British Airways has unveiled major changes to its Executive Club loyalty program, leaving many frequent flyers disheartened.
Financial expert Martin Lewis is warning travellers to brace themselves for the British Airways changes that customers have called a “hugely disappointing” overhaul.
The Loyalty Revamp Scheme will make earning perks significantly harder and more expensive starting April 1 2025.
The changes primarily impact how passengers earn tier points, which determine Executive Club status levels: Blue, Bronze, Silver, and Gold.
Firstly, the tier points will now be earned based on spending (£1 = 1 point) rather than flight distance or travel class.
Taxes and fees, which form a significant portion of economy fares, won’t count, making it tougher for budget travellers to climb the ranks.
The minimum spend required to reach each status tier will also rise dramatically:
- Bronze: From £1,100 previously to £3,500 now.
- Silver: From £2,200 previously to £7,500 now.
- Gold: From £3,000–£5,000 previously to a staggering £20,000 now.
However, a plus point is that spending on BA Holidays will now contribute to tier points. But as a caveat, points will be divided among all passengers on the booking, so a 4000 point booking divided amongst a family of four, will leave each member with 1000.
A current BA Holidays promotion that offers double tier points will cease on March 31 2025.
Avios, the reward points for booking flights, remain unchanged for now.
However, Petar Lekarski, writing for the Money Saving Expert blog warned travellers about the risk of devaluation in the future.
“The big risk is that BA could suddenly slash what Avios points are worth,” he said.
“Unfortunately, there’s no easy trick or workaround here – the only way to insure against a devaluation is not to keep a big Avios balance. Instead, aim to book your reward flight as soon as you have enough points.”
The new system benefits high-spending travellers but sidelines those who rely on budget or carefully planned itineraries to climb tiers.
Social media has been flooded with reactions from frustrated passengers, with one user tweeting: “Thanks @British_Airways it will now be impossible for me to retain my Gold membership status and it’s highly unlikely I will even retain Silver. There’s now no need for me to keep loyal to the brand, EasyJet will now benefit from my 8+ holidays pa.”
Another added: “Hugely disappointed with the changes @British_Airways have made to the Exec club today. As a loyal flyer and long time Gold Card holder it’s safe to say I’ll be voting with my feet and taking my loyalty to somewhere it will be more appreciated..
“Big mistake BA, BIG, HUGE.”
In a statement, British Airways said: “As part of a re-brand of our loyalty programme, we have introduced more ways than ever before to earn Tier Points, including packages with British Airways Holidays, spend on co-brand credit card and when paying for extras such as seat selection and additional baggage.
“The changes we have announced underline our continued investment in our executive club programme and in our customers, rewarding them for their loyalty. This is a similar model used by many other airline loyalty programmes across the world.”
