British Airways backtracks on controversial loyalty overhaul – here’s how to secure gold status

British Airways is backtracking on controversial reforms to its frequent flyer loyalty programme, the BA Club, to make it easier to earn coveted bronze, silver and gold status.

The move comes after leisure flyers bitterly criticised previously announced changes for making customers spend more on flights to rise up the ranks.

When it laid out the reforms in December, BA said that tier points – and Avios (BA’s air miles) – would be calculated solely on the price of the ticket for a flight, excluding airport charges and Air Passenger Duty, at a rate of one tier point per £1, instead of distance travelled, as in the past. At one tier point for every £1 spent, travellers would have to spend £20,000 to attain the 20,000 points for a gold card and £7,500 for the 7,500 points for silver.

BA is now reintroducing a feature of its outgoing loyalty programme, the Executive Club, so travellers will still be able to gain status by taking a certain number of flights, rather than spending a certain amount of money. Those who take 25 flights a year with a BA flight number, which might include flights on partner airlines Aer Lingus and Iberia, will gain bronze status. Those who take 50 flights with a BA flight number will earn silver status.

The move is designed, as one BA insider puts it, “to recognise the loyalty of commuters who take a lot of short-haul flights often in economy.” Translation: we don’t want needlessly to annoy loyal short-haul road warriors, lest they switch to EasyJet.

BA is also making it easier to attain silver and gold status by offering a longer and more generous tier points bonus scheme. A promotion introduced in December 2024 for any flights booked before February 14 and flown after April 1 has been extended and made more generous. It now applies to any flights booked from today until the end of this year for travel anytime before December 2026.

The number of bonus tier points on offer has doubled and will be a fixed amount based on the cabin – with economy the lowest and First the highest – not the price of the ticket. This more generous scheme will be backdated to cover any bookings already made this year. Customers will have to opt in to the scheme (which seems rather pernickity), so don’t miss the email.

BA’s number crunchers won’t say by how much the new schemes will reduce the amount frequent flyers will need to spend to attain silver or gold status, but savvy travellers may well be able to reduce the amount for a gold card to around £16,000 and around £6,000 for a silver card.

BA also points out that passengers who have the BA American Express Premium Plus card will be able to gain many of the tier points they need to reach a certain status by using their card – one third for silver status and one eighth for gold. But the airline has not yet reached an agreement with Amex on what that spend is. BA says it hopes to announce a figure by the time the new Club goes live on April 1.

Colm Lacy, BA’s chief commercial officer, says he recognises that “our members have a deep emotional connection with our loyalty scheme and their status means a lot to them. Speculation about the changes has led to concern about what they would mean for customers.” He hopes today’s announcement will reassure frequent BA flyers that “there are now lots more ways to earn status”.

The new moves are likely to placate some critics, but many point out there are still what one calls “plenty of nasties”. One of the traditional strengths of BA’s loyalty programme has been the ability to fly on partner carriers in BA’s Oneworld alliance and earn the same, or sometimes more, tier points than flying on BA – partly because flights on partner airlines often involve extra legs.

Under the new rules, passengers will earn fewer tier points if they book a Qantas, Qatar Airways or Cathay Pacific flight, rather than flying with BA. The differences can be huge. Take the London Heathrow to Shanghai route in business class. After April 1, flying direct on BA will earn you between 3,414 and 9,682 tier points, according to the type of business-class ticket. Fly via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific and you will only earn 1,696 or 3,388 tier points. On Qatar Airways via Doha the most you can earn is 7,492.

BA executives say it is reasonable to expect BA Club members “to fly on BA metal”, as one puts it. But they point out that frequent flyers will still be able to earn the same tier points and Avios as if they were flying on BA if they travel on American Airlines and Iberia, BA’s “business partner” airlines. Many frequent fliers hope that Qatar Airways will soon be added to that list.

BA also says that it will not change the allocation of tier points earned by booking BA holidays. Critics have suggested that the tier points should be accrued by the person booking and paying for the holiday but BA insists the tier points have to be allocated per passenger per flight.

BA executives believe that even with the new improvements, the new system will prevent some travellers from “gaming” the system by signing up for multiple flights on BA and codeshare partners and taking advantage of numerous promotions to acquire a gold card for as little as £3,000. Lacy says: “The old system didn’t necessarily reward genuinely loyal behaviour but, instead, has encouraged behaviour that isn’t in the spirit of our loyalty programme. We want to reward customers in the right way.”

He sounds tough. But my money’s on one more round of changes – and more generosity – as the April 1 launch approaches.