Tier Points for Club Europe (Business Class)
  • Long-haul flights:
    • 150 70 Tier Points for World Traveller (Economy)
    • 275 140 Tier Points for World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy)
    • 400 210 Tier Points for Club World (Business Class)
    • 550 330 Tier Points for First Class

Is This Enough?

British Airways is partially mitigating the devaluation of the status program—essentially admitting that the initial approach was too aggressive. But will this be enough to retain users?

That remains doubtful. There will likely be some frequent flyers who can live with these changes as a compromise. However, overall, the new Executive Club remains unattractive to users from most of Europe.

British Airways is rarely the first choice for European flights, and its route network to Asia has room for improvement. Flights with other Oneworld partners do not count towards segment-based qualification. Additionally, the credit card that offers extra status points is only available in the UK and the US.

While BA grants Oneworld Sapphire status after 50 segments, Royal Jordanian requires only 46 Oneworld segments (excluding certain booking classes) for Emerald status. Moreover, Iberia Plus, a competitor within the same group, has not announced a switch to a spend-based system.

Source: British Airways (1) (2) | via Flyertalk

Cover Picture: British Airways A319 in Hamburg | Ditmar Lange

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