British Airways (BA) is under fire for its upcoming changes to the Executive Club loyalty program, which will take effect from April 2025. The move, widely seen as a major shift in how frequent flyers earn status, will place greater emphasis on spending rather than flying frequency. Critics argue that these changes will alienate many loyal customers, particularly those who have historically relied on tier points earned through long-haul economy flights or multi-segment itineraries.

From Loyalty to Spending: The Big Shift

Traditionally, BA’s Executive Club has awarded tier points based on flight distance and class of travel, making it possible to achieve status through strategic flight bookings, often at competitive prices. However, from April 2025, tier points will be earned solely based on money spent, making it significantly harder for many travelers to maintain their current status levels.

Key changes include:

1. Tier Points Will Be Based on Spend
   • Members will earn 1 tier point per £1 spent on eligible BA bookings.
   • Taxes and fees (which can form a large part of economy fares) are excluded from the calculation.
   • Business and first-class travelers will find it easier to earn status, while economy travelers will struggle.
2. Higher Thresholds for Status
   • To achieve Silver status (which includes lounge access), travelers will now need 7,500 tier points, up from the current 600.
   • Gold status will require 20,000 tier points, up from 1,500.
   • This translates to spending thousands of pounds more per year to maintain status.
3. BA Holidays Spend Now Counts – With a Catch
   • Tier points can now be earned on the full cost of a BA Holidays package, including hotels and car hire.
   • However, if multiple people are on a booking, the points will be split equally among all travelers, making it less rewarding for solo business travelers.

BA’s Partial Rollback – Too Little, Too Late?

In response to criticism, BA has announced two small concessions:

1. Tier Qualification Based on Sectors Returns – But Only for Bronze & Silver
   • From April 2025, members can achieve:
     • Bronze status with 25 flights (sectors).
     • Silver status with 50 flights (sectors).
   • However, Gold status will remain purely spend-based.
   • Only BA-coded flights count—flights with partner airlines, like Iberia, are excluded.
2. Bonus Tier Points for Bookings Made in 2025
   • A temporary promotion allows members to earn extra tier points for flights booked before December 31, 2025.
   • The bonus system is, however, still far from enough to compensate for the drastic increases in tier point requirements.

What Does This Mean for Travelers?

For many corporate travelers and frequent flyers, these changes mean:

• Maintaining elite status will be much more expensive, especially for those who typically fly long-haul economy or premium economy.
• Business travelers who commute frequently on short-haul routes may benefit from the sector-based qualification, but only up to Silver status.
• Avios (BA’s points currency) remains unchanged—for now. However, there is growing concern that BA could eventually devalue Avios, making reward flights more expensive.

Alternatives to British Airways

With these changes, many frequent flyers are now exploring alternatives, such as:

• Royal Jordanian’s loyalty program, which allows travelers to earn BA Gold equivalent status with just 46 flight segments.
• American Airlines AAdvantage and Qatar Airways Privilege Club, which still offer more achievable elite status options within the Oneworld alliance.
• Star Alliance or SkyTeam carriers, which may now present better loyalty opportunities for frequent travelers.

British Airways’ Executive Club overhaul represents a significant shift from rewarding loyalty to rewarding spending. While this may benefit high-spending business travelers, it risks alienating many long-term BA customers who have relied on frequent, strategic travel to earn and retain status.

With loyalty programs across the airline industry under increasing scrutiny, it remains to be seen whether BA’s gamble will pay off—or if it will drive customers to reconsider their loyalty altogether.