What are the benefits of British Airways Executive Club Silver status?
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What are the benefits of British Airways Executive Club Silver status?
Silver is one of four tiers of the Executive Club, British Airways’ frequent flyer membership scheme. In this article we’ll look at what the benefits are of having British Airways Executive Club Silver status.
Silver status is the second of the elite status levels on British Airways. To get Silver status you first have to acquire Bronze membership. Like Bronze, you achieve Silver when you cross the threshold of tier points or eligible flights flown. You can read the requirements for British Airways Silver status in this article.
Although British Airways bronze status comes with some good benefits, Silver is where things really start to get interesting. You’ll get:
- 50% bonus Avios on all British Airways, Iberia, American Airlines and Japan Airlines flights
- free seat selection at the time of booking for you and anyone else on your booking, excluding “extra legroom” rows
- two x free 32kg bags per person in all classes, for everyone on your booking
- use of Club World, Club Europe or oneworld equivalent business class check in desks, regardless of your flight class
- access for you and one guest (travelling on a British Airways or oneworld operated flight) to the British Airways Galleries Club lounge or the equivalent oneworld business class departure lounge
- priority boarding
- reservation assurance on full-fare economy tickets, guaranteeing you a seat even on full or overbooked flights
The official ba.com list of British Airways Executive Club Silver benefits is here.
As you can tell there are almost twice as many benefits in Silver as there are for Bronze. The two key benefits are:
- access to the British Airways or oneworld equivalent business departure lounges, letting you escape the crowds in the airport
- free seat selection
It’s also worth noting that your checked baggage allowance increases to two 32kg bags – useful if you like to travel with plenty of outfits. I’d say that 90% of the value to me of Silver status comes from the lounge and seat selection benefits however.
The good news is that Gold is even better than Silver status. You can read all about the benefits of a British Airways Gold card here.
(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive 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 (January 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.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
50,000 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.
