British Airways adds new Gold Guest List lounge benefits
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British Airways has opened its First Dining Room and Concorde Bar lounges to all Gold Guest List members.
As we wrote a couple of weeks ago, Gold Guest List members were being allowed into the First Dining Room in the London Heathrow Terminal 3 lounge (image below) although no member communications had gone out.
This move is now official and it is extended to other previously off-limits facilities too.
What is Gold Guest List?
If you are wondering what Gold Guest List is, it is a sub-tier of British Airways Executive Club Gold status. You need to earn 5,000 tier points (3,000 if renewing) during your membership year. You can find out more about Gold Guest List in our article here.
There are, apparently, around 5,000 to 6,000 members of Gold Guest List.
Gold Guest List comes with a number of benefits including the ability to gift Gold and Silver status cards as well as additional upgrade vouchers and the ability to open up additional Avios reward seats.
It has not, pre-covid, conferred access to BA’s Concorde Room or First Dining Rooms.
This changed during the pandemic, when BA opened up access to the Heathrow Terminal 5 Concorde Room for all Gold Guest List members. Previously you had to earn 5,000 tier points – remember that Gold Guest List renewal ‘only’ required 3,000 tier points – to get a Concorde Room card.
Until this week, access to First Dining Rooms and other Concorde Rooms / Concorde Bars remained somewhat restricted, with no official policy in place.
British Airways extends pre-flight dining to Gold Guest List
In positive news, British Airways has now decided to extend access to all of these spaces across the network. It quietly updated the wording on its website for Gold Guest List members to include the following:
“Gold Guest List members travelling on British Airways flights, in any cabin, can enjoy our First Dining, Concorde Dining and ‘The Bar’ facilities with 1 guest.*”
The change means you can now access Concorde / First Dining at the following airports:
- Boston
- Chicago O’Hare
- Johannesburg
- London Heathrow T5
- London Heathrow T3
- Newark
- New York JFK Chelsea Lounge (review here)
- San Francisco
- Washington Dulles (review here)
You’ll also be able to use the Concorde Bars in:
- Dubai
- Singapore
Any guest you bring must be travelling on the same flight as you and entry may be subject to capacity constraints. If you’re flying in First, you can take up to two guests. Access is only when travelling on a British Airways flight – if you’re on another oneworld airline, you won’t be able to get in.
This HfP article goes into further detail about BA’s pre-flight First and Concorde Dining Rooms, including a sample menu.
Conclusion
These are – obviously – positive changes. With a reduction in the number First Class seats now flying, given the removal of the First-heavy Boeing 747 fleet, British Airways clearly feels it has spare lounge capacity. Opening these up to Gold Guest List members is a smart way of rewarding its top status holders.
It also simplifies the previous policy, which was all over the place in terms of who could access what and where.
PS. If you think that Gold Guest List status is out of reach, you may be mistaken. Whilst 5,000 tier points for the initial qualification is harder, renewal at 3,000 tier points is manageable for many. Someone travelling to Asia every two months in Business Class on Qatar Airways, for example, would earn 3,360 tier points in 12 months. Even the initial hurdle of 5,000 tier points would ‘only’ require nine Business Class return flights to Asia on Qatar Airways during your BA membership year.
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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:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review
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.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
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.
Capital on Tap Visa
NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review
Capital on Tap Pro Visa
10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review
There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:
British Airways American Express Accelerating Business
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
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.
American Express Business Platinum
50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
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