British Airways has news many travelers probably definitely wanted to hear.
With further clarification on the new loyalty program today, many folks currently in the camp of “not sure if I can make my status goal” can probably breathe a bit easier, knowing two things. First, the number of overall flights will count again. Second, sticker price won’t always be the “real price” to earn tier status, even for Gold.
Crucially, it sounds like that won’t just be the case this year, either.
Catch Me Up: British Airways Club
In late December of 2024, which feels about 15 years ago now after the longest January in the history of mankind, British Airways made sweeping changes to its loyalty program. What was once referred to as the British Airways Executive Club became the British Airways Club.
The key change is that rewards and elite status are now based on spending, not how many crazy connections you can whip into a trip. Money alone is an imperfect measure of loyalty, but better than most — and British Airways follows a very long list of successful US airlines who’ve made similar moves and have arguably improved their programs as a result.
People will earn rewards based on how much they spend, which means they can earn status faster, if they spend more. That’s the game, right?
And now, that reward earning activity extends to non-flying activities too, as the airline looks to build its wider travel businesses and capture spend outside of the sky. People can move through the ranks BA Club ranks from Blue, to Bronze, Silver and Gold, on activities like travel with BA Holidays and credit card spend — not just from pure flying, as was the case with the old program.
Frequency Rewards & Multipliers
Remember how I said money is an imperfect measure of loyalty, but usually the best?
The key argument against it, is frequency. How do you tell someone who chooses an airline every week for a trip that they’re not loyal, just because their spending is lower — all because they’re flying short haul or economy, or both — and not long haul first class?
In fairness, they are loyal. I’d fathom that most people in these shoes would likely hit the new spend targets to reach a desired status anyway, but a number is more looming for many that the certainty of knowing their historical travel patterns. BA seems to have reacted here.
Frequency or Sector Based Status
British Airways has confirmed it will honor “sector” based status in the new loyalty program.
Someone can hit Bronze with 25 British Airways marketed flights, or Silver with 50 British Airways marketed flights, in the member year.
In layman’s terms, marketed means it’ll most likely be on British Airways, but airline partners can count too, as long as the flight # on the boarding pass is a British Airways marketed flight number.
Tier Point Bonuses Will Be A Long Term Feature
In the last decade I’ve watched mostly all of the US airline loyalty programs move to spend based recognition. As part of that, I’ve seen that many people do not spend the sticker price the airline states, to actually hit the spend target. I find that to be glorious news.
What does that mean? It means that the airline has a really easy mechanism to help people move through the tiers by rewarding behaviors in potential win-win situations. People can hit their spend threshold without spending the full “sticker” amount the airline puts on the website, by strategically booking during the right times of airline promotions.
To spice up our lives, I’ve been told British Airways has doubled down on their tier point bonuses for all of 2025, and will continue to offer incentives in years to come, in various iterations — not just this year.
| INITIAL OFFER | NEW OFFER | ||
| SHORT-HAUL | EURO TRAVELLER (economy) | 50 | 75 |
| SHORT-HAUL | CLUB EUROPE (business class) | 100 | 175 |
| LONG-HAUL | WORLD TRAVELLER (economy) | 70 | 150 |
| LONG-HAUL | WORLD TRAVELLER PLUS (Premium economy) | 140 | 275 |
| LONG-HAUL | CLUB WORLD (long-haul business class) | 210 | 400 |
| LONG-HAUL | FIRST | 330 | 550 |
For British Airways loyalists who were looking at figures of £3.5K for Bronze, £7.5K for Silver and £20K for Gold, this is a very positive clarification. Unlike with the previous systems, tier point multipliers are all based on spend. It’s really simple to digest and you can’t argue with the logic around “book the holiday, buy the nicer room” as a concept.
If BA Holidays matures as a product, it could become a real competitor in the space, given member numbers and better incentives than boring ole’ 1% cash back from OTAs.
Perks, Costs And Opportunities
In many ways, the new British Airways Club is pitched to offer more perks for all travelers who spend and not just executives. People spend big on travel, much more than blog crowds think. It’s just a fact, and capturing more of that spend is something that makes sense as a goal for all loyalty programs.
On the positive, a high spending family can earn tier status perks in one trip, which they would’ve never really been able to before. Someone who buys nice tickets can also be truly recognized faster and enjoy benefits faster. This now has the important carve outs for people who simply travel frequently too.
Letting Preferences Take Over
With these offers, there’s no downside to spending more for direct flights. Shockingly to corners of the internet, most people like to fly direct. It may help many make the £7.5K for Silver more like £5k, just by being strategic with when you spend, or which cabin. It’s not just how much you fly, or how many connections are added in.
I spoke with Colm Lacy, Chief Commercial Officer of British Airways, who noted that the use of this style of tier incentives will NOT just be a limited time way of keeping people loyal during this period of change, but instead a permanent, iterative piece of what’s always been envisioned for the new loyalty program for British Airways.
Lacy noted that helping members who are showing loyal behavior reach through the tiers with tier point bonus promos and the new introduction of milestone rewards, set to be unveiled in the coming months, will be key focuses in the new British Airways Club. Let’s hope they’re worthwhile.
This Sounds Positive?
Spend is a non-fuzzy way to help finance and customer sides of an airline business recognize customers and understand why certain travelers really “matter” and are worth investing things like lounges and upgrades to keep. For travelers, it’d better unlock meaningful travel benefits in return.
British Airways is asking “more” from most customers with this new program, but how much more seems to be more fun of a topic than first expected.
This seems to be a positive indication that fun and games within the pursuit of elite Bronze, Silver or Gold status will continue to exist. Hopefully, further detail on milestone rewards and overall product improvements from the wider business will deliver on the mark there.
As a consumer, I’m game for the chance to let small travel pattern adjustments unlock valuable savings on perks I actively value earning. If I can hit Silver or Gold easier by adjusting when I do my travel spending, or the specific cabins I book, I will where I can.The First Wing at Heathrow is a meaningful time and stress saver for me. Blocked seats when possible are a nice comfort. Top of Oneworld airline standby lists during irregular operations is also very valuable to me.
As I’ve admitted before, I also prone to spending a fortune on nice hotels. If there’s competitive BA holiday pricing at a place I want to be, they may well win my wider travel booking behavior. Don’t forget that holidays tickets often unlock lower cash fares from BA than flight alone.
Loyalty must be a two way street and I will definitely keep the popcorn at the ready as we learn more about milestones and more bolted on benefit details to come. I always want an excuse to up upgrade at the right price and earning more perks could be a good mental excuse.
