British Airways Club transforms frequent flyer perks – but not every traveller welcomes changes
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Exclusive: Spend £550k with British Airways to earn Gold status for life – or £8,000 on a holiday for a year of Silver. British Airways has revealed comprehensive changes to its loyalty programme, which will mean access to its top tiers will be aligned with high spending on the airline and its holiday operation.
After 43 years, the BA Executive Club is to be renamed The British Airways Club from 1 April 2025. Benefits will continue to depend on the traveller’s status, which will be squarely based on the amount spent on plane tickets or through British Airways Holidays.
To achieve elite status requires thousands of “tier points”, which are calculated at a rate of one point for each £1 spent. (They are separate from Avios, the frequent-flyer currency used by BA and other members of the IAG conglomerate, as well as Finnair and Qatar Airways.).
The basic status, Blue, is open to all. It confers free wifi messaging on board and the ability to earn Avios points. Higher status comes at a progressively higher price in terms of tier points. The Independent has learnt that spending £550,000 on BA tickets and holidays will allow a traveller to go from zero tier points to lifetime Gold membership of The British Airways Club.
There is an even higher category, Gold Guest List, which requires 65,000 points as a new member or 40,000 on renewal. Colm Lacy, British Airways’ chief commercial officer, said the transformation is “based on our members' feedback” and “better rewards their loyalty”.
