British Airways has revealed comprehensive changes to its loyalty programme, which will mean access to its top tiers will be aligned with high spending on the airline and its holiday operation.
After 43 years, the BA Executive Club is to be renamed The British Airways Club from 1 April 2025.
Benefits will continue to depend on the traveller’s status, which will be squarely based on the amount spent on plane tickets or through British Airways Holidays.
To achieve elite status requires thousands of “tier points”, which are calculated at a rate of one point for each £1 spent. (They are separate from Avios, the frequent-flyer currency used by BA and other members of the IAG conglomerate, as well as Finnair and Qatar Airways.)
The basic status, Blue, is open to all. It confers free wifi messaging on board and the ability to earn Avios points
Higher status comes at a progressively higher price in terms of tier points.
- Bronze (3,500 tier points): seat selection from a week ahead of travel, preferential check-in and priority boarding.
- Silver (7,500 tier points): Club lounge access, free choice of seats at the time of booking and additional baggage allowance with a weight limit of 32kg per checked bag.
- Gold (20,000 tier points): access to First lounges; exclusive access to seats 1A and 1K when travelling in First, dedicated phone line.
The Independent has learnt that spending £550,000 on BA tickets and holidays will allow a traveller to go from zero tier points to lifetime Gold membership of The British Airways Club.
There is an even higher category, Gold Guest List, which requires 65,000 points as a new member or 40,000 on renewal.
Colm Lacy, British Airways’ chief commercial officer, said the transformation is “based on our members’ feedback” and “better rewards their loyalty”.
He said: “The changes we have announced today underline our continued investment in our loyalty programme and in our customers.
“I particularly wanted to highlight better rewarding our customers who book through British Airways Holidays and making this a permanent part of our proposition, removing the limit on earning.”
One leading loyalty expert described the changes as BA “washing its hands of the leisure market and going all-in to attract the dwindling band of full-fare business travellers”.
Rob Burgess, founder of the frequent-flyer website Head for Points, said: “With a Gold card now available for just over one-and-a-half £12,000 fully flexible Club World return flights to New York, it is clear who the target market now is.
“Realistically, it will now be impossible to earn Gold for small business travellers, economy travellers or self-funded leisure travellers. Even Silver will be a major stretch.
“The British Airways Club, of course, is not the only game in town for earning oneworld status. I suspect that most people will now find it easier to earn Silver or Gold-equivalent BA status by crediting their BA flights to another oneworld airline.”
Head for Points gives the example of oneworld member Royal Jordanian offering BA Bronze-equivalent status for just $49 (£40) for travellers with even modest hotel or airline elite status elsewhere.
But Gilbert Ott, writing in God Save The Points, welcomed the opportunity to secure status from spending on British Airways Holidays, including the portion for hotels or car rental.
“When you can earn unlimited tier points based on the cost of an entire holiday package, this is a no-brainer way to hit status faster,” he wrote.
“Someone who spent a lot on one trip previously had virtually no chance of earning any elite status – now they do. Hotels are an expensive part of every trip, and by showing increased loyalty to BA by booking the entire holiday through British Airways Holidays, a single trip could get someone well on their way.”
On a test booking made by The Independent, a couple booking a week all-inclusive at the Waves Hotel in Barbados, including Club World flights from Heathrow, could go from zero to Silver status with a spend of £7,817 each.
Travellers can earn additional tier points with a British Airways Premium Plus American Express credit card, and by buying sustainable aviation fuel credits.