British Airways are going to extend status of its Executive Club members. However, it seems not everyone will benefit.
British Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner taking off from London Heahtrow – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
The airline is to “protect” the Tier status of Executive Club members for a further year. Eligible members will receive an additional 12 months on their Tier status expiry date which will be updated in their Executive Club accounts this week.
Who is eligible?
- Members whose Tier Point collection end date falls between 1 July and 31 December 2021, will have their Tier status protected for an additional 12 months, irrespective of how many Tier Points they earn.
- All other members will not get any uplift.
It’s important to remember that British Airways Executive Club runs on a personalised year (eg, my Tier Year ends on 10th February, so I would not qualify for this offer).
The net result is that no British Airways Executive Club member, including Bronze, Silver and Gold cardholders will lose their Tier status in 2021. However, those beyond the dates listed by British Airways will not have further status protection at the moment.
This follows members receiving a one-year extension last June, with some members getting up to two years of protection of status.
The number of Tier Points to qualify for British Airways Executive Club status will remain reduced for now (with a 25% less requirement). These are
- Bronze: From 300 to 225 Tier Points or 18 eligible flights
- Silver: From 600 to 450 Tier Points or 37 eligible flights
- Gold: From 1500 to 1125 Tier Points
In Quotes
Niall Rooney, Head of the British Airways Executive Club, said:
“As we await the Government’s decision in April and plan for the safe restart of travel as soon as possible, we want to thank our Executive Club members for their loyalty during the most difficult time in the airline’s history.
“We know many of our members haven’t been able to travel, but today’s news means they can keep their benefits for longer and use them when they’re able to fly again. We hope this complements a number of measures we’ve already introduced, including our book with confidence commitment, which provides flexibility and reassurance for our customers.”
It’s down to when countries reopen their borders and travel can begin to resume
Whilst this is a welcome proactive change for those who won’t lose their precious and earned status, for everyone who wants to earn status, this will be down to when passengers can travel again – both legally (for example, they are prevented from leaving the country to a stay-at-home order), or if they can enter a country (for example, countries allowing visitors into their territories for tourism, business and so on).
With the travel recovery looking lead by leisure travel, it’s going to take some convincing for some premium passengers to fly long haul to retain their gold and silver cards. Having the option at least to wait out the pandemic whilst you still have status is a good thing.
It would have been nice to do a blanket 12-month extension for all customers – but it seems BA is playing a waiting game, for now, to see how travel shapes up for the second half of 2021…
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