British Airways announced major changes to its BA Club in December 2024, which included renaming it The British Airways Club and shifting to a new Avios reward flights accumulation system. One of the biggest changes was that tier points would be earned from money spent instead of miles flown. This meant that gaining and maintaining BA tier status was tied closely to spending on tickets, seat selection, and extra baggage.
However, the response from the flying public was clear: they were not pleased. The airline faced considerable pushback from BA Club members and Avios collectors. Many expressed concerns that this change would heavily disadvantage those who managed to find good deals or those who flew long but inexpensive routes.
In response to the backlash, BA has now surprised everyone by back pedalling on these changes. The airline has now confirmed that, from 1st April 2025, Bronze and Silver (but not Gold) status will be achievable based on sectors travelled.
Revised Frequent Flyer Programme Details
Starting in April 2025, BA will abandon the spending-based model proposed in December 2024. Instead, passengers will need to complete a specific number of flights to qualify for status levels.
Under the new system, passengers will need to complete 25 sectors to earn Bronze status and 50 sectors to earn Silver status. This is a return to a more traditional flight-based earning system that lets members earn status based on the number of flights taken rather than the amount spent. Importantly, all these flights must be on BA-coded flights, which means codeshares with Iberia and other partners do not count towards the sector requirement.
The airline has also increased the number of bonus Tier Points members can earn per flight. Flights must be booked by 31 December 2025 and you must opt-in to the offer. It is not automatic. Here are the updated points you can earn per flight:
- Short-haul Euro Traveller (Economy) flights now earn 75 points, increased from 50.
- Club Europe (Business Class) on short-haul routes will earn 175 points, increased from 100.
- Long-haul World Traveller (Economy) flights earn 150 points, up from 70.
- World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) jumps to 275 points from 140.
- Club World (long-haul Business Class) flights now award 400 points, up from 210.
- First Class travel now earns 550 points, up from 330.
If you’re wondering ‘how can I use Avios points to maintain my status,’ the airline has provided the following examples to explain how passengers can maintain their Silver or Gold status with the new bonus points system:
To main Silver status, which requires 7,500 tier points, you could book:
- An Economy flight to Geneva (£343 + taxes)
- A Business Class flight to New York (£3,240 + taxes)
- A Premium Economy flight to Singapore (£2,561 + taxes)
- A holiday package to Barbados (£1,429)
- Purchase £300 worth of Sustainable Aviation Fuels.
To maintain Gold status, which requires 20,000 tier points, you could book:
- 13 return Business Class trips to Geneva (£9,971 plus taxes)
- Three return Business Class to New York (£9,720 plus taxes)
- A budget holiday package to Tenerife (£759).
Colm Lacy, BA’s chief commercial officer, said, “We’re confident that moving to this model is the right thing to do for our customers, but we acknowledge that we need to reassure them that there are now lots more ways to earn status. We’re implementing a system that allows us to flex and adapt to respond to our customers’ needs, and the Bonus Tier Point campaign is a perfect example of this. Moving to a spend-based model is reflective of most loyalty programmes in the UK, so it was a logical step in the evolution of The Executive Club.”
Want to see how many Tier Points you’ll earn on your next trip? Use our British Airways Tier Points Calculator below to quickly check your route and start planning your next status upgrade.
Final Thoughts
These updates have raised several questions, especially concerning the rationale behind the changes. Achieving these statuses under the new system seems to demand quite specific and high spending, which may not work for typical travellers, such as a banker taking an Economy holiday to Tenerife. Maintaining status might require even more travel when the temporary bonus points offer expires.
However, the pivot back to flight-count-based status will please regular short-haul flyers as it addresses concerns about lounge overcrowding and the difficulty of achieving status under the previous system. It seems British Airways is keen to keep its loyal flyers happy while adjusting the balance between short-haul commuter benefits and the Avios reward flights for long-haul luxury travel.
