A few months ago, British Airways announced plans to make huge changes to its loyalty program, including the introduction of elite status based purely on spending. This is a reminder that these changes kick in as of today — say goodbye to British Airways Executive Club, and hello to The British Airways Club.
Continue reading: The British Airways Club: BA Massively Overhauls Loyalty Program
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
“one Tier Point per £1 of eligible spending”, so spending 20K a year on a co-branded creditcard earns Gold status?
It would be fine if the value provided matches the investment. The BA hard and soft product has been in decline for many years now. It no longer ROIs. Ciao BA!
@ Reyyan -- The eligible spending amount refers to British Airways spending, including for flights, ancillaries, and vacation packages. We don't yet know the earnings rates for credit cards and SAF.
It seems like every airline is now pushing their vacation packages... I've never paid much attention to them, but I wonder if there is any value to be had over standard cash bookings...
So, I have June flights booked with BA. Where should I put those points now instead of BA? AA? AS?
@ Mr. T -- Depends which airline you otherwise fly primarily. I find it intriguing how Alaska Mileage Plan will start counting award flights toward status in 2025, so that's a compelling reason to go with the program.
I achieved BA gold for life just before the pandemic and having being a current GGL holder more recently I was invited to join a focus group 18 months ago. We had various surveys to complete and provide feedback and observations on things like lounge crowding, boarding organisation etc, it became very clear that BA GGL and Gold holder numbers was swelling and we knew that a cull of sorts was coming down the line. The lounges will be less crowded that’s for sure, if only I had been invited on the F&B group that would have been more productive.
Yikes, i was planning to start with BAEC in April but that’s gone out the window. Long-haul return QR (connecting in Doha) in J was previously nearly enough to reach Silver (just add in 4 BA segments basically). Now you need £7,500 in spending? Big change, and I don’t have any access to credit card earning either.
I believe they will lose a lot of customers. Yes, the lounges will be half empty but so will their profits long term. This, coming from a 35 year member.
“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?“
I feel like it’s just complete laziness and lack of imagination. AI could have written this banal PR (maybe it did). Airline executives have not adjusted their voice in decades, and apparently don’t realize that consumers today value authenticity and loathe corporate-speak. They’re still speaking out of a decades old communications strategy.
What’s so bad about acknowledging “we’ve rebalanced the definition of what it means to reach our elite levels to better reflect the current marketplace”, and softening the blow with “by adding Milestone Rewards, members still have the ability to gain valuable elite benefits at lower levels”? There, fixed it for them.
It’s not that hard: acknowledge the bad stuff, throw in some positive and believable spin.
Do you know if the tier points can be earned from partner airlines? Or can they be earned only from BA marketed flights?
Ufff! That was a close call for me, I almost booked some OW trips with intention of going for Sapphire with BA. With this new system I'd stand no chance to renew it in the long term since the qualification requirements will now be significantly higher.
Also, the Club branding is kinda stupid since they have a travel class called Club.
"I wonder if there is any value to be had over standard cash bookings..."
No, there's not.
@Ben BA have updated the website to reflect the changes along with a FAQ section;
RIP tier point runs. I’ll miss Arlanda airport. Unless I choose Finnair for my new Oneworld option.
Maybe I’ll just buy a few million in IAG/BA shares and call Investor Relations to ask for GGL/Premier status. Seems much simpler than whatever this is
I no longer have any reason to give BA my business. What an utterly stupid own goal!
Lucky, I know you and many others (myself included) took advantage of the BA Gold match over the summer with the intention of breaking away from AA for OWE. I'm guessing this probably changes your strategy now?
From the perspective of BA's big spender passengers, of which there are undoubtedly many, this would be a positive, because now they don't have to compete against status run passengers. Those passengers are undoubtedly the ones that BA wants to retain loyalty from, someone who spends 50k GBP a year on long-haul J / F is the one that an airline wants to reward and retain, not someone who flies a lot but on super cheap tickets that don't contribute to profits. For the passengers that BA cares about, this is a net positive, for the travel hackers and mileage run crowd, undoubtedly negative
You did write an article a few years ago about how incredibly easy BA Gold was to qualify for, and how you were almost tempted to do so on a tier point basis (this was before the match)… so if we’re being honest, you can’t be too surprised with this overhaul?
I get why they would make “status” more difficult to achieve. The ow emerald lounge at LHR is a dump because there are so many ppl in it. My advice to BA would have been to make status less obtainable so lil ole Exec Plat me can have a bit more elbow room when I am flying.
Also, status is really meaningless unless you are uber-top tier like CK on AA. Then they do stuff for you. But really elite status is not that useful and really most of the perks of the lowest level elite tiers are duplicated with corporate contracts with airlines.
I found AFKLM more competitive before this change, even more so now. While before BA discriminated within fare classes (economy low standard and full fare Y), they are now differentiating based on price. Meanwhile XP are rewarded equally based on class with AF. Delta basic economy earns the same as comfort plus. I imagine as some point this will change but until then I can't see why anyone would choose BA over AFKL if they could.
I don't see AFKL overhauling their qualification criteria and going for revenue-based qualification anytime soon, they would be stupid to do so, especially now that their main competitor (LHG) went the exact opposite way.
Excellent news! Status must be earned, not gifted to customers just for having a credit card.
Being a London-based Delta Diamond someone should check BA is feeling OK. There's only a $3,000 difference between BA Gold ($25k), which offers little, and Delta Diamond($28k). Delta Diamond gives four global upgrade certs (+ a several other perks). To get the same level of perk - pax need to spent $81K+$65K.
Both lounge & inflight, Delta & Sh1t1sh Airways are leagues apart. I think they've massively overplayed their hand.
At this point, it will be easier for most people to earn OW elite status through American rather than through BA.
Especially true if you're US-based and can take advantage of SimplyMiles, eShopping, and the card offerings.
Consistent with what I say about all loyalty programs, no for-profit company gives away more of its product than it has to. Airline loyalty programs inherently give away a certain amount of the airline's product in return for several financial arrangements which will always favor the sponsor of the program if it is being run even halfway right.
International Consolidated Airlines is running very well right now; BA itself is one of the better performing airlines in Europe and group stock reflects it. LHR is probably the most valuable airline moat in the world. Beyond oneworld airlines, BA's biggest competitor has already made "upward" adjustments to its loyalty program which will likely continue so there is far lower risk of leakage than many might assume. Many airlines are moving toward revenue based loyalty programs because it better aligns what a company most wants - connecting the most efficient revenue generation with status.
Short term arrogance has been a common theme of BA since Keith Williams retired in 2015. Keith was the last good BA CEO. These past few years have been bouyant for the airlines post covid as they cut capacity and squeezed consumers for super premium pricing. But product quality and service have waned as prices soared - a dangerous phonemenon any economist will tell you. The economic cycle will correct and then the airlines will face extreme stress as they destroyed all loyalty in the 2021-2024 cycle. BA’s product is average and its service is well below average. This executive club change is just another cost cut from an arrogant airline that thinks it’s out performing. It will in time bring it down to earth. BA is accelerating the rate at which corporates cut back business class and first class travel.
This is a thermonuclear bomb BA just detonated against its Elites. THE ONLY PERSON WHO SHOULD CREDIT ANY FLYING TO BA IS NOW THE FULL FARE J AND F BUSINESS CUSTOMER. Every other customer, leisure, value, or otherwise should start crediting to Alaska and earn OW Emerald much easier.
Especially with the 2025 changes, AS works well as long as you're flying AS metal or an AS-ticketed itinerary (or you're not flying economy). AS has a lot of gaps though with its coverage for what it will ticket, and the fares on partner flights are sometimes a *lot* higher.
I'm using AS ATM for my oneworld status, but just an FYI
Anyone looking to meet OW Sapphire or Emerald just join RJ's program and fly the required sectors. Far easier than the rest if you fly often enough.
Otherwise if you want business class perks, then pay the cheapest J fare, and similarly for F.
But what do you actually get for earning it? Access to the lounge which you can already use based on your ticket?
I see this as more smoke and mirrors from BA. As a family of US leisure travelers, I have found it virtually impossible over the last 10 years to use any 241 voucher even when I attempt to book 300 days in advance. AVIOS redemption is almost as pathetic.
I don't know what I will do...look for a different credit card?
Has the Lufthansa Group really adjusted its programme upwards (whatever that means), or are you talking about the not-quite-devaluation at Flying Blue?
I am talking more about the latter regarding the Euro big 3. LH undoubtedly knows that it has to get its premium seat issues fixed before they can mess w/ their loyalty program.
The gig is up! I'm a relatively new comer to the points and miles game, 7 or so years, but boy how things have changed in that time. I fled from Delta to Alaska to BA, but the game of musical chairs is about to stop and I don't see any chairs left to sit in.
If I'm going to spend my way to elite status, I might as well just buy the status perks I want each trip out. The cost of loyalty has finally become to much. It seems to be all about the associated credit cards now and well I just don't find the benefits associated with airline credit cards to be all that appealing. My first thought is to return to AS as I find their miles to be the most useful, but how long is that going to remain the case? I'm sensing more devaluation on the horizon. Oh well, it has been a good run.
LOL, how is Denver?
"Upon reading some of the posts herein, one could easily conclude that some people are simply BA bashing, with little or no knowledge of the airline or services they offer.
They appear to have little or no knowledge of east/west transcontinental air travel in any cabin class.
Furthermore, have no respect for a world renowned airline rating organisation.
Many of the comments posted are worthless to anyone expecting a common sense opinion from supposedly seasoned travellers.
In essence, one appears to be reading occasional coach class comments from some who are unlikely to have travelled beyond their national borders."
More?
"As a very regular paying BA customer, my feedback was freely given along with many of my friends, colleagues, etc.
The changes were requested by passengers and our opinions have been duly noted.
Talk about “Bull**** feedback” is inappropriate, inaccurate and sounds very much like sour grapes from someone who has probably never set foot inside a BA aircraft."
It makes you wonder... theoretically the cost per XP is 10 euros in SAF. Top tier status costs 3000 euros, and BA is charging 20K GBP for it.
Given that AFKL introduced seat selection fees in J, I can see them following BAs lead. Granted LH shifted back to a "tier points" based system as well so it's hard to say.
I think that in the end there were mostly some SAS routes really affected that hadn't been priced properly upon the airline joining Skyteam, maybe the odd DL domestic which obviously wouldn't be of much concern to most European members.
Miles and More has a slightly insular logic and seems content with making it relatively difficult to earn miles in order to keep award pricing reasonable.
As a regular transcontinental BA passenger, at least two return flights per month, one never thought that one would find common ground with TD on a BA subject.
Quite honestly, I have no idea what all the fuss is about concerning loyalty points. As I do not pay for my flights, I do not receive any loyalty points.
However, one believes that TD is eluding to the fact that nothing an airline appears to give to a passenger is actually free. Lounge access, champagne, caviar, meals or amenities kits, etc, they are all charged to one passenger or another.
One only has to compare any ticket price, for any airline flying to/from the same destination, to appreciate that you only get what you pay for.
As a regular transcontinental BA passenger, at least two return flights per month, one never thought that one would find common ground with TD on a BA subject.
Quite honestly, I have no idea what all the fuss is about concerning loyalty points. As I do not pay for my flights, I do not receive any loyalty points.
However, one believes that TD is eluding to the fact that nothing an airline appears to give to a passenger is actually free. Lounge access, champagne, caviar, meals or amenities kits, etc, they are all charged to one passenger or another.
One only has to compare any ticket price, for any airline flying to/from the same destination, to appreciate that you only get what you pay for.
I thought a better solution for crowded lounges should be expanding the lounges, given the continuous growth of passenger numbers.
Creditcrunch, please be aware of the blog troll, it hates anything BA and will, as likely as not, accuse you of not setting foot inside a BA aircraft.
One has to pity the poor little darlink as the OMAAT website appears to be his only from mental stimulation.
As only a very occasional BA flyer, and almost never AA flyer, I must remind myself to credit to Alaska!
The BA Apologists — especially on FT — will off course be their usual self in defense of things done by BA. As it is, I avoid transiting LHR as much as I reasonably can — the airline and airport is that bad, and the airline’s loyalty program is no longer as useful for me as it used to be,
The point is that you could literally be flying in business class every single week and still not make gold (BA European C fares run maybe about £350 return on average)! That means there's no incentive to fly with them unless you only ever travel in business or first. At the same time, they don't offer their gold members upgrade vouchers, access to the real first class lounge, car transfers to the plane or even any baggage on the cheapest fares. In other words, BA status is only going to be of relevant to a tiny amount of people (i.e. those who fly frequently enough for work on expensive fares to make it AND also do some personal travel in Y where they wouldn't get lounge access etc with their ticket).
Maintaining Flying Blue gold (which for me has better perks than BA gold as it includes luggage on EVERY fare across SkyTeam) only takes 180XP, or six business class sectors within Europe.
This isn't an 'efficient' market with provider pricing clearing at similar levels- either AF is compensating for a serious competitive disadvantage (which isn't obvious to me - in fact, I think it's a better airline than BA), or BA's new approach is detached from the competitive reality. Alternatively, BA might be simply interested in pivoting towards a VS-like model, retreating from both mainstream short haul flying and any global ambitions and basically only focusing on the USA and passengers connecting between that market and a handful of key destinations (e.g. PAR, AMS, MAD, NBO, DXB, India).
This is going to be an epic failure by BA. Even if they were to decide to roll back some of this devalution they will have lost trust.
I've been BA Gold several times but only as an afterthought because of LHR meltdowns, LHR premium fares taxes, that their us partner is AA, that AA has close to two hour phone holds as you have to call the regular phone number if a flight is cancelled, that BA is really inconsistent at times, and of course that they seem to have the highest fees for award redemptions in Europe (on some flights Lufthansa might be worse but I don't fly LH at all anymore).
This will be good for BAs competitors. Fortunately there are so many other airlines to fly.
If you travel regularly on fully-flexible fares in Club and/or First, the new benchmark shouldn't be too difficult to reach. There's plenty of competition out there if you're unhappy with the changes, just as there are plenty of wealthy Londoners who already spend enough to qualify under the new conditions. As the old saying goes, "money talks, bullsh*t walks".
The flights from AUH-DXB to CGK on Sri Lankan Airways are going to be empty next year. The 560 tier point run is dead
Creditcrunch, please be aware of the apologist troll, it loves anything BA and will, as likely as not, accuse you of not setting foot inside a BA aircraft.
One has to pity the poor little darlink as the OMAAT website appears to be his only from mental stimulation.
Meh. Yanks get a massive leg-up in this game with dozens of credit cards, plus easy status matches with OW. If this means you stay away from BA so the rest of us can score seats, then happy days.
Hi Ben, this would be a great time to have an article explaining how one can achieve Gold-equivalent status with the other alliances? I can travel with whomever I like but am unlikely to hit the £20k (before taxes…!) requirement with BA / Oneworld. I’m looking forward to trying some different airlines but would love to know who to go with from a status earning perspective. UK based, fly Europe, USA and occasionally Asia. Thanks!
I haven’t seen a single positive comment on FT from the “apologists” - almost universally critical on this.
I felt years ago these were coming, avios on spending then tier points.
I was Air France platinum for life before moving to London 2006, then switched to BA, was gold for years but was never happy, I decided before all these changes to return to Air France, I dropped from gold to silver then bronze to blue and wasn't bothered.
No regret leaving BA, Air France have improved a lot, and still far better than BA.
Those Londoners won't be able to sustain the short haul connections though, particularly given that BA aren't as good as the best European airlines and have fewer routes and frequencies than the low costs.
As connecting passengers are disincentivised from booking with the airline, their network is likely to shrink, restricting feed for the long-haul flights and undermining the viability of the routes that depend on them.
This could well be a deliberate strategy, but it looks risky at best.
Gold card holder of many years but will now be looking to alternative airlines who actually care about their customers. This scheme is NOT what customers wanted. The crap that BA spin is unbelievable. Have also had some bad experiences with BA recently and they really couldn’t give a damn. Hopefully many loyal customers will go elsewhere to airlines who appreciate their custom.
British Airways has given the middle finger to anyone who does not fly on full fare business or first class tickets, and who does not live in London.
And one thing that is eluding you is that Tim was alluding to 'the fact that nothing an airline ...'
Very true, Chris. We’ve got these so-called “bloggers” and “thought leaders” constantly bragging about how easy it is to snag X status—only to throw a fit when the ranks swell and the requirements get tougher.
Honestly, I’m fine with the changes. Trimming down the points churners, credit card crowd, and riff-raff will help restore some of the exclusivity and value.
It will be so nice to have no incentive to connect in LHR. What a pain that airport is to connect in.
You've never been able to earn BA status by having a credit card and still won't... It actually has to be earned by flying.
Yes it does.
There should be no earning on tickets you didn't pay for. No earnings on OPM tickets period.
I wonder if this is also driven by pending fare inflation? Everyone is saying fares will increase due to aircraft shortages and BA is getting ahead of it. I think the SAF reward is an interesting move. SAF will cost more than traditional fuel and they are testing to see how much passengers care about environmental impact of flying, and incentivise accordingly.
Any serious frequent flyer on BA would admit that some level of correction was needed. The number of golds - especially post pandemic when many people benefitted from reduced tier point earnings - had swelled very visibly.
What I cannot understand is the scale of the change - instead of tweaking the system they have priced all leisure travellers - as well as those flyers whose travel is booked through corporate travel agencies presumably - out of Gold status.
The BAEC programme was excellent at drawing in and creating new loyal flyers. It may have been too generous - but it really committed people to flying on BA regularly. That is now gone entirely.
Worse, the lack of any additional offering or benefits with Gold status makes me wonder what they think people should spend on? The worst catering in the gloasbal airline industry? Ancient seats that are not remotely competitive on half the fleet?
I'm lucky enough in my travel habits that I might well qualify for Gold under the new system, as I have been for many years, but I really am wondering why on earth I should try with zero additional incentives? The lounges might be marginelly less crowded? The proposition is just not enough.
Not only this problem but getting Chase points to post is difficult and BA service is nonexistent.
Depends. I had some luck with JetBlue Vacations. The pricing is generally similar for most properties, but some will give you property credit and the bundle comes with a few extra perks for seating and boarding. I have noticed Marriott and Hilton properties being cheaper through certain OTAs than booking direct through their own program. The airline vacation sites are pulling a lot of the same discounts. Though with some of the shopping portal bonuses being offered through Capital One Offers and Rakuten, I would say most of the time booking direct is still going to yield the most value.
They could've sought to manage it by stopping the BA holiday promotions, but the plan probably isn't to encourage frequent travel but rather to maximise non-flight revenue (credit cards, SAF etc)
It is wild how many people say AS is better. New BA chart is mostly on par, and slightly better, than what AS will have in 2025. Any RDM earned on partner is significantly better on new BA in almost all cases:
- full fare economy earns 50% on AS, 100% on BA
- any business class on AS is 125%, while BA is 150% to start, and J/C/D is 250%
- any first class on AS is merely 150% while BA gives you 250%-300%
And these days with transfer to QR/AY/EI/IB, avios is almost on par with value as AS is many cases. At least AY can book CX business!
For EQM, it is almost the same by percentage to hit OWE for most partner fares.
Example: now there is a sale running on QR, SOF-DOH-SIN RT in I class. BIS miles 11600.
-AS: 11600x1.25=14500 RDM and EQM, 19.3% to MVPG75K (Emerald)
-BA: 11600x1.5=17400 RDM, 11600x0.25=2900 EQM, 14.5% to Gold (Emerald)
And this is in the best case scenario benefitting AS, if this is a D fare, BA will come out way ahead with 29% to Gold. If anyone reading this thinks AS will be their refuge, take a closer look at your travel pattern and evaluate carefully. While this change torpedo-ed the value of BA, it is not nearly as bad as what AS secretly did to their program 3 months ago with their new partner chart. Do not forget you forfeit any lounge access in US if you get status with AS.
If I were chasing status in OW, I would rather look at RJ/MH/JL instead for easier status.
If I were chasing valuable miles, I would rather look at AA/CX or even still stick with Avios.
FFS, just walk away from this absurd program!
Is it really for you?
No, didn't think so!
So, there's a fun thing buried on an old United thread. They announced a change some years back (I think this was when they went spend-based pre-pandemic), and the FAQ was posted. Someone edited the response from "To better serve our customers" to "To better serve our shareholders". AFAIK it never got reverted.
But you're not wrong - I don't think it's unfair to say that if anyone actually sincerely believes what they're saying (referring to "celebrating" the changes while arguably doubling/tripling the cost of status), either BA needs to reconsider their workplace drug testing policies or improve their mental health support, because they're either baked, deluded, or both.
I guess this was designed by the same team that was behind the hugely successful brunch menu!
I generally fly business class with BA and the number of flights is enough for me to have had gold status for the last four years. However, there is no way I spend £20k a year. I see no benefit in continuing to fly with BA when achieving gold is so difficult. I have the choice of another carrier on the routes I fly and will be switching to them and their loyalty program.
I can’t see the LHR-HEL route being as busy moving forward.
No mention of the US BA Chase Visa card on their site - only the UK Amex Premium Plus card. So I guess Chase are dropping it.
I’m easily get silver with all my domestic AA J transcon flights JFK-SFO plus a couple of BA flights back home for the eligible flights. I guess those days are over.
Any plans for Finnair and Qatar to change their programs, or should we all be looking at Star Alliance now?
Shocker. BA can do one.
Gold for 10 years and I fly 100+ legs per year.
Now impossible to reach.
Easy i go elsewhere.
I hope BA crash and burn after how they've treated gold members and regular flyers
The lounge is a dump (regardless of how many people are in it). The food is atrocious, even in the Concorde Room. Contemplated the scenario for someone buying a £7000 business ticket with Silver Status. They wait potentially 30-45 minutes to check a bag in the business class line. Potentially another 20-30 at J security. A god awful forced schlep down and up several escalators to the galleries lounge which has crap food that border on maniacal. Board your very late morning flight and you get served "brunch" which doesn't get served until 13:30 on a 8 hour flight. Its a preposterous proposition.
Thinning the herd doesn't fix any of that. And makes the alternatives glow with attractiveness.
So Gold Guest is BA equivalent of HON Circle unless they're still keeping Premier invitation only status.
A sad day for me. This was the easiest way to earn status with one of the big three alliances. Even as an American, I found BA’s scheme to be easier than any domestic airline to have reasonable perks. Going to have to take a hard look at my airline spend.
How long before my Amex BA CC companion vouchers change and become less valuable
My reply to BA's email announcing the change:
Dear British Airways,
I am terribly disappointed by this announcement - both the content and the timelines herein. Also, as a Gold Guest List member, there is no outline as to whether GGL will continue to be recognized or not - implying that this new program hasn’t even been fully thought through.
Personally, I think the BA management team should spend less time listening to out of touch consultants. It seems they’re mistaking listening to consultants with listening to customers.
AA has learned the hard way that annoying customers is very expensive, and very difficult to repair once the damage has been done. Perhaps BA will learn the same - either this management team or the next one.
For me, BA's mediocre product, inconsistent customer experience, overpriced fares, and now, a lack of recognition of my choice to be loyal to BA, will give me and my family an opportunity to explore other providers in the market who are more interested in my business.
Again, very disappointed.
The announcement email acted like it was wonderful news, when the reality is that BA's sneaky new program makes it impossible for me to retain Gold. I've been a loyal member of BA for 9 years, with Gold status for the past four years and the old BA system really did keep me loyal to BA and One World. I would often ignore direct flights or better deals, to ensure I kept Gold status.
I have to book a trip to UK in January and now there is no benefit to booking through BA. Even if the cost is a bit more than BA, its time to give my money to a an airline that doesn't declare war on its loyal customer base.
Why not visualise yourself?
A name changing intellectual and a BA apologist bragger suggest that "visualise yourself using the good old Executive Club or something of that kind! ;)"
And most importantly, any rejection to this will be considered as a denial of wisdoms that say "because international travel can sometimes consist of very non-glamorous products and it’s your choice to accept them or not" and "In essence, one appears to be reading occasional coach class comments from some who are unlikely to have travelled beyond their national borders."
I’m surprised they haven’t ditched it entirely, after all their heroes at Ryanair dont have a loyalty programme and look how much money they make!
I got the official email from BA yesterday and responded: “Thank you but not interested. You have butchered your loyalty program to a degree that I am no longer interested in flying British Airways (Iberia etc.) or credit partner flights to it. I hope other members will do the same. There are way better alternatives in both airlines and loyalty programs. Enjoy your remaining customer base who have no choice but flying with you because their employer makes the choice of airline for them.” Maybe more people could give the feedback early rather than just stop flying BA and/or crediting miles to their Club.
This is basically a disaster for majority of us in the UK, especially considering where credit cards are nowhere near as generous with miles or benefit. It also makes no business sense, they're penalising the people who are most loyal and pro-actively *choose* BA over other airlines, while rewarding the least loyal who travel for work and have no choice but to fly BA because their employer. Post-covid this is a very niche cohort as corporate travel is massively reduced and heavily restricted when sanctioned - even a lot of investment banks here in London only now allow short-haul travel in economy for example.
This feels like an effort to reduce footfall in lounges, to reduce costs, and eventually reduce the amount of space required to further save costs especially at their overcrowded hub in Heathrow. As usual BA never consider the bigger picture - this now makes their loyalty scheme no longer one that rewards loyalty. It's also another PR blow after brunchgate which they have no had to go back on but doesn't exactly enamour BA to its customers. I also think they don't consider that when you make something too hard, people disengage, this is now going to disengage some of the most engaged customers in their scheme who will no longer think it is worth it because status with any kind of benefits is no longer attainable with the particularly onerous requirements for Silver (oneworld Sapphire). The magic of these programmes was a feeling of getting a benefit that was more than what you had put in, but now they don't seem worth it at all.
I feel that £20,000 is going a bit too high, especially as im completing gold this year with around half that flying four first class sale fares round trip to Dubai.
That's now eight first class returns to Dubai for example which means they're really kicking out the leisure travellers. Perhaps they should have retained the Executive part of the name as only banks and the like will make these figures with last minute purchases
I've felt for a few years now that airline loyalty is ever kess worth it, Etihad kicked me out after 14 years at the top level when I had cancer, Qatar reneged on theirs and despite platinum status I was often left stranded with customer service utterly useless. So I switched this year to BA and will be gold in Feb and now this
Truly of all loyalty it is only really hotels that are currently worth keeping. I await the great "reset" when they realise they've gone too far
I'm genuinely interested. You fly 100+ legs per year but are nowhere near spending £20,000?
Is it all short hops to Amsterdam and Dublin? Although even those are often above £200 these days!
Tbh, I’m so pissed off at BA by this I just feel relief. I’m 2/3 of way to Lifetime Gold and probably spend £10-15k per year on BA for business and leisure for myself. Past four years Gold experience?
1) Partner (also independently BA Gold) & I on cancelled BA Club flight back from Mauritius. Rerouted on an African budget airline through Jo’burg. Given absolutely zero compensation despite years of attempted escalation. Taking them to court over it now.
2) Rimowa suitcase completely destroyed on paid FIRST flight back from Atlanta. BA offer me £49. Replacement bag cost £895. Fought hard and got £120 out of them.
3) I’m one of those rare people who actually qualified to renew Gold status in Covid 2020. BA make a big deal about extending “everyone’s” status by a year. Except mine, because I earned it so I got no bonus perk.
4) EVERY SINGLE BA FLIGHT this past summer severely delayed, cancelled etc. Made me switch to Ryanair for shuttling to Spain which I’ve realised is better in
many ways.
So long BA. You’ve completely lost my loyalty and my peanuts £10-15k/year, obviously below your desired 20, will go to frankly better carriers. But so will my Partner’s, and the 50 people at work in my team whose conferences I arrange and used to make them fly BA, and well there’s about £55k you’re losing just from me each year. It will add up.
I am totally with you. After LH scrapped their M+M programme we were about to switch to BA what is even worse now. On the other hand you can see that all the airlines downgrade their programms and in a way I am glad that now we will fly by price because the quality of all airlines does not compare what they let you pay especially in C.
Hello Chris,
An interesting post which I feel requires a little more clarity about your BA challenges, if you please?
Statement 2. I can fully appreciate your dissatisfaction upon discovering your destroyed suitcase upon arriving home from Atlanta, however, what led you to believe that BA was actually the responsible party?
Furthermore, what was the Rimowa response to the suitcase damage and repair situation?
In 2024 I took 14 BA transatlantic return flights, none were “Seriously delayed, cancelled, etc”.
Seven BA Far Eastern return flights and three BA European only one flight, a return from Berlin was delayed due to airport congestion. Perhaps I should consider myself to be a lucky BA passenger last year.
Only twice, in the past three years, have I been forced to suffer Ryanair flights. For me they are the last carrier which I would choose in future.
I don't blame BA for doing something which makes commercial sense. I think there's a lot of whining from people who have been gaming the system for too long. They're not actually "loyal" as they describe themselves but want to squeeze out as much benefit from the airline as they can for as little money. I no longer travel on tickets paid for by my employer and I'm not obsessed with the belief that having gold status actually confers some sort of status on me. I have a BA Amex Premium Plus card and I'm happy that I can now earn tier points for using it in addition to the all important companion voucher. It makes it easier for me to attain Bronze status which gives me business class check-in and free seat allocation. OK, I don't get the lounge but so what. Most airports have decent cafes and restaurants where you park off (yes, you might actually have to pay for a drink). For me, it's all about the Avios and if I can get some tier point status thrown in, great.
It costs about 500,000 yen to get oneworld Sapphire status with Japan Airlines.
And half of your flights must be on Japan Airlines.
It costs about 500,000 yen to get oneworld Sapphire status with Japan Airlines.
And half of your flights must be on Japan Airlines.
In Japan, you can get Hawaiian Airlines' Puaini Platinum by getting a credit card.
The annual fee is 220,000 yen.
By status matching this with Alaska Airlines, you will earn Oneworld Sapphire.
Hey Ben, the earning for some partner earning may be even worse than what you listed.
According to this UK site, there is a screenshot which shows Cathay Pacific First earns 20% of Tier miles? Do you have any information on that? https://wanderupfront.com/rip-ba-executive-club/
Does Expedia share revenue info with them? May be better to book flights through them and earn up to 40% of the miles flown for long haul trips in First.
I am currently a BA Gold card holder with over 28,000 lifetime tier points. The result of this change by BA means I will continue to fly business class but will use whatever company provides the best offers, rather than continuing to try for BA Tier points. Given that we have been let down too often by BA Holidays promoted hotels, they are more than likely to lose out. In my case it’s a bad business decision by BA.
Having been a business traveller for a couple of decades, I have always prioritized BA when I had options, because I was able to get to a higher tier, so I saw that as a perk. Now that the cost of getting there is disproportionate to the benefits - I will trat all the other airlines on the same footing as BA. The bottom line is that I will probably take 10-20 flights per year on other airlines, where I might otherwise have travelled with BA. I think they have made a mistake for average but frequent business travellers.
Gold card holder for 5 years now, but HELLO VIRGIN!!!!
These clowns need a damn good kicking if you ask me, but they wont and will still draw their massive salaries anyway so they wont miss our 10 flights a year will they.
The FAQ on their US site now says: "In 2025, members who hold selected credit cards will have the opportunity to earn even more tier points by spending on their card. More details coming soon."
No indications of when that will be, or at what rate. Also strangely seems to imply there will be multiple cards that will allow this, tho currently we only have the Chase BA card.
What fascinates me is IAG Group's recent (strong) earnings, in which they accredit the "premium leisure" market segment as responsible for much of their recent growth.
And then they go and blow up all sense of loyalty from that very segment.
Enter Trump, global macroeconomic doom, corporate travel retrenchment and every airline in the world is going to be desperate for this group of customers. Who BA just completely infuriated and disillusioned.
For what it's worth, as a 10 year BA Gold member, the changes announced in Dec made me decide to become a complete "free agent", and my flights on Virgin to NYC, Vietnam Airlines from Hanoi and even Ryanair back and forth to Spain have been better, more reliably on time (and cheaper!) than my BA flights. I feel like I've been released from an abusive marriage. Definitely recommend everyone else try the free agent approach!
Not only does it push away leisure customers, it pushes biz customers like me too. I'm a travel nerd so go to extraordinary extent to steer business to my preferred program. So if I'm doing 3-5 biz long haul return flights per year and probably 3 in WT, I don't have a hope of getting to gold.
So I've done my status match - reluctantly - with M&M. I'm gone, and my premium travel with me.
I just don't get it - why drive away even 10% of high value customers? Just weird.
"they’ll need to spend at least £20,000"
Time to rev up and be creative with that manufactured spending...
“based on our Members’ feedback.”
This is the same type of "feedback" that Lufthansa used to justify not serving free soda, coffee, tea, etc, in economy class for a while, no?
Looks like there is a new avios.com (or at least new to me) and that transferring points between BA QR Finnair will be on avios.com
@Chris:
"... For what it's worth, as a 10 year BA Gold member, the changes announced in Dec made me decide to become a complete "free agent", and my flights on Virgin to NYC, Vietnam Airlines from Hanoi and even Ryanair back and forth to Spain have been better, more reliably on time (and cheaper!) than my BA flights."
This is what confounds and somewhat fascinates me about people like you.
Imagine purchasing an inferior product at higher price for 10 years or more. I couldn't do it. Makes no sense to me.
Failure to grant tier credit on "regular" Avios Hotels bookings is a nonstarter. I have no incentive to direct my bookings to BA.
I’ve sat on the fence on this one since January. Patiently waiting for more information to make an informed decision. But for us now to be in the new tier points year with zero visibility on the credit card is appalling and shows zero respect to customers. What credit card(s) gets me the tier points? An existing one or a new one? What are the fees? How many tier points per unit of spend? If we’re in the new tier year I would like to be using it from day one. How can anyone possibly even consider following the new program when they still haven’t provided all information. It’s disrespectful, frustrating and laughable.
I swapped over from BAEC to QRPC 48 hours after they first announced it. Given my travel commitments it’s almost impossible to avoid BA and I possibly could still have retained Gold. But the way it was done and to say we asked for this scheme is insulting. I avoid BA whilst I can, but will retain OW Emerald and whilst it won’t make BA change their policy I feel better
An overcrowded lounge with mediocre food where you even have to queue to use the toilet (at least the lounges in T5 at LHR.)
Expand.... sure... coz there is infinite space to handle the inflated elite numbers who are also guesting others.
And while you knew the value didn't match, you continued to purchase its services. Many of you did and will continue to do, despite all the wailing and gnashing of teeth.
BA knows this and consequently has no incentive to change
I flew on BA metal last year on a J class ticket purchased from AA. First time since 2008. I was appalled at the crowded lounges and mediocre food in T5. What I found interesting was the number of travellers that were also guesting others. I suspect there will be some who are happy with the thinned crowds if this is one of the results. I know I would have been on my trip.
So what is your preferred program? And if you're doing 3-5 long haul biz return flights a year at $4k a pop and 3 in WT at $1k a pop, you must be getting close to BA Gold? BA Gold spend requirement is no different to the top tier of any US based program (in fact, it's slightly cheaper).
Am retired, we fly 3/4 round trips pa, business class or premium economy. The incentive was always there to book BA (we were upgraded 3 weeks from W to C on a New York flight, was very nice and we received that due to our Silver / Bronze tiers.
Now, forget it, next year we are flying outbound to Rome (that will be BA business) but the business class flight back from Istanbul ticks many more boxes, proper business class seats for one, so, bye bye BA.
Our local airport in Norwich, am starting to look at AMS as set off point for our SYD trip next winter, we can still fly ME3 from there with a little hop on KLM, no taxi or LHR hotel, plus APD will become minimal considering what our government will charge for business return to SYD.
This is our final nail in the coffin, if BA do not care about us, why should they receive our business?
I find comments like this fascinating. This is normal human behaviour. People do this all the time. I'm sure you do too. It's brand loyalty, marketing, etc. No one is making purely logical choices every time they purchase something. Frequent flyer schemes are (or increasingly were) a way of achieving that.
Due to overwhelming member feedback we have made these positive enhancements to improve our scam
Oops we mean scheme here at British Hairwaves
Even after this overhaul of Avios, the BA website still cannot tell you when your Avios expire. You have to manually calculate it from your past activity.
Ben, you may want to correct the table showing tier point earning level on other airlines: it varies significantly from airline to airline - for example on CX the earn rate on even full J class is only 25%, which is half of the 50% rate on JL, QR, AY, for example. Not good.
Out of 10 flights last year 3 were delayed or canceled BA are awful about resolutions.
There are far more (better) ways to get top status at other one world airlines. For AA you get unlimited spend on credit cards and hotels. Alaska is still distance based.
Im tired of businesses spinning it on consumer. No, we didnt ask for that. Be vocal, complain on X, fb, sending them emails. Enough.
This new BA scam has an even worse element than people realise. If you are a business traveller who books through a corporate agent (maybe 90% of corporate travellers?) then it becomes a "non-disclosable fare" and the 1 Tier Point per £1 spent no longer applies. In my case my company just paid £14k for a First LHR-LAX return fare but we got 5,000 points not 14,000, even though BA probably received at least £11,000 of cash (net of tax, commission). So in reality corporate travellers will only get 0.35 points per £ and will have to spend 3x more to retain Gold etc than they would have expected. Apparently corporate travellers are just waking up to this.