British Airways Reacts to Outrage, Updates New Elite Status Earning Requirements

It was only a matter of time.

British Airways has announced an update to the sweeping changes it made to its loyalty program at the end of December 2024. When it debuted, the restrictive status earning of its reimagined The Club loyalty program sparked controversy among its frequent flyers.

Just over a month later, the airline has increased the number of bonus Tier Points earned per flight and reintroduced status earning by number of flights taken.

“Our members have a deep emotional connection with our loyalty scheme and their status means a lot to them – we’re confident the changes we’ve made fairly reward members for their travel with us,” said Colm Lacy, chief commercial officer at British Airways.

Will the update be enough to soften the blow?

Increased Bonus Tier Point Offer

Effective immediately, some new British Airways bookings will be eligible to earn more than double the number of bonus Tier Points compared to what was detailed in the original update.

Eligible bookings are those made from February 5 through December 31, 2025, for travel after April 1 (the day the new program launches).

The table below shows the changes made to the bonus offer (per one-way flight):

Members of The Club must opt-in to be awarded the bonus Tier Points by logging into their accounts.

Will BA’s Increased Tier Points Bonus Make Achieving Status Easier?

The bonus Tier Points are in addition to the 1 Tier Point per £1 spent, which is being introduced as part of the new spend-based model, replacing the distance-based model of the current Executive Club program.

However, this bonus Tier Point benefit is only temporary.

As a reminder, with the introduction of BA’s new The Club loyalty program, the number of Tier Points required to qualify for status has increased, making it almost impossible for some to requalify without significantly increasing their spending with the airline.

“We’re confident that moving to this model is the right thing to do for our customers, but we acknowledge that we need to reassure them that there are now lots more ways to earn status.”

Colm Lacy, chief commercial officer at British Airways

Whether or not this increase in temporary bonus Tier Points will make earning status easier varies depending on the individual’s travel habits. For example, 3,500 Tier Points will be required to reach base-level Bronze status rather than the 300 Tier Points required currently. That means even a fairly frequent economy flyer earning 75 bonus points per flight will still need to spend considerably more money than before to achieve this lowest level of status.

Earning Status by Sector Will Return

Initially, BA’s revamped loyalty program saw the removal of the ability to qualify for status by the number of sectors (individual flights) flown.

This will now be reinstated, but only for Bronze and Silver — the first 2 status levels after entry-level Blue — but strictly on BA-operated flights. Flights with Iberia will no longer count, as they do under the current system.

• Flying 25 sectors will unlock Bronze
• Flying 50 sectors will unlock Silver

This will be a welcome change for those who make weekly BA trips for commuting purposes (including British Airways crew).

However, under the changes, those who might spend more money to fly business class a few times a year will still struggle to earn Silver status.

Final Thoughts

While it’s nice to see that British Airways has at least attempted to appease its disgruntled frequent flyers, only a small percentage of travelers will actually benefit.

Overall, even with the update to the changes coming to British Airways’ loyalty program on April 1, it’s highly unlikely that BA frequent flyers will agree with Lacy that “these changes aren’t about reducing the number of members in each Tier but making sure that we get the level of recognition right for each individual.”