Following Finnair Plus, another frequent flyer program in the Oneworld alliance, is switching to a spend-based status system. This time, it’s British Airways’ Executive Club – one of the most popular frequent flyer programs within the alliance.
The changes weren’t announced all at once, but piece by piece over several months. First, in October 2023, the program switched to a spend-based allocation of award miles. Then, they introduced a unified qualification year for all members, laying the groundwork for the next change. Today, it was announced that starting April 1, 2025, members will earn 1 Tier Point for every £1 spent on ticket prices.
To achieve frequent flyer status within 12 months, you’ll need:
- Bronze Status (Oneworld Ruby): 3,500 Tier Points
- Silver Status (Oneworld Sapphire): 7,500 Tier Points
- Gold Status (Oneworld Emerald): 20,000 Tier Points
The spend-based calculation applies to flights with British Airways, American Airlines, and Finnair. For other Oneworld partner flights, booking class and distance will determine Tier Points. Achieving status based solely on the number of flight segments will no longer be possible.
In addition to flights, Tier Points can now be earned through spending on a BA Amex card, bookings with British Airways Holidays, and extras like baggage, seat selection, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). However, these options are unlikely to be significant for customers outside the UK. The program will also be rebranded from “British Airways Executive Club” to “The British Airways Club.”
How Tier Points Are Calculated for Oneworld Flights
For airlines other than British Airways, American Airlines, and Iberia, British Airways cannot access ticket prices. Instead, Tier Points will be calculated based on booking class and flight distance. The current system of Tier Points based on distance classes (e.g., above or below 2,000 miles) will be discontinued.
Specific percentages for flights from April 1, 2025, are already listed on the British Airways website, e.g. Finnair offers 4% for low-cost economy tickets and 50% for the most expensive business fares.
Example: Tier Points Before and After
Here’s a comparison of how status qualification works under the old and new systems. In both cases, the new system represents a significant downgrade, making it up to six times harder to achieve frequent flyer status.
British Airways & American Airlines Business Class to Los Angeles
Oneworld carriers frequently offer good deals on business-class flights. Under the current system, a booking with a layover on the U.S. East Coast (e.g., BUD - LHR - JFK - LAX) could earn Oneworld Sapphire status. Assume the ticket costs €1,650, with €1,500 as the fare and €150 in taxes and fees.
- Current System:
- 40 + 140 + 140 + 140 + 140 + 40 = 640 Tier Points
- 107% of Silver Status (Oneworld Sapphire)
- 43% of Gold Status (Oneworld Emerald)
- New System (from April 2025):
- Approximately 1,250 Tier Points based on a £1,250 ticket price
- 17% of Silver Status (Oneworld Sapphire)
- 6% of Gold Status (Oneworld Emerald)
Finnair Business Class to New York
For Oneworld partners, Tier Points will be calculated based on distance. A realistic example would be a business-class flight from BER - HEL - JFK, priced under €2,000.
Current System:
- 40 + 140 + 140 + 40 = 360 Tier Points
- 60% of Silver Status (Oneworld Sapphire¹)
- 24% of Gold Status (Oneworld Emerald¹)
New System:
- 9,602 miles × 25% = 2,265 Tier Points
- 30% of Silver Status (Oneworld Sapphire¹)
- 11% of Gold Status (Oneworld Emerald¹)
¹ Assumes meeting the requirement of four segments with BA/IB annually.
What About Tickets Already Booked?
For tickets booked before December 30, 2024, for travel from April 1, 2025, Tier Points will be awarded under the old system and then converted to the new system, e.g. 300 Tier Points in the old system will likely convert to 3,750 Tier Points in the new system (50% of Silver Status). According to British Airways:
For flights booked before 30 December 2024 for travel from 1 April 2025, that are marketed by British Airways, American Airlines or Iberia, Tier Points will be awarded based on a conversion of the existing method.
This means any bookings you’ve already made will earn proportionally the same number of Tier Points, or more, as today.
British Airways
It remains uncertain whether the “soft landing” will continue. Currently, a Gold member drops to Silver status after one year and retains Ruby status for another year.
Conclusion
With these changes, the Executive Club is effectively dead for leisure travellers. Since October 2023, earning miles has become negligible, and achieving frequent flyer status is now almost impossible for individuals who travel two to three times a year. At least, a status with meaningful benefits like lounge access and extra baggage is out of reach.
Three alternatives remain:
- Purchase the cheapest economy ticket regardless of the airline, add necessary extras, and use services like Priority Pass for lounge access.
- Book business class directly to gain almost all the benefits without status (as long as further unbundling doesn’t occur—unfortunately, Oneworld partners Qatar Airways and Finnair are leading in this trend).
- Switch to another frequent flyer program. However, the number of viable alternatives is expected to diminish over time.
Currently, the third option appears the most attractive. While Oneworld alternatives are thinning, programs like Miles&More, Flying Blue, and others still offer achievable statuses. British Airways seems to no longer value private travellers with “normal” travel habits.
Translated by Ditmar
Cover Picture: British Airways Airbus A380 G-XLEK approaching London Heathrow Airport | © Miklós Budai 2022
Comments (7)
Am retired, therefore this has totally killed any loyalty I had to BA, now we will book our flights (business class 3 holidays pa) on lounge access and the soft product, back to Emirates I guess, with Qatar thrown in, we are going to Istanbul in 18 months time, time to try Turkish me thinks. The old adage from the 90’s onwards comes to mind – BA , Be Aware or even ABBA – anyone but BA, cheers
I have been Gold member of executive club for years until they stuffed me last year. Back to Gold in a few weeks but I guess this was all thought up by the guys and gals who figured out the BA brunch was a good idea ( now being dropped). BA have been abusing it’s most frequent flyers for years but these changes are the last straw for me. So as the song goes….’Byebye BAby byebye’ I am moving to an airline that appreciates my business and yes there are still some of those out there with nicer, newer, cleaner planes, and without snotty cabin crew.
Spend-based seems par for the course these days, but I do wish that Travel-Dealz had told us about the 30 December old scheme booking deadline before the evening of 30 December – a bit late to be helpful. I was planning enough annual Oneworld travel going forward to at least maintain Silver – next year will now most likely be my last year with that status at BA and without it I’ll have no reason to favor Ow over Star Alliance flying.
BA announced it today, so not much we could do about it
Just got the mail from BA and it looks like it will be roughly twice as difficult to requalify next year for Silver – in my case with most travel being on connecting flights from the continent through LHR to North America in premium economy. I admit that it was relatively easy to qualify until now with three return journeys giving me enough to reach silver, but doubt that I’ll be making the journey six times per year or that I will be willing to make the extra spend for C. Thus, indeed, without the credit card option in most continental markets and with little/no interest in package holidays, it will be considerably more difficult to maintain this status. I’ll be interested in any future analysis as to how flying on other Ow carriers might enable qualification more cost effectively.
just another way to for BA to fck you very much, they just lost my business after 1st April
I wouldn’t call Miles & More a programme with (easily) achievable status, it’s one of the toughest programmes to earn Star Alliance Gold (or any equivalent status). Aegean or Turkish are much better for *G.
Just to compare on a simple example of European Y flights, it takes 100 segments in Miles and More to become SEN, whereas over at Flying Blue you only need 36 segments for the equivalent (Gold).