How can I get British Airways Executive Club Gold status?

How can you get British Airways Executive Club Gold status and a British Airways Gold card?

Gold is one of four tiers of the Executive Club, British Airways’ frequent flyer membership scheme. In this article we’ll look at what you need to do to achieve British Airways Executive Club Gold status.

There are four tiers as part of the Executive Club, three of which are elite. The Gold tier is the highest status you can achieve. If you’re not already familiar with how the Executive Club works, with Avios and tier points, we recommend you read this article explaining the basics of British Airways elite status and how you can start your journey towards Bronze.

Your elite status is dependent on the number of tier points you earn during your membership year and, unlike Avios, your tier points reset on the anniversary of your membership. There is no other use to tier points other than setting your elite status; they cannot be spent.

Gold status is the next elite tier after Silver and Bronze. British Airways is part of the oneworld alliance: holding Executive Club Gold Status is equivalent to oneworld Emerald status and offers similar benefits on flights with oneworld Airlines.

To achieve British Airways Gold status, you need 1,500 tier points and four eligible flights flown in your membership year.

In this case, an eligible flight is

• any British Airways operated flight, no matter the flight number

• a flight with a British Airways flight code but operated by another airline

• an Iberia operated flight with an Iberia flight code

Reward or redemption flights (using Avios) are NOT counted towards eligible flights.

Once you fulfil the requirements above, you will automatically be upgraded to Gold status. You will also receive a welcome or renewal pack in the post with your new Gold status card.

What are the British Airways Gold benefits?

Gold status includes a number of benefits not available to Blue, Bronze or Silver members, including:

• 100% bonus Avios on all British Airways, Iberia, American Airlines and Japan Airlines, doubling avios earned

• free seat selection at the time of booking for you and anyone else on your booking, including “extra legroom” upgrades (this does not apply on hand-baggage only fares)

• free seat allocation for a companion on their own booking, but on the same flight (this can only be done over the phone)

• two 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 (traveling on a British Airways or oneworld operated flight) to the British Airways Galleries First lounge or the equivalent oneworld first and business class departure lounge

• use of a British Airways arrivals lounge, irrespective of class of travel

• priority boarding

• reservation assurance on full-fare economy tickets, guaranteeing you a seat even on full or overbooked flights

• priority over lower status passengers on waiting lists

• additional Avios reward seat availability in economy

• Gold Priority Reward, allowing you to book any seat still for sale for double the avios cost (these can only be booked offline and with 30 days’ notice)

The official ba.com list of Gold status benefits can be found here.

Unlike Bronze and Silver status, there are additional thresholds that unlock extra perks for Gold status holders. These include:

• at 2500 tier points, you receive a Gold Upgrade for Two voucher, which you can use with a companion to upgrade to the next cabin class on a cash booking. This voucher is valid for one year, though you can extend validity for another 6 months upon request.

• at 3500 tier points you receive a Gold Upgrade for One voucher, again valid for one year

• at 5000 points you are invited to join the Gold Guest List, an elite subset of Gold status that carries additional value. You can read about how to achieve British Airways Gold Guest List and its associated benefits here.

You can find a similar article on “How can I get British Airways Executive Club Silver status?” by clicking 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. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.5 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

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.

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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

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.