British Airways is making a change to its famous loyalty programme – starting now.
BA loyalists have traditionally earned ‘tier points’ according to the number of miles flown each year. The more you collect, the higher your status, with blue being basic, swiftly followed by bronze, silver and gold.
Much of the loyalty scheme remains unchanged after BA’s latest announcement – but there are a few new things to look out for.
How has BA changed its frequent flyer scheme?
From now on, frequent BA flyers will still be able to rack up points by paying for a certain number of flights – reaching a certain quota of journeys, rather than basing it on money spent.
And so, those who take 25 flights a year through BA – including Aer Lingus and Iberia, both of which sometimes use BA flight numbers – will qualify for the bronze status.
Now, the scheme will increase the bonus Tier Points members can earn to between 75 and 550 per flight.
For a short-haul Euro Traveller economy flight, customers will be entitled to 75 points – an increase from the previous 50 – while flying in European business class (also known as Club Europe) will see the kudos increased from 100 to 175 points.
Going further afield? You’ll be able to gather 150 points for a World Traveller economy space (up from 70), while premium economy (World Traveller Plus) will see an increase of a whopping 135 points (it’s now 275, up from 140).
And if you’re feeling particularly boujie, a Club World long-haul business class flight gathers almost twice the number of points it did previously at 400 (up from 210). For first-class passengers, there are a coveted 550 points on offer, increasing from 330.
How many points will British Airways passengers be able to earn through the new loyalty scheme?
Short-haul Euro Traveller (economy): 75 (up from 50 in December’s policy)
Short-haul Club Europe (business class): 175 (up from 100)
Long-haul World Traveller (economy): 150 (up from 70)
Long-haul World Traveller Plus (premium economy): 275 (up from 140)
Long-haul Club World (business class): 400 (up from 210)
Long-haul First: 500 (up from 330).
‘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,’ said BA’s chief commercial officer Colm Lacy.
‘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.
‘Our members have a deep emotional connection with our loyalty scheme and their status means a lot to them – we’re confident the changes we’ve made fairly reward members for their travel with us.’
What did the original plans for The British Airways Club look like? And why were travellers upset?
However, in December 2024 the popular airline announced a new scheme – which has now been backtracked on in a major U-turn.
From April 2025, the British Airways Executive Club was to be known as, simply, The British Airways Club – and the new scheme proposed that customers earn their tier points on money spent rather than miles.
Under the plans, customers were to be given one point for every £1 spent, racking up kudos for purchases including plane tickets, seat selection, and extra baggage.
To achieve BA Gold status under the new system, travellers would need to have racked up 20,000 tier points in a year – compared with the previous 1,500 points. Translated: you’d need to spend £20,000 to get to the top tier. Ouch.
Critically, the previously revised system shifted the focus to a spending-based points structure, when previously, customers could effectively reach the elite tiers of BA status simply on miles alone.
So, taking fewer flights – but long-haul in length – could equally earn your prestige.
The original plans were slated by customers, as one wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘I’ve been British Airways Silver for 12 years, doubt I can even make bronze with this.’
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