As 2024 makes its way out the door, British Airways decided to give us all one last kick by making changes to its loyalty program. Beginning April 1, 2025, British Airways’ Executive Club will be rebranded to The British Airways Club.
British Airways Loyalty Program Changes
According to a press release from the airline, the new loyalty program will have some new changes for members from the offset with additional updates coming throughout the year. Beginning on April 1st, members will see:
- A new Tier Point system when flying: Members will earn Tier Points based on the cost of their flight and, for the first time, for ancillary spend including seat selection and excess baggage. Members will earn 1 Tier Point for every £1 of eligible spend, which comes with recalculated Tier thresholds to reflect the new model.
- Tier Points on a contribution to Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF): Members will also earn Tier Points and collect Avios by purchasing a contribution to SAF, earning up to 1,000 Tier Points per year. Customers will also be able to use their Avios as a form of payment, which they can do by simply visiting a dedicated landing page which will be live on April 1, 2025.
- Limitless Tier Points on British Airways Holidays: After the success of the British Airways Holidays double Tier Points promotion, the airline has created a permanent proposition on holiday packages. Members will earn Tier Points based on the price of the entire package, with no limit in place, making it possible to earn elite status in fewer trips than under today’s offer.
British Airways certainly isn’t burying the lead here, the airline is moving to a spend based loyalty program with The British Airways Club and it’s going to cost you. A lot. Status qualification going forward will require the following amount of Tier Points (1 TP = £1);
- Bronze: 3,500
- Silver: 7,500
- Gold: 20,000
- Gold Guest List: 65,000
- At least 52,000 TPs must be earned through British Airways-marketed flights, qualifying add-ons and British Airways Holidays packages.
- To retain GGL after earning, you’ll need 40,000 TPs with at least 32,000 earned through British Airways-marketed flights, qualifying add-ons and British Airways Holiday packages.
Coming later in 2025, British Airways will add on Tier Point earnings through credit card spend as well as introducing new milestone benefits between tiers:
- Tier Points on credit card spending: BA American Express Premium Plus Cardmembers will be able to earn up to 2,500 Tier Points by spending on their card. More details of this offer will be announced closer to the launch date.
- New milestone benefits between Tiers: Members will be able to unlock rewarding benefits before reaching their next level. This will start with gifts of 2,500, 4,000 and 5,000 Bonus Avios at milestones within Bronze and Silver. More benefits will be announced in the coming months.
Unsurprisingly, the airline is trying to spin this as a positive development though, unless you spend tens of thousands of dollars with British Airways annually, you probably don’t agree. Colm Lacy, British Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, had this to say about the changes:
“The changes we have announced today underline our continued investment in our loyalty programme and in our customers. Based on our Members’ feedback, we’ve built on the changes we’ve already made – including how customers collect Avios and their membership year – in a way that we believe better rewards their loyalty and reflects their changing travel needs.
While we have announced a number of positive changes today, I particularly wanted to highlight better rewarding our customers who book through British Airways Holidays and making this a permanent part of our proposition, removing the limit on earning. We know that many of our customers make their holiday plans during our annual January sale period, so it’s great to be able to announce this today.”
British Airways Loyalty Program Transition
As British Airways transitions over how Tier Points are awarded, any existing bookings for travel after April 1, 2025 will be awarded Tier Points based on a conversion of the existing method. According to the airline, any existing bookings will earn proportionally the same number of Tier Points, or more, as they would under the old system.
British Airways is also offering limited time bonus Tier Points when booking travel before February 14, 2025 for travel on or after April 1, 2025. Bonus Tier Points will be awarded based on the cabin of service in the following amounts:
- Euro Traveller: 50
- Club Europe: 100
- World Traveller: 70
- World Traveller Plus: 140
- Club World: 210
- First: 330
The British Airways Club Earnings With Partners
When flying with partner airlines using your British Airways Loyalty Program account, earnings will be determined depending on the carrier. For partner airlines with spend based loyalty programs, it is expected that Tier Points will also be awarded based on spend. This kills status earling opportunities like earning 240 Tier Points (which was roughly enough for Bronze status) on a single $400 American Airlines ticket.
When flying on airlines that do not factor spend into their loyalty programs , which are becoming increasingly rare, Tier Points will be calculated based on distance and fare class.
I have been using British Airways Executive Club when crediting all of my OneWorld flights. Unfortunately, with the changes under the new The British Airways Club loyalty program, I’ll need to find somewhere else to credit my travels.
Summary
British Airways is overhauling its loyalty program and replacing its Executive Club with The British Airways Club. The new program will take effect on April 1, 2025 and move to a spend based program. This is an unfortunate development for many travels, including myself, that found value in the old Executive Club earnings.
