RIP BA Executive Club: £10K+ First Class No Longer Gets You Bronze!

British Airways (BA) dropped a New Year’s bombshell on its Executive Club members, unveiling changes to its loyalty program that have been met with widespread disapproval. Regular readers will know, I’ve always kept somewhat detached from airline status, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t benefit me much. Nonetheless, I can fully understand the appeal of status, and certain perks people appreciate when they are a regular traveller.

If you missed the news, here’s the gist: the new system has drastically shifted how loyalty is earned, leaving many frequent flyers feeling angry or even short-changed.

New System: Introducing The British Airways Club

I previously covered how the current Executive Club works – BA is now moving from a distance-based reward system to one based on spending.

British Airways has already moved to spend and Tier based earning of redeemable miles – Avios as below:

British Airways Club Changes

You’ll now earn 1 Tier Point for every £1 of eligible spend* on BA flights, excluding government taxes and fees. Additional charges like seat selection and luggage fees now count—though, ironically, elite status members often avoid these fees altogether.

The new Tier thresholds are:

• Blue: None
• Bronze: 3,500 points
• Silver: 7,500 points
• Gold: 20,000 points

Considering UK has one of the worlds highest aviation taxes, we are looking at a person potentially spending closer to £8000 just to achieve Silver or oneworld Sapphire 

There is no denying these changes are brutal. The overhaul represents a massive leap from the previous system – where booked with intent, was possible to make Gold for under £4000 spend.  Now even mid-tier elite status would be harder to achieve, even for relatively high spenders.

The Bigger Picture

The airline industry has been trending toward spend-based rewards, with partners like American Airlines adopting similar models years ago. BA’s shift isn’t shocking—but the execution feels abrupt and harsh.

The system of earning rewards and achieving status in frequent flyer programs has had elements that seemed inherently unfair. To truly benefit, you often had to meticulously study and manage the programs actively, to your benefit.

A personal anecdote illustrates a disparity of outcomes:

In 2014, a good friend invited me to celebrate his birthday in Miami. I had just started a new job and couldn’t commit until three weeks before the trip. Unfortunately, it was Easter, and flight prices were sky-high. I ended up paying £1,300 for an economy ticket just to be on that BA flight with friends. Despite the hefty price, the flight would have barely moved the needle on my BA status.

Two weeks later, a colleague shared his story of flying to South Korea on a mix of Qatar Airways and BA Club World for under £800. Not only did he enjoy a premium experience, but that trip also earned him BA Silver status. His only other trip that year was a short jaunt to Greece.

While I was happy for him, it was a wake-up call. The difference between the average traveller and the savvy frequent flyer was glaring. Loyalty, it seemed, had little to do with how much you spent or necessarily how often you flew. 

That Miami flight was a turning point for me. I had paid over £1,000 for economy tickets to see my brother in New York during holidays also, but after that experience, I vowed never to do so again. It incidentally became the last time I flew long-haul economy.

Possible Issue With Existing Club From BA’s Perspective?

There’s a niche subset of frequent flyers who go to extreme lengths to achieve and maintain status. By “extreme,” I mean taking flights purely for the sake of earning points. A practice known as Tier Point runs. These Tier point runs were often on mistake fares or promotional deals that were likely never intended for them.

For some, exploiting sweet spots in the system and a shortcut to status was a hobby. There are even entire documentaries about them ! Aside from the huge environmental debate here that would warrant it’s own article.

While only BA knows the real answer, contrary to some “aviation experts” who seem to have become spontaneous experts in BA’s data,  you do wonder, how much value these subset of frequent fliers are to BA, if they only took the minimum and cheapest number of flights to achieve certain status – and then only booked the cheapest BA/partner flights to enjoy all the status benefits thereafter – which have ongoing cost to BA.

For the typical traveller, however, earning status with BA was always an uphill battle. Most of my frequent-flying friends have never reached elite status – yet over the years have spend £10,000+ with BA. It’s usually those who travel on their company’s dime who achieve it with ease—and ironically, they often have little loyalty to BA in the first place.

How About Earnings When Flying Partner Airlines?

Whilst I’ve not spent too much time looking through the finer details of it all. If you happen to fly more partner Airlines than BA itself, things are unfortunately not looking great there either.

For AA/Iberia etc it will mostly just be as bad a BA earnings.

With other partners, some are bad and others are downright terrible..

• SriLankan – famous for Tier point runners – standard Business class would earn 12.5% of flown miles.
• Qatar Airways or Finnair Business Class earns 25% of flown miles on the cheapest fares.
• Cathay Pacific and Qantas Business Class earns just 12.5%, with even fully flexible First Class only earning 30%, I’m including a screenshot here because part of me thought I was imaging this!

What is rather shocking here is the First Class crediting from Cathay or Qantas.

A return first class trip from London to Hong Kong or Singapore with these respective airlines typically cost north of £10,000. Here is a sample Cathay itinerary in May. Yet these First Class flights ( fare bucket A class ) do not even get you close to Bronze! You will still need to spend an additional £1000 more to get Bronze !

I’m aware such an expensive flight alone would not have earned Silver in the Executive Club prior – but it would have been close. But since we are moving to a “spend” based system, where spend is meant to be rewarded more – how is BA rewarding spend here ? I understand it’s partner spend. But it is doing nothing to attract these high spenders to it’s metal?

These updates make spending more to fly partners less rewarding too. British Airway’s has really not just updated the Executive Club, it has killed it!

My Status History With BA

My own BA loyalty journey has been sporadic.

I almost accidentally reached Silver in 2018 and Gold in 2022 during reduced thresholds but rarely used the benefits. In the roughly 15 months period in 2022/2023 where I was BA Gold/oneworld Sapphire, I used the Heathrow First Wing & the Galleries First Lounge – just twice – where I was not already flying First Class.

Outside of BA, I visited Cathay Pacific Wing First Class lounge just once – when I was flying on a Business ticket. Which BA eventually has to pay Cathay Pacific for.

Beyond that, the thing I did value was being able to pick seats for free – which are otherwise charged. In fairness, I could have made better use of my status benefits with BA – but I was thinly spread – being already Flying Blue Gold and Star Alliance Gold also that year.

I had made no plans to retain or chase any oneworld status for 2025/2026 as my priority is very much on reducing my considerable points balance ( all hard earned through spend or flying itself ! ) – because quite frankly I do not trust any airline not be devalue miles significantly in two years or so.

The Real Question, Is British Airways Worth It?

I could not help but wonder, is British Airways a little delusional about what is has to offer? Does it even know how good it’s competitors are? We are at a juncture, where even some US carriers have now reached a good standard of service.

Many loyal customers are already frustrated by subpar onboard service, uninspiring lounges, and frequent cost-cutting – and that is when – even supposedly to BA’s thinking – the balance of things worked on many of said customer’s favour with their cheaply acquired status? My mind boggles.

What is BA doing to retain or even entice these high spenders? When many would now struggle to achieve even mid-tier status, I do not see the incentive.

Reducing lounge crowding won’t fix deeper issues like food quality, service, and flight delays for customer who are paying full dime to get on British Airways metal.

British Airways: A Shrinking Global Presence

British Airways, once heralded as a symbol of global connectivity, has seen its international footprint significantly reduced over the years. The airline appears increasingly focused on the lucrative U.S. market, at the expense of maintaining a diverse and expansive route network.

While BA still operates flights to a few key destinations in Asia—such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and select cities in India—its presence across much of the continent is minimal. Entire regions within Asia are underserved or absent altogether, leaving British travellers reliant on other carriers to access these crucial growth markets.

The situation is similar in Africa and South America, where BA’s network is a shadow of what it once was. Even in Australia, British Airways operates just one route—to Sydney—via Singapore, leaving much of Oceania untapped.

This shift underscores a deliberate strategy to prioritize high-yielding routes over providing the comprehensive global connectivity traditionally expected of a national carrier. By focusing primarily on destinations that maximize profitability, BA risks diminishing its role as a global ambassador for Britain.

Overall Thoughts

BA’s changes mark a seismic shift in its loyalty program, potentially alienating many frequent flyers who’ve contributed significantly to its success. While the shift to a spend-based model makes sense, the new thresholds feel unnecessarily harsh. A more reasonable approach—say, 5,000 points for Silver and 10,000 for Gold—could have balanced curbing system abuse with retaining genuine loyalty.

British Airways’ recent decisions are undoubtedly profit-driven and calculated, but they risk overlooking the intangible aspects of loyalty that contribute to sustained revenue. Achieving BA Silver or Gold status has fostered a strong sense of community, as evidenced by vibrant frequent flyer groups on platforms like Facebook. These communities, which thrive on shared experiences, may shrink significantly as loyalty wanes.

A key example of this dynamic is group travel: if your friends are no longer flying with BA, the likelihood of choosing BA yourself diminishes.

For me, loyalty to any airline has always been secondary to finding the best value and experience. While BA is my home airline, it has often infuriated me to no end – especially with short-haul delays ( add the trauma of missing a flight, it happened twice! ) in last few years. At times, I’ve even questioned whether Ryanair might be more reliable. Yet, I’ve also enjoyed memorable flights with excellent crew and commendable service. It’s a complicated relationship.

With these changes, BA has made it clear: the vague thought of ever doing a fun, rewarding Tier Point run are truly over.