British Airways has announced that it’s making huge changes to its loyalty program in 2025, including the introduction of elite status based purely on spending. Say goodbye to British Airways Executive Club, and hello to The British Airways Club.
British Airways changes how elite status is earned
As of April 1, 2025, British Airways will completely change how elite status is earned through its loyalty program. To go along with this, the program will be rebranded. It will no longer be known as British Airways Executive Club, and will instead be known as The British Airways Club.
Historically, British Airways status has been earned with Tier Points, and the number of Tier Points you earn depends on the length of the flight and the fare class you’re traveling in. While British Airways has awarded Avios based on spending since late 2023, Tier Points haven’t been strictly revenue based. That will finally be changing.
As British Airways describes it, the new program gives members more ways to earn Tier Points, including for spending on co-branded credit cards, and when paying for extras, like seat selection and additional baggage. With the new program, members will earn one Tier Point per £1 of eligible spending. Along with that, we’re seeing the status qualification requirements change:
- The British Airways Club Bronze status will require 3,500 Tier Points
- The British Airways Club Silver status will require 7,500 Tier Points
- The British Airways Club Gold status will require 20,000 Tier Points
- The British Airways Club Gold Guest List status will require 65,000 Tier Points, with at least 52,000 earned through British Airways marketed flights, qualifying add-ons, and British Airways Holidays packages), and 40,000 to retain (with at least 32,000 earned through British Airways marketed flights, qualifying add-ons, and British Airways Holiday packages)
Qualifying spending includes not just flights (before government taxes and fees), but also ancillary spending, like seat selection and excess baggage. On top of that, The British Airways Club will offer members several additional ways to earn Tier Points:
- As of April 2025, members will be able up to 1,000 Tier Points per year for contributing to sustainable aviation fuels (SAF); you’ll earn one Tier Point and 10 Avios per £1 spent on these purchases
- As of April 2025, members will be able to earn limitless Tier Points from booking British Airways Holidays vacation packages, with Tier Points earned based on the price of the entire package, with no limit in place, at the rate of one Tier Point per £1 spent
- As of later in 2025, members will be able to earn Tier Points on credit card spending; those with the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card will be able to earn up to 2,500 Tier Points per year by spending on their card, though it’s not yet clear what the earnings rates will be
Also later in 2025, we’ll see British Airways introduce new milestone benefits between tiers. Members will start with earning gifts of 2,500, 4,000, and 5,000 bonus Avios, at milestones within Bronze and Silver. More details will be announced in the coming months.
So, how will partner flights credit to the new program? For partners on which British Airways doesn’t have fare information, members will earn Tier Points as a percentage of the distance flown, based on the fare class, as seen below.
For those with existing bookings, here’s how British Airways describes what will happen:
“Customers who already hold bookings for travel after 1 April 2025 will be awarded Tier Points based on a conversion of the existing method. Any existing bookings will earn proportionally the same number of Tier Points, or more, as they would today.”
Here’s how Colm Lacy, British Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, describes these changes:
“The changes we have announced today underline our continued investment in our loyalty programme and in our customers. Based on our Members’ feedback, we’ve built on the changes we’ve already made – including how customers collect Avios and their membership year – in a way that we believe better rewards their loyalty and reflects their changing travel needs.”
“While we have announced a number of positive changes today, 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. We know that many of our customers make their holiday plans during our annual January sale period, so it’s great to be able to announce this today.”
My take on British Airways’ loyalty program changes
It can’t be overstated how massive these program changes are. For example, under the old program, leisure travelers could easily earn British Airways Gold status with a reasonable amount of spending. Under the new program, they’ll need to spend at least £20,000. That’s no small chunk of change, especially given the very limited elite perks that British Airways offers beyond just standard oneworld Emerald benefits.
A vast majority of leisure travelers have just been “priced out” of earning elite status, especially the higher tiers. I suppose British Airways’ play here is pretty obvious, and the company hopes that travelers will book super expensive vacation packages through the airline, so that they get rewarded for the entire cost of their trip. That’s high margin for the airline, so I get the motive. But still…
I also find it interesting how low the maximums are on how many Tier Points you can earn for non-flying and vacation package activity. Up to 1,000 Tier Points for sustainable aviation fuel? Great, that’ll get you 5% of the way to Gold status. 2,500 Tier Points for credit card spending? That’ll get you 12.5% of the way there.
You’ve also gotta love how British Airways markets these changes. No, this isn’t a devaluation, and there’s no acknowledgement of how status will be harder to earn for the average member. Instead, the changes “underline our continued investment in our loyalty programme and in our customers,” and it’s “based on our Members’ feedback.”
The spin, my gosh… I don’t get it, do airline executives think people buy this crap, or they just don’t care, and say whatever makes them feel better? Sure, there are absolutely elements of the changes that people may have asked for, like being able to earn status qualification through credit card spending, vacation packages, and ancillaries. But I guarantee you they didn’t ask for the goalposts to be moved this much.
Bottom line
As of April 2025, British Airways is overhauling its loyalty program. The program will be rebranded from British Airways Executive Club to The British Airways Club. On top of that, the way that Tier Points can be earned will change completely.
On the plus side, there will be more ways to earn Tier Points, like with ancillaries, credit card spending, sustainable aviation fuel contributions, and more. The catch is that for most travelers, earning elite status will get a lot more expensive.
What do you make of British Airways’ loyalty program changes?