BA gives EU members ANOTHER year on reduced tier point thresholds

When British Airways Executive Club was restructured in 2011, the biggest losers were members based in Continental Europe.  They had previously enjoyed far lower thresholds for earning Silver and Gold cards.  A Silver card required just 400 points (600 for a UK member) and Gold required just 800 points (1,500 for a UK member).

A lot of UK residents took advantage of this disparity by ‘moving’ their BA accounts to the address of an office or friend in Europe, in order to achieve status with fewer tier points.  However, there were downsides to this – you couldn’t have a British Airways American Express card, so no 2-4-1 voucher, and you couldn’t convert Tesco points to BA.

To allow European members to have a very soft landing to the new system, BA agreed that status members could renew for the next two years – 2012 and 2013 – under the old system.  If you were a Euro-Gold in November 2011, you could renew in 2012 and 2013 with just 800 points.

2014 was the year that this all came to end.

Except it isn’t going to.

BA seems to have been spooked by something.  I’m not sure what, but presumably they have looked at the travel patterns of these grandfathered members and decided that few of them would retain status at the standard 600 / 1500 level.  BA is probably guessing that most of these members would defect to other airlines rather than continue to fly BA without their previous status.

Whatever the reason, BA has decided to extend grandfathered memberships for another year.  If you currently earn Silver for 400 points or Gold for 800 points, you will be told shortly that you will be allowed to requalify for 2015 based on these numbers.

Good news for Euro members.  Bad news for people who were complaining that the Heathrow lounges were getting too crowded!

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.