BIG NEWS: BA moves to revenue-based tier status for Bronze, Silver, Gold and Gold Guest List

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• Hamish Newbatt says:

  1 Jan1 January 20:00

  1997

• Oxforddoc says:

  1 Jan1 January 20:05

  I remain surprised by this move.

  Have read through a couple of times. Previously, I’d have expected to move from being a redemption based booker to someone who ensured their entire airline/holiday spend went through BA to aim for silver. This would correspond with my salary increasing as I move through my 30s and my career builds.

  Now I’m unlikely to aim for this loyalty and will just move to aim for quality flights and/or those that offer value. I am unsure what loyalty they wish for me to show as a leisure traveller.

  Even with Amex changes they’ve kept me as a customer because I value the benefits the cards bring…

  • Throwawayname says:

    1 Jan1 January 20:51

    If you do live in Oxford, I would try catching an AF business class flight from BHX before ditching the idea of status. The M40 rarely gets busy, BHX is very compact, fast track works fine and AFKL use the Clubrooms lounge which is pretty solid (table service etc). Connections at CDG are also fine, with some recently refurbished lounges that put BA’s to shame. If you end up enjoying the experience, you won’t have any issues finding a way to get to at least FB Gold.

    • G says:

      1 Jan1 January 23:16

      How easy is it to get to keep AF Flying Blue for skyTeam plus?

      • Throwawayname says:

        1 Jan1 January 23:46

        If you fly with connections it can be really easy, each cross border flight is 5XP in Y and 15XP in C, and you need 180XP to renew. So it’s just 3 return tickets in European business, or 9 in economy. If you fly intercontinentally, it gets really easy- in 2023 I basically made gold basically because of one return ticket on Aeroméxico (they were selling BCN-CDG-MEX-GRU and back for €1300). However, you do need to exercise some care with the booking classes, as you might fly Air Europa in business and get nothing for it if it’s O class.

        • Throwawayname says:

          1 Jan1 January 23:48

          Apologies if the above doesn’t read quite right – I was driving last night so have to make up for the lost NYE alcohol consumption! Hopefully it still makes sense.

• Gerry says:

  1 Jan1 January 20:09

  Comment number 2000 😮

  • Tom says:

    1 Jan1 January 20:26

    First page says 2003 must be 3 out

• Rob J says:

  1 Jan1 January 20:52

  Been reading with interest as a Manchester based flyer who has lots of European travel I often have to connect so I can easily flip to KLM/Air France and Lufthansa. I’d consciously routed through Heathrow a few times recently to ensure I got gold by March to get the soft landing to Silver for 2026, maybe that will turn out to be a mistake, but I’m interested in the coming weeks the views on the other airlines as I make sense to me to prioritise one alliance when I have to connect rather than spread the load and get status nowhere.

• RobH not Rob says:

  1 Jan1 January 20:53

  Have to wait for 3000 now ffs.

  • Aaron says:

    1 Jan1 January 21:43

    I wouldn’t be surprised! Being glued to this article for hours hasn’t exactly been my proudest New Year’s Day, but it lays bare how much this change matters…to a lot of people.

• Tom says:

  1 Jan1 January 22:05

  Cannot imagine anything new can be said after 2K posts but for what it is worth I do not blame BA here.

  BA wants big spenders and not HfP types gaming the system and arbitraging the loyalty scheme with cheap mileage runs and the rest.

  • BrancasterLancaster says:

    1 Jan1 January 22:09

    And what about those of us who haven’t gamed the system; rather we’ve been loyal to a brand for years, sometimes decades, self funding business and leisure travel?

    • Throwawayname says:

      1 Jan1 January 22:23

      More fools you, unfortunately. BA, not unlike Lufthansa, take advantage of an once-great brand, to sell a mediocre product at inflated prices.

      People who put up with unreasonable premium queues, mice in the T5 lounges, dodgy catering, IT meltdowns etc actually enable that behaviour.

      The difference between LH and BA is that the former at least does have an amazingly comprehensive network and belong to the world’s best alliance, so it’s still worth flying when TK/A3/TP/LO can’t get you where you need to go. BA really doesn’t have any competitive advantage to offer anyone whose local airport isn’t LHR. Even if their first class prices out of various European countries are very competitive indeed, you’re likely better off flying in C on another airline.

      As Live and Let’s Fly says, chasing BA status is like running after fool’s gold. The sooner people realise it, the better for them.

      • Occasional Ranter says:

        1 Jan1 January 23:21

        BA’s marketing reminds me of the saying “patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel”

      • patrick says:

        2 Jan2 January 00:18

        I love a post that begins “More fools you, unfortunately.” Is English your mother tongue?

        • Throwawayname says:

          2 Jan2 January 00:39

          No, it’s one of the four languages I speak and the comment was written after consuming 2/3rds of a wine bottle!

        • ArFlyer says:

          2 Jan2 January 05:17

          That actually reads as a good play with language. It’s clever and the meaning was quite clear. So I’m not sure what you’re being sarcastic about.

      • Tim S says:

        2 Jan2 January 07:29

        LH doesn’t have a fantastic network if you’re sitting in London.
        Having to leave home a 5am to get a 7:30 to FRA to start my long haul flight, isn’t an idea way to start a holiday IMHO.
        I frequently (before I had status) turned down a cheaper fare with LH because of an inconvenient departure time. I’m certainly not going to do it just for the possibility that I might eventually get status.

        • Throwawayname says:

          2 Jan2 January 09:06

          As someone who never goes to bed before midnight, anything departing before 10 is problematic in that regard, and it’s always easier to fly the night before in those circumstances…unless you take the opportunity to force yourself to sleep on the long-haul and in order to adapt to the new timezone. But, irrespective of timing, there’s no doubt that LH and their subsidiaries go to numerous places that BA won’t – whether it’s Katowice, Incheon, or Luanda, you know you can get there on a single ticket and without needing to further mess your sleep up by stopping in the Middle East in the middle of the night.

  • Danny says:

    2 Jan2 January 00:05

    Tom

    If you’re a BA manager – then there’s a simple message for you.

    To attract the ‘big spenders’, you need to ‘spend big’ yourselves….or at least give the impression you are.

    Now, all BA is chasing are the price-conscious and those who have no other choice (contract flyers).

    Nobody is proud to fly BA and few would boast of it. In the not distant past this wasn’t true. The airline is now an embarrassment, with a reputation defined at the very best by mediocrity. Many were swayed to fly BA due to the EC programme.

    Now that’s gone, and so will my discretionary purchase of BA flights.

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    2 Jan2 January 00:43

    “…and not HfP types gaming the system and arbitraging the loyalty scheme with cheap mileage runs and the rest.”

    Every opportunity to arbitrage BAEC arises because of BAs own actions.

    It was BA that started the double TP offer for BA holidays. So it then had people adding an extra night in order to make a planned 4 night into a 5 night stay to qualify for the offer. BA happy took money for that from those that decided to partake of the offer.

    BA had full control over the T&Cs of the offer. It’s a bit rich to suggest that BA is now somehow an injured party – especially as BA extended the promo more than once!

    And IRRC BA Holidays even paid for sponsored article(s) on the double TP offer on this very site! So it’s clear they were wanting to ”HfP gamers” to spend money with them!

    If BA didn’t want UK based people starting trips in the likes of Dublin or Stockholm or Amsterdam to turn what would have been a simple in and out ex LHR into a mini TP run then that’s down to them for pricing such trips at a lower price than an ex-UK one.

    It’s called the commercial market place.

    And BA has benefitted from people using the opportunities presented to them to spend money with BA that they could have spent with other airlines.

    • John says:

      2 Jan2 January 09:32

      Well said !

    • Tim S says:

      2 Jan2 January 10:04

      I don’t understand how come there are so many people starting their journey in DUB or ARN just to get extra points (or even a cheaper fare)

      Surely to do this you actually have to travel to DUB/ARD to start this journey, adding on the costs and inconvenience of doing so.

      I can see that it might be a one in a million thing that someone finds worthwhile, but not an everyday occurrence that BA have to worry about.

      • Rob says:

        2 Jan2 January 10:18

        There are harder ways to save £1000 from your annual expenses to be honest.

      • Clive says:

        2 Jan2 January 10:27

        It’s not just BA that make ex-DUB flights worthwhile. Last year I was flying to CCU with QR; it was £800 cheaper to fly ex-DUB, even after factoring in the LHR-DUB positioning flight and DUB-BRS return. (I would have had to spend the night at LHR, so I regarded the cost of the hotel at DUB as neutral in this calculation).

      • Throwawayname says:

        2 Jan2 January 13:11

        If you don’t live near LHR, it’s easier to just fly to the EU airport of your choice than having to endure multiple train connections and keeping your fingers crossed that the station lifts will be in operation so that you don’t have to take luggage up and down the stairs.

  • Phil says:

    2 Jan2 January 09:12

    Never done a TP run and never ‘gamed the system’.

    Have chosen BA for flight over Emirates as would retain Silver or Gold and so put business or first fare their way, despite being routed to LHR on a 45 min short-haul from MAN and the obligatory late departure / paid business or first and sat in a lounge surrounded by folks paying for entry – MAN but that doesn’t count as only LHR crowding matters.

    Have sat in first lounge in an economy ticket due to status once, but was after flying in a first class back from JNB and having not used it on the way out due to delays and only having 35 mins once through.

    I could make Silver and possibly most of the way to Gold in new system but would mean directing a lot of spend just to achieve that, when I will be flying with most of the benefits from my ticket anyway, silver is fine for me ( if I get it) and BA product to me is not worth 7.5k let alone 20k for the return.

    This is BA’s problem – gold is nice, silver is quie nice but they have broken the spell of choosing them to retain them. Emirates 1st or business is a lot nicer and the extra uplift would be what I’d need to spend to get Gold and I’d rather not.

    So instead of getting a 50 / 50 share or 75 / 25 share of my spend vs another airline they are going to potentially get bob all and any economy to Europe will likely be Easyjet as its not worth considering a longer trip via LHR for no benefit.

    Did I chase points and game the system? No
    Did I chose BA sometimes to use or retain a benefit and factor that in to purchase? Yes
    Will they get more spend from me now? Nope
    Will they get same spend? Highly unlikely

  • patrick says:

    2 Jan2 January 15:05

    Are you absolutely sure that this is the right website for you Tom?

• Sascha says:

  1 Jan1 January 22:06

  Isn‘t BA dropping all current bronze, silver and even some gold members to zero status with this? Some golds might be happy or not to hold silver or only bronze status in the future. As a result BA might loose all those loyal customers. I understand that BA wants to concentrate on big spenders. But aren’t those big spenders part of the BA Executive Club already? This move will not attract additional big spenders for BA. At the end BA can only loose loyal customers and some new customers might not even bother to fly BA.
  I am gold and did hold silver status as well for many years. I am not from GB. Due to status it did make sense for me to concentrate my travel activity on BA and oneworld, even to increase my premium travel activity. I was even willing to accept those many flight interruptions by flght cancelstions and delays through LHR instead of choosing direct flights with some other carrier. I am just a few points away from renewing gold. It doesn’t feel like this is making sense anymore.

  • Tim S says:

    2 Jan2 January 07:35

    This silver member isn’t happy that he might be bumped down to bronze in future. Bronze gives me nothing useful (except premium check in).

    So when my silver status expires, I’ll be back to booking the cheapest flight with the most convenient departure times, and slumming it with the masses in the departure hall.

  • Throwawayname says:

    2 Jan2 January 09:12

    Given the silly prices that we often see being charged for travelling LHR-US in premium classes, I think that a fair few silvers should be able to retain their status under the new arrangements.

    Whether they’ll want to do that instead of switching to another FFP, if not another alliance altogether, is a different question.

• Sreenath says:

  1 Jan1 January 22:16

  I am really shocked and surprised by the fact that BAEC ran a status match in May 2024 and I wonder what the use of it is at all. If this was the whole plan, I wouldn’t have jumped the wagon and stayed on to *A Gold with TK. I think I will continue sticking to my AFKLM Platinum status for what is worth.

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