There can be lots of value to having airline elite status, though it goes without saying that not all elite levels are created equal. In this post I wanted to take a closer look at British Airways Executive Club Gold Guest List status.
Continue reading: What Is British Airways Gold Guest List Status?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
You should include the surcharge cost of awards when comparing one airline to another.
Got GGL few years ago and held it till past August. Never earn 5000 TP per year, but BA counts two conjenctive years sometimes. Use only one perk — Concord room (love it) and ‘secret’ entrance to CR, right from security lines level.
It would also be interesting to know what extra benefits Premier has and anyone’s experience of it.
You get an unpublished phone number you can call that, even in the worst of events (major cancellations at lhr) you'll get through almost immediately, you get invited to special events (canapes with the chairman of BA at the House of Lords was one I had), you can arrive at pretty much any time for a flight and you'll get on it. I once was very late for a flight from LHR-JFK arriving 20 mins before departure with a bag to check, was checked in and escorted through security and onto the plane. It was very cool, not least as I was only in my late 20's/very early 30's at the time and only 1 of 2 people in a company of 100,000 who had the status!!
Great comment!
It always a good idea to demand different content of a blogger who does all the work for you. Never say "Thank you, that was great information!" but tell them how they can better please you, unsolicitedly. It makes you sound well-mannered and grateful for all the free advice dispensed on their blog.
"It’s also worth noting that you could qualify for this status primarily through travel on partner airlines, as long as you complete at least four segments per year on British Airways."
Not correct. The four segments could be also BA marketed flights, not BA metal flights. Any partner flight with BA flight number counts. Only with IB it must be four IB marketed/operated flights.
Pretty sure its 5000Tier points with 2-4 on BA metal? Meaning you cant just earn it flying other oneworlds
You know what's cool, making equity partner at my law firm in my very early 30s and seeing my AGI on my tax return in the amount of $10,xxx,xxx.xx.
You keep checking your bag, though.
Quit being a dick. Surcharges on the same oneworld award can be $5.60 on AA vs $560 on BA.
This blog makes money. It's not a charitable service.
Quit being a dick.
BA is planning to separate GGL into a separate tier from Gold because there is a lack of information or awareness of GGL status among outstation agents such as AA.
We generally get much the same ground service as AA CKs, but many of the ground handling staff don't know what it is.
Get back to us if you ever make it to law school. Cooley doesn’t really count as a law school. 🙂
Approximately five years ago, I suggested to AA and BA that they extend reciprocity of benefit to GGLs and CKs . . . and they adopted it. But, as Pierre notes, there has been poor training of staff. It's getting better but awareness is still poor. And, yes, GGL will be segregated as a distinct tier. Andrew is correct in that at least 4 BA segments must be flown as a part of the tier points earned.
Premier is the true invite-only tier. BA's CEO himself must approve it and now there are only about 200. Think FTSE 100 C-Suite types and travel managers. That's it. About 7 years ago, celebs were removed from the list. Khatl's story (below) about holding a flight is only beaten by a Premier who forgot his passport at home -- BA held his flight for two hours so he could drive home, get it, and return. Separately, one seat on every intra-Europe flight held back for Premiers.
You're out of Philly, aren't you? Your wife is an attorney as well, isn't she? See ya 'round.
“ How hard are Tier Points to earn? While British Airways doesn’t publish a Tier Points earnings chart….”
They do. The tp calculator is here: https://www.britishairways.com/travel/flight-calculator/public/en_gb
I'm a 3rd year GGL and still a newbie, the space release, CCR access, dedicated call line and card gift are definitely useful.
I don't think you should expect anything special on the ground or on board though, you get a bit more attention than if you were just Gold but nothing like QR, CX or JL.
They introduced group 0 this year but it's still in chaos, the real group 0 at BA are the people checking bags at the gate lol
My conclusion is that it's still worth keeping it at 3k if it gets past the initial barrier of 5k.
When is this planned split of Gold and GGL happening? Maybe we get the white concord card back??
The telephone line and email address straight to GGL teams are probably one of the most valuable benefits. The team are, unlike everyone else in BA, great. I’ve had fees waived more times than I can count and huge effort made for me in times of disruption. Of all the benefits when push comes to shove I think I value this even more than CCR on domestic flights
Tony went from starting a $50b market cap company to being an associate at a biglaw V10 firm to making partner, all in about a month. We should all be humbled by his ability.
The key point I derived from the article, as a GGL with a BA, is the potential restructuring to make GGL a distinct tier. Under this new system, GGLs like myself, who are unlikely to meet next year's criteria, would be demoted to Gold rather than directly falling to Silver.
Given my frequent LHR-TLV flights are now in Club Europe (a coach setup with the middle seat vacant), and the indirect routes due to the regional tensions involving Hamas, maintaining GGL—or even Gold status—seems unfeasible.
Although I rarely utilized perks like "joker" cards, Hilton benefits, or car rentals directly from the terminal at LHR, I greatly valued the opportunity to gift gold and silver status to others (hi, mom!) and of course, the GUF vouchers and the GGL line was a coin flip, depending on who you spoke to (there are some tips about that, like which center or what time to call).
And you wonder why people believe in propaganda and fake news.
They are even grateful for all the free propaganda dispensed on the internet. WOW!
BA have been lobbying select GGL members and have set up a focus group to discuss various aspects of the current and future developments, no timeframes but clearly the amount of members has increased post pandemic and a short term change in the re qualification criteria (3000 TP) is probably a way to reduce the head count.
In spite of adding Boarding Group 0, it will not change the fact that Boarding Group 5 is always the first to board. Ha.
I’ve held BA GGL, AC SE, LH Hon at various stages over the past 6 years. The “hard” benefits are similar for all 3, but the “soft” benefits at BA were non-existent compared to lots of examples of incredible service at AC and LH.
Qantas has a similar system with platinum 1 and the invitation only Chairman Lounge.
Just more personalised service, everything that GGL offers plus use of the Windsor Suite at LHR, driven to the aircraft, space available upgrade to the next cabin, personal escort through airports, favourite seat will be always available even if that means bumping another non premier passenger to another seat, your onboard preferences are also noted say you like an extra pillow etc.
Says the guy who, in his next post, flaunts what he allegedly earns. Who is the dick?
I am Gold Guest List for life and a "rebrand" would be a good move in my opinion.
On a recent flight from BOS to LHR, boarding straight from the lounge, the agent announced boarding for "Group 0 and Gold Guest List" and all everyone heard was "Gold" and half the lounge charged towards the gate. In fact Group 0 = GGL and I was the only one :-). so a distinct name, maybe revive 'Concorde' in some form.
Soft offering on the ground needs some work for sure. A recent First class flight from JFK to LHR was cancelled and so I was auto rebooked on an alternative as you would expect, except I was rebooked on an indirect in economy. No one called me, instead I had to call the "priority" line and be on hold for 15 minutes to get someone to answer and deal with it. Awful service!.
I actually feel I get better recognition with AA. Fly a lot domestically with them and often get recognised as "concierge key equivalent". Rarely get any special recognition from BA even out of LHR, aside from Concorde Room Access. So looking forward to a bit of a rebrand - maybe it will happen with the alignment of membership renewals on 1st April 2025.
Actually there is one benefit of GGL for Life I should mention, the ability to try other airlines without the worry of losing status 🙂