What is a British Airways Gold Upgrade For Two / For One Voucher?

How does the British Airways ‘Gold Upgrade for Two’ and ‘Gold Upgrade for One’ voucher work?  Today I thought I’d take a look at this often-confusing aspect of the Executive Club.

Unlike the other elite tiers, British Airways Gold status comes with various additional tier promotions and benefits. These include the various Gold Upgrade vouchers.

Once you attain British Airways Gold status at 1,500 tier points, there are further thresholds with extra treats:

• at 2,500 tier points you get a Gold Upgrade for Two voucher (GUF2 in the trade)

• at 3,500 tier points you get 2 Gold Upgrade for One vouchers (GUF1 in the trade)

• at 5,000 tier points you become a Gold Guest List member – I explain Gold Guest List here

When you reach the appropriate thresholds the vouchers will automatically appear on your Executive Club homepage on the British Airways website.

What are BA Gold Upgrade vouchers?

Gold Upgrade vouchers allow you to upgrade your chosen cash or Avios booking to the next cabin on British Airways operated flights.

If you are booked into premium economy, for example, you will be able to upgrade to business class. Since the voucher counts per booking, you will be upgraded on both the outbound and inbound flights if you book a return fare.

The BA call centre can process your GUF2 upgrade if either:

• Avios seats are showing in the upgraded class, or

• cash tickets are still available in the cheapest selling ‘bucket’, which is ‘A’ for First Class, ‘I’ for Club World and ‘T’ for World Traveller Plus

How long do BA Gold Upgrade vouchers last?

Each voucher is only valid for one year.

It is generally accepted that British Airways will extend this a further six months if you call them although this is not officially in the rules.

You must book your ticket before the expiry date although you can travel later, which effectively gives you up to 355 extra days to fly.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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.