BA Executive Club Revamp
Discussion
Looks like BA are revamping their Executive Club and the tier points required to reach Bronze, Silver and Gold to be based on spend. £7500 for Silver and £20000 for Gold! That is eligible spend only so excludes taxes. Those lounges will be empty….
https://loyaltylobby.com/2024/12/30/british-airway...
https://loyaltylobby.com/2024/12/30/british-airway...
It looks like leisure travellers won't get much in the way of status going forward. Head for points not impressed. https://www.headforpoints.com/2024/12/30/british-a...
Johnson897210 said:
Last few times I’ve used the lounges in T5 they were full of plebs so I certainly would welcome a long overdue clean out, it seemed every man and his dog had at least a bronze card post Covid. Horrendous.
This didn't stop them doing double tier points promotions. They could have easily solved it by letting lounge access to silver holders only.SP_ said:
Johnson897210 said:
Last few times I’ve used the lounges in T5 they were full of plebs so I certainly would welcome a long overdue clean out, it seemed every man and his dog had at least a bronze card post Covid. Horrendous.
This didn't stop them doing double tier points promotions. They could have easily solved it by letting lounge access to silver holders only.I’ve ‘soft landed’ from Gold in 2020 all the way down to Blue/nothing and didn’t see myself ever getting any status back under either old or new rules.
It’s natural for people to want to game the system by whatever means. Whilst I could never be bothered with doing a Tier Point Run, many did. And with YouTubers recommending (eg) a cheap flight with Sri Lankan airways to get yourself a load of TP toward your BA Silver or Gold, it’s not surprising they’ve changed the rules. Had I still been travelling like I was 4-5 years back, I’d still have been comfortably Gold under these rules as I was travelling in J monthly - that’s what the club was always about.
Edited by gl20 on Tuesday 31st December 02:14
Don't think my Bronze got me much more than seat selection. Certainly not lounges.
The irony is strong here as only yesterday I read an article in the Telegraph from a specialist hobby flyer on how to get BA gold with spending only £3000 - the article even lists specific flights and holidays to milk the system.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs...
24 hours later BA change the system :-)
Coincidentally, I've also seen posts showing lounges removing Priority Pass access (the card you get free with a few of the Avios / loyalty credit cards). From my limited use of the PP authorised lounges, they were overcrowded and very basic. Not a patch on real BC lounges, so perhaps BA is kicking back against lounges generally all being over subscribed.? Hell, even a bucket and spade holiday co runs an ad campaign saying you and your kids get lounge access when jetting off to Lanzagrotty.
The irony is strong here as only yesterday I read an article in the Telegraph from a specialist hobby flyer on how to get BA gold with spending only £3000 - the article even lists specific flights and holidays to milk the system.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs...
24 hours later BA change the system :-)
Coincidentally, I've also seen posts showing lounges removing Priority Pass access (the card you get free with a few of the Avios / loyalty credit cards). From my limited use of the PP authorised lounges, they were overcrowded and very basic. Not a patch on real BC lounges, so perhaps BA is kicking back against lounges generally all being over subscribed.? Hell, even a bucket and spade holiday co runs an ad campaign saying you and your kids get lounge access when jetting off to Lanzagrotty.
Oddly, having been silver in the dim and distant past, and nothing for ages, I found myself bronze recently, which was a surprise given all our flying is family in one of the two economy classes.
A serendipitous series of long hauls did it, and I suppose it was a reflection of loyalty to the brand as there are plenty of alternatives. It was also a reflection of living in Scotland and wanting single long haul flights rather than the Dubai/Doha two alternatives.
About to return from Western Canada with BA. Two fingers to me now.

A serendipitous series of long hauls did it, and I suppose it was a reflection of loyalty to the brand as there are plenty of alternatives. It was also a reflection of living in Scotland and wanting single long haul flights rather than the Dubai/Doha two alternatives.
About to return from Western Canada with BA. Two fingers to me now.

gl20 said:
Bronze never gave you access though?
I’ve ‘soft landed’ from Gold in 2020 all the way down to Blue/nothing and didn’t see myself ever getting any status back under either old or new rules.
It’s natural for people to want to game the system by whatever means. Whilst I could never be bothered with doing a Tier Point Run, many did. And with YouTubers recommending (eg) a cheap flight with Sri Lankan airways to get yourself a load of TP toward your BA Silver or Gold, it’s not surprising they’ve changed the rules. Had I still been travelling like I was 4-5 years back, I’d still have been comfortably Gold under these rules as I was travelling in J monthly - that’s what the club was always about.
The lounges were certainly crowded in the last year or so, and it made sense that the double tier point holiday promotion would be scrapped. But what the club was really about was loyalty, encouraging people who had a choice to choose BA. Those who will get status under the new rules, travelling in J monthly ETC, are very often travelling under corporate travel policies and don't get a choice of airline. Those who will lose out will be leisure travellers who do get a choice and often chose BA for the sake of gaining or taking advantage of membership status. I’ve ‘soft landed’ from Gold in 2020 all the way down to Blue/nothing and didn’t see myself ever getting any status back under either old or new rules.
It’s natural for people to want to game the system by whatever means. Whilst I could never be bothered with doing a Tier Point Run, many did. And with YouTubers recommending (eg) a cheap flight with Sri Lankan airways to get yourself a load of TP toward your BA Silver or Gold, it’s not surprising they’ve changed the rules. Had I still been travelling like I was 4-5 years back, I’d still have been comfortably Gold under these rules as I was travelling in J monthly - that’s what the club was always about.
It's one thing to talk about people 'gaming the system' but airlines go to a great deal of trouble to calculate the maximum fare they can get for each seat on each flight. If there's a good deal available it isn't a loophole or an oversight, it's because the seat would be empty otherwise. So having a 'pleb' like me handing over a not insignificant amount of money to sit in it does benefit the airline.
Austin Prefect said:
The lounges were certainly crowded in the last year or so, and it made sense that the double tier point holiday promotion would be scrapped. But what the club was really about was loyalty, encouraging people who had a choice to choose BA. Those who will get status under the new rules, travelling in J monthly ETC, are very often travelling under corporate travel policies and don't get a choice of airline. Those who will lose out will be leisure travellers who do get a choice and often chose BA for the sake of gaining or taking advantage of membership status.
It's one thing to talk about people 'gaming the system' but airlines go to a great deal of trouble to calculate the maximum fare they can get for each seat on each flight. If there's a good deal available it isn't a loophole or an oversight, it's because the seat would be empty otherwise. So having a 'pleb' like me handing over a not insignificant amount of money to sit in it does benefit the airline.
We are largely talking lounge seats here, not plane seats. That seams to be one of the major rewards, particularly gold seats in first class lounges.It's one thing to talk about people 'gaming the system' but airlines go to a great deal of trouble to calculate the maximum fare they can get for each seat on each flight. If there's a good deal available it isn't a loophole or an oversight, it's because the seat would be empty otherwise. So having a 'pleb' like me handing over a not insignificant amount of money to sit in it does benefit the airline.
Just got the email. They don’t seem to have deleted me despite not having flown with them for 12 years.
Removing “executive” from the name is an interesting move. With the change to a revenue based model I can’t see many leisure travellers qualifying for anything.
Just another reason not to use BA unless you are London based yourself.
Removing “executive” from the name is an interesting move. With the change to a revenue based model I can’t see many leisure travellers qualifying for anything.
Just another reason not to use BA unless you are London based yourself.
At COVID, I lost all my status as they had no flights to sell me.
I struggled to get back to rust level (which gets nothing other than early seat selection and a slight gate priority) , but this new scheme will help me as I generally fly last minute commuter and euro, which were expensive, but attracted few points.
I’ll easily gain silver now.
I struggled to get back to rust level (which gets nothing other than early seat selection and a slight gate priority) , but this new scheme will help me as I generally fly last minute commuter and euro, which were expensive, but attracted few points.
I’ll easily gain silver now.
Generally a change for the better, will remove a lot of the demand for lounges from people who were marginally profitable. Like any business, do you want to make a fuss of the customers who are gaming your goodwill, or the customers giving you the most money ?
I see BA picking up sales from 'J long haul, Y short haul' corporate travel policies. There's a wide choice LON-NYC, but if you go BA for that even though your J ticket negates most of the card benefits, then you could improve your experience on next month's LON-ZRH if you choose BA.
And vice versa; doing mostly short haul Y ? Then makes sense to choose BA if you can for your occasional long haul J.
So for customers with carrier discretion, BA should pick up more profitable business than they lose from the 'I do an annual points run to Morocco so I can travel every other year to Tashkent, with my two kids on Avios, and we are outraged that we can't eat our own bodyweight in sandwiches in the lounge before waddling on. We're definitely going by Iran Air next time' crowd.
I see BA picking up sales from 'J long haul, Y short haul' corporate travel policies. There's a wide choice LON-NYC, but if you go BA for that even though your J ticket negates most of the card benefits, then you could improve your experience on next month's LON-ZRH if you choose BA.
And vice versa; doing mostly short haul Y ? Then makes sense to choose BA if you can for your occasional long haul J.
So for customers with carrier discretion, BA should pick up more profitable business than they lose from the 'I do an annual points run to Morocco so I can travel every other year to Tashkent, with my two kids on Avios, and we are outraged that we can't eat our own bodyweight in sandwiches in the lounge before waddling on. We're definitely going by Iran Air next time' crowd.
I've maintained Gold / Silver for well over ten years now, and average 80 -150 flights per year. Mostly short haul economy, but a with a couple of long haul discounted business or WTP flights per year.
Under this new scheme there is virtually no chance of me getting gold, and its even possibly that I won't make silver. If someone who flies with BA 100+ times a year isn't viewed as loyal, then there is a problem with the definition.
Under this new scheme there is virtually no chance of me getting gold, and its even possibly that I won't make silver. If someone who flies with BA 100+ times a year isn't viewed as loyal, then there is a problem with the definition.
I've pinged between gold and silver with the occasional bronze for the last 15+ years or so now and have to say that in that time EC has become less and less attractive. For me silver is the high value level given the free seat selection at time of booking so for the family that regularly saved me a couple of grand/year. Other than that, lounge access has been increasingly pointless given overcrowding. Will definitely be harder to maintain status but well overdue. Just a slight shame I'll be 2 weeks in the Maldives in March flying club return although I think with double tier points it'll still be enough to almost get silver on its own.
Johnson897210 said:
Last few times I’ve used the lounges in T5 they were full of plebs so I certainly would welcome a long overdue clean out, it seemed every man and his dog had at least a bronze card post Covid. Horrendous.
True. Last time I went through T5 (Sept I think) the lounge was absolutely rammed. All seats taken, luggage and pushchairs everywhere. Might as well have sat in a f
Johnson897210 said:
Last few times I’ve used the lounges in T5 they were full of plebs so I certainly would welcome a long overdue clean out, it seemed every man and his dog had at least a bronze card post Covid. Horrendous.
I was in a lounge recently as a mate travels a lot so had access + he bought our tickets. Busier than I expected. The lounge itself was awesome though!TX.
Pumatwin said:
Think I will be looking for other airline alliances, hopefully they might offer status match and/or switch to Qatar program.
Same here. Having been on the receiving end of BA’s “premium” customer service over the last 6 or 7 years; numerous cancelled and rescheduled flights and the loss of our personal and credit card details, I’ve spent a lot more time on Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic and I’m not sad about it!Have to be honest - haven’t overly worked out how it affects me yet and can’t really be arsed to. Became Silver again a cpl of months ago after ditching most of my BA regular flying almost a decade ago and well, ho hum. Silver gives lounge and some check in priority and that’s largely where it stops interesting me. When I fly for hols, it’s about the Avios not the TPs, ie use the companion voucher and Avios to book us both in Biz, so get the lounges and check in anyway.
Having also discovered the other lounges allowed, I don’t even bother with the Galleries now anyway.
It does all seem a lot busier and more overly subscribed than when I was EC Silver & Gold 10yrs ago.
Having also discovered the other lounges allowed, I don’t even bother with the Galleries now anyway.
It does all seem a lot busier and more overly subscribed than when I was EC Silver & Gold 10yrs ago.
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff