Can I get an extension to my British Airways Executive Club membership year?

Is it possible to get an extension to your British Airways Executive Club membership year?

If you’ve read our article about how British Airways Executive Club membership years work, you’ll know that they’re a little less simple than you might expect.  In this article we’ll look at whether you can extend your membership year.

Membership years are not 12 months from the day you signed up. Instead, your first year of membership is between 12 and 13 months long. This is because British Airways Executive Club membership years cycle on the 8th day of the month following your sign-up month.

So, for example, if you had joined on 10th May 2022, your first year end would have ended on 8th June 2023, giving you just under 13 full months of membership for your first year. For every subsequent year, however, your membership will cycle on that day (8th June) and not the anniversary of your actual sign up date (10th May).

This is changing in April 2025

There are major changes coming to British Airways Executive Club membership years in 2025. All members will transition to the SAME membership year which will run from 1st April to 31st March.

There are complex arrangements in place to ensure members do not lose out during the transition period.

You can get a short membership year extension

It is possible to ask for a short extension to your membership year.  On request, British Airways will back-credit flights in the first two weeks of a new membership year to the previous year, potentially allowing you to cross the threshold into Bronze, Silver or Gold.

This does not affect the anniversary of your membership year. It simply credits the tier points and Avios to the prior year. To do so you need to call British Airways directly.

This is an official British Airways policy so you can call with confidence – the agent is not doing something they shouldn’t. If you do this, of course, the points will not count towards your new membership year.  No double counting is allowed.

We don’t know if this will still be allowed after the 1st April 2025 changes, but you are fine for now.

(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:

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.