British Airways aligning Tier Point years

[jay]

My ten pence worth….

In true BA style, they haven’t run it through the Plain English – Crystal Mark test (or the lawyers). As an example for the current collection period December 23 – December 24 (the ‘Collection Period’) and the Tier Adjustment period, December 24 – March 25 (‘Adjusted Period’ per BA websites).

I read it as:

Tier points collected during the Collection Period + the Adjusted Period = Status from April 25 to April 26 (‘New Status Period’)

Therefore working the example further:

During the Collection Period earn 800TP
During the Adjusted Period earn 900TP
New Status Period status = 800 + 900 = Gold.

It basically looks like you have longer to earn status in the New Status Period, and the extra months you have is based the when your current year ends.

[LiamG]

I think it’s easier to think of it as two concurrent collection years will start for everyone on 1st April.

Your current one continues as normal.
The new one is 1st April 2024 -> 31st March 2025.

I think the only unclear thing is, if your normal collection year ends 8th December 2024, you’d normally keep any status you earn then until December 2025…

But if earn gold from your 9th December 2023 to 8th December 2024, thanks to a lot of flights between 9th Dec and 31st March 2024, those points won’t be included in your second tier point year… so do you still keep your gold status until Dec 2025, do you keep it until April 2025, and your new year status takes over after that (or indeed, the third option, do you keep gold until April 2026)

The docs only talk about status you earn during the transition lasting until April 2026… but it depends what you count as “the transition” – to me, that could easily be the new second tier collection year, 1st April 24 to 31st March 25.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

Rhys Jones wrote:

truthbetold wrote:

Rob losing his secret sauce? Not even a warning this was coming??

BA don’t like us!

But according to the daily mail you just have them an award 😃😃

[Richie]

Article has now appeared https://www.headforpoints.com/2024/02/05/british-airways-changes-tier-point-collection-years/

[Skywalker]

BA Flyer IHG Stayer wrote:

Rhys Jones wrote:

truthbetold wrote:

Rob losing his secret sauce? Not even a warning this was coming??

BA don’t like us!

But according to the daily mail you just have them an award 😃😃

Then that just means Head for Points likes BA and the feeling is not mutual 😉

[PeteM]

Skywalker wrote:

Then that just means Head for Points likes BA and the feeling is not mutual 😉

HfP’s *readers* like BA!

[slidey]

PeteM wrote:

Skywalker wrote:

Then that just means Head for Points likes BA and the feeling is not mutual 😉

HfP’s *readers* like BA!

HFP readers who only fly BA like BA! 😉

[PeteM]

slidey wrote:

HFP readers who only fly BA like BA! 😉

Actually, quite the opposite I think. Because the more you fly other airlines (excluding perhaps the ME3, Cathay and the like) the more you realise BA is actually pretty decent. The staff onboard certainly generally stand out and the loyalty programme is objectively excellent. Yes, the replacement programme to replace the business class seats needed to start earlier than it did, but the new seat is great…

[slidey]

Is it that any tp gained from now to march 2025 will give status til april 2026? Or is it tp will still reset at the end of the current tp year, but would then be added to your total in march 2025?

ie TP year ends in aug, you get 400 tp before aug, then 200 in sept, you would not get silver in sept but would get it in march 2025?

[lcsneil]

bettsd007 wrote:

Unless I’m not understanding correctly the examples BA have shared, but there is a situation where you can lose almost 9 months of tier status. If your Tier Point year end is 8th Nov 2024, you still keep status until the card expiry year end Dec 31 2024. If you reach gold status between Nov 9th 2024 and Dec 31st 2024 you’d have kept that gold status until Dec 31st 2026 (23 months). It seems that that now gets cut at April 1st 2026, a loss of 9 months status. Am I reading that wrong?

I also read that the same way. Expiry date 8th Oct 2024. Currently Gold and should renew gold with a flight that lands 31st Mar 24. No real flights of any significance planned 1st April – 8th Oct (only short haul economy).

Then card resets 8th Oct and then the next collection year is until 31st March 2025 (using the previous years added 1st April 24 – 7th Oct 24 as tier adjustment).

Status then changes on 1st April 25 which means I lose 8 months of Gold status as the chances of getting 1500 between 8th Oct & 31st March is slim.

Peoples tier point earning pattern isn’t linear throughout the year which is what BAEC are suggesting by their Tier Point Adjustment scheme…

My initial response is that BA wouldn’t dare do that… but actually yes they would. It just simplified it all for us and they knock out a load of lounge hogging Gold & Silver members. I bet there has been a lot of analysis done to work out the best time to do it to slash max number of status.

lcsneil

[BB8]

An instant benefit to us blue members who have no intention of moving from blue is we don’t have to get stressed about losing status for any period of time with this change 🙂

[Susi80]

Something I still don’t understand and which is my biggest fear is that I’ll be losing all the tier points I have collected already. So my renewal is in November and I was told that my counting period will now be April 2024 to March 2025 (instead of November 2023 to October 2024). So all the tier points I had between November 2023 and end of March 2024 will just not be counted towards my new year, meaning I lose 750 tier points and have to start from scratch again by April 2024. I don’t think BA have taken any of that into consideration!

[sturgeon]

Can anyone who has received tier points from spend so far clarify when they’re added to your account? I believe that Amex add all owed Avios earned up until about a week before your statement date. My statement date is 11th of the month so covering all spend from the 10th of the previous month.

So in this case, using March as an example, I’d expect all cleared transactions from 10th Feb until c. 4th March (a week before statement date) to post Avios to my BA account on the 5th April. If tier points are added in exactly the same way (not instantly credited like the companion voucher) then in the same scenario any tier point spend thresholds reached after the 5th march should credit the tier points around the 5th march when my Avios will be added. Right?

I want to ensure I move spend over to my BAPP at the right time to benefit from this change. If that’s to start spending from the 5th March or thereabouts and the tier points definitely don’t post right after reaching a threshold then I’ll do that.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

Susi80 wrote:

Something I still don’t understand and which is my biggest fear is that I’ll be losing all the tier points I have collected already. So my renewal is in November and I was told that my counting period will now be April 2024 to March 2025 (instead of November 2023 to October 2024). So all the tier points I had between November 2023 and end of March 2024 will just not be counted towards my new year, meaning I lose 750 tier points and have to start from scratch again by April 2024. I don’t think BA have taken any of that into consideration!

You’ve not understood the new system.

Your current collection year ending on 8th November 2024 runs as normal.

But any TPs earned from 1st April 24 will also count to the new 1st Apr 2024 – 31st March 2025 collection year

[tomahawk]

BA Flyer IHG Stayer wrote:

Susi80 wrote:

Something I still don’t understand and which is my biggest fear is that I’ll be losing all the tier points I have collected already. So my renewal is in November and I was told that my counting period will now be April 2024 to March 2025 (instead of November 2023 to October 2024). So all the tier points I had between November 2023 and end of March 2024 will just not be counted towards my new year, meaning I lose 750 tier points and have to start from scratch again by April 2024. I don’t think BA have taken any of that into consideration!

You’ve not understood the new system.

Your current collection year ending on 8th November 2024 runs as normal.

But any TPs earned from 1st April 24 will also count to the new 1st Apr 2024 – 31st March 2025 collection year

Yes, but the point is (I also have a Nov 8th year end) whereas in the past if you had accrued enough points to retain silver already then it would carry over to Dec 31st 2025. Under this new system it would only carry over to April 2025. I couldn’t care less about the counting of tier points from April 1st as I have already accrued enough to retain silver upon renewal on Nov 8th 2024. On the face of it I appear to have lost 8 months of silver status compared to the previous method.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

re-read the main article. It has been updated

BA has now updated the FAQ following our queries to add:

Any existing status valid beyond 31 March 2025 will continue for the full duration.

These means, for example, that if you have already earned Gold status in your current membership year, which ends 8th October 2024, your status will remain valid until 30th November 2025. It will not be shortened to end on 30th April 2025.

[TheMarki]

BA Flyer IHG Stayer wrote:

re-read the main article. It has been updated

BA has now updated the FAQ following our queries to add:

Any existing status valid beyond 31 March 2025 will continue for the full duration.

These means, for example, that if you have already earned Gold status in your current membership year, which ends 8th October 2024, your status will remain valid until 30th November 2025. It will not be shortened to end on 30th April 2025.

That’s how I understand it too. But after your Gold status ends in November 2025 and you soft land to Silver, you’ll only have Silver until April 2026? Losing 7/8 months of Silver – disadvantaging anyone that currently benefits from the soft landing. That sucks.

[tomahawk]

BA Flyer IHG Stayer wrote:

re-read the main article. It has been updated

BA has now updated the FAQ following our queries to add:

Any existing status valid beyond 31 March 2025 will continue for the full duration.

These means, for example, that if you have already earned Gold status in your current membership year, which ends 8th October 2024, your status will remain valid until 30th November 2025. It will not be shortened to end on 30th April 2025.

Thank you, although I’m not sure thats correct. My “existing status” is silver but that expires on 31 Dec 2024. So although I have already done enough to retain silver by Nov 8th 2024 I am not convinced that will get rolled over to end Dec 2025. I currently have no status which is valid beyond 31 March 2025.

Apologies also if I have somehow managed to report your post as “inappropriate content” it was certainly not intentional and I have no idea how I managed to do that!

[applepie]

Slightly frustrated in the short term on this as I’ve just triggered my final Amex tier points drop which will give some benefit to me. However if I’d delayed to 1/4 before triggering the offer I’d have the potential double benefit of counting in both the current year and the 31/3/25 year through adjustments.

[dj.fozzi]

BA Flyer IHG Stayer wrote:

re-read the main article. It has been updated

BA has now updated the FAQ following our queries to add:

Any existing status valid beyond 31 March 2025 will continue for the full duration.

These means, for example, that if you have already earned Gold status in your current membership year, which ends 8th October 2024, your status will remain valid until 30th November 2025. It will not be shortened to end on 30th April 2025.

The article may have been updated but where exactly in the BA FAQs is this scenario called out and clarified?

[MF176]

The confusion this has caused is very impressive, fair play to BA. Not sure I’ve ever seen such a comprehensive Q&A that still fails to answer the most pertinent of questions for most people.

[Alan T]

Going to ‘lose’ 7 months of status under the new system when we re-qualify for Gold within our grace period this Oct/Nov………best laid plans and all that!

[GUWonder]

This change will make it easier for BA to adjust status benefits and status qualification requirements and see how such changes play out for it. I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually they tweak things to slash the proportion of BA “elites” allowed lounge access on all BA trips.

Why didn’t BA move to a regular calendar year period for all its program members when pursuing this transition to a standard period that is the same for all its program members and make the elite status period be the calendar year+1 (or 2) months?

[GUWonder]

Rhys Jones wrote:

truthbetold wrote:

Rob losing his secret sauce? Not even a warning this was coming??

BA don’t like us!

Perhaps BA rushed out things by not running it in a productive way against the right kind of non-employees before pushing out the changes for public attention. Did BA hit up the FT privileged actors and embargo news of this change from getting out until after BA itself put out the press about this change?

I got the sense for quite some time that the FT privileged actors dislike or are even jealous of the miles and points blogosphere and that they want the media/PR attention themselves when big program changes like this hit.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

GUWonder wrote:

This change will make it easier for BA to adjust status benefits and status qualification requirements and see how such changes play out for it. I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually they tweak things to slash the proportion of BA “elites” allowed lounge access on all BA trips.

Why didn’t BA move to a regular calendar year period for all its program members when pursuing this transition to a standard period that is the same for all its program members and make the elite status period be the calendar year+1 (or 2) months?

IAG have said it wants its loyalty schemes to be more aligned across its airlines.

IB already has Apr-Mar as its year.

It also aligns with how many people take or view their annual holidays or have their holiday allocations given by their employers