Another one bites the dust. Oneworld member British Airways is completely gutting its loyalty program, ala Delta SkyMiles, as BA Executive Club is going revenue-based. Along with a massively re-imagined program comes a new name, for better or worse.
As I reshuffle my life, I’m pretty late to reporting that BA Executive Club is going revenue-based and getting a new name. However, I still felt the need to share my $0.02 on a change that is undoubtedly negative. This is especially true as viable alternatives remain! But, before we get to that…
BA Executive Club is Going Revenue-Based
Just as Delta has done away with MQMs, BA Executive Club is going revenue-based. This shouldn’t really be a surprise, I suppose, as airlines seek to reward their highest spending customers and thin the heard. That strategy just might backfire, but only time will tell. Anecdotally speaking, though, they are losing long-time loyalists. But I digress.
In the case of British Airways, the current elite qualifications will go away in a few months. Those current qualifications are as follows:
- Bronze: 300 Tier Points with at least two flights on BA metal, or 25 BA flights
- Silver: 600 Tier Points with at least four flights on BA metal, or 50 BA flights
- Gold: 1,500 Tier Points with at least four flights on BA metal
Tier points are earned based on some mystical calculation. The easiest way to predict this is to use BA’s own Tier Point calculator.
But, as the title of this post suggests, this isn’t going to be the case for much longer. In fact, as of April 1, 2025, you’ll earn one Tier Point for every 1 GBP you spend with British Airways. Qualified spending includes your base ticket prices, carrier-imposed surcharges (fuel surcharges), baggage fees, vacation packages, etc. However, this change in earning structure isn’t all – you’ll now have to earn more Tier Points to earn elite status:
- Bronze: 3,500 Tier Points
- Silver: 7,500 Tier Points
- Gold: 20,000 Tier Points
So, now that BA Executive Club is going revenue-based, you effectively have to spend (let’s say 1 GBP =1.25 USD $1.25) $4,375 just to earn BA’s base elite status. Silver then comes in at $9,375, while Gold comes in at a whopping $25,000! Ouch.
Partner Flights Aren’t Going to Save You
Now, some Oneworld partners remain mileage-based programs. Naturally, you may think that booking a flight with these partners and crediting to British Airways is going to create some kind of loophole, right? Wrong. While you’ll still earn Tier Points based on miles flown with these partners, BA has completely nerfed the earning structure.
Let’s look at Alaska Airlines as an example. Today, you earn Tier Points using the same schedule listed above for Executive Club. However, as of April 1, 2025, those thresholds change to 2%, 3.5%, 7.5%, 12.5%, and 25%, respectively. To put this into perspective, let’s say Alaska Air begins serving SEA-FCO. That flight is around 1,000 miles shorter (round trip) than LAX-LHR-FCO. Yet, even if you flew in first class, you’d still earn just 2,844 Tier Points, well below what you’d need to earn Bronze Status. Never mind trying to earn Gold this way!
BA Executive Club is Rebranding
At the same time that BA Executive Club is going revenue-based, it’s also getting a new name: the British Airways Club. Yup, they totally dropped “Executive” from the current program’s name and called it a day. The elite tier naming convention also remains the same.
Alternatives
Because British Airways is a Oneworld member airline, their elite tiers grant you Oneworld elite status, with Bronze providing Oneworld Ruby, Silver being Oneworld Sapphire, and Gold being Oneworld Emerald. These Oneworld statuses grant you certain benefits whenever you fly with any member airline, including access to preferred seating, lounge access (Sapphire and Emerald only), priority boarding, and extra luggage allowance, among others.
These benefits may not be as rich or exactly the same as what airlines offer their own members, but if you can earn status with another airline easier than with your former preferred airline like British Airways, then the downgrade may be worth it.
Case in point, Alaska Mileage Plan remains a mileage-based program. Moreover, Alaska Air no longer requires that you fly on their metal to earn elite status. As I covered before, these are Mileage Plan’s tiers and thresholds:
- MVP (Oneworld Ruby): 20,000 miles
- MVP Gold (Oneworld Sapphire): 40,000 miles
- MVP Gold 75k (Oneworld Emerald): 75,000 miles
- MVP Gold 100k (Oneworld Emerald): 100,000 miles
It’s worth noting that you can earn the above miles flying on any Oneworld partner airline, along with Alaska’s own partner airlines, such as Singapore Airlines (Star Alliance) and Korean Air (SkyTeam). The only caveat here is that you’ll earn more elite qualifying miles if you book with partners via Alaska Air’s booking channels rather than the partner’s own channels. That difference is large, too.
- Discount Economy: 100% EQMs via Alaska/25% EQMs via partner
- Economy: 100% EQMs via Alaska/50% EQMs via partner
- Premium Economy: 150% EQMs via Alaska/100% EQMs via partner
- Business: 250% EQMs for international via Alaska/125% EQMs via partner
- First: 350% EQMs for international and 150% EQMs for domestic via Alaska/25% EQMs via partner
Sure, this still means quite a bit of flying. If you fly in economy, you could earn MVP status by flying SFO-SEA-NRT-SEA-SFO twice. Once if you are in business or first. However, it’s worth reminding that you earn EQMs for both cash AND award travel!
BA Executive Club is Going Revenue-Based, Final Thoughts
Look, I keep saying this, but our hobby isn’t what it used to be. That the BA Executive Club is going revenue-based is just another example of why. Thankfully, a small number of holdouts remain. However, only time will tell how long that will continue to be the case. So, as with points and miles, earn and enjoy your statuses while you still can do so!