BIG NEWS: British Airways is changing your tier point collection year

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• Ross says:

  6 Feb6 February 10:45

  I’ve read and reread the BA FAQ’s (along with comments here) and can see where there’s some confusion. However, as a glass-half-full kinda guy, my take is as follows:

  – Currently Gold with a tier point collection year ending 8th Sept.
  – All things being well I will scrape Gold again by the 8th Sept having accrued a few hundred TPs so far but more long-haul flights planned nearer the summer.

  Any TP’s earned in my current qualification year will be added to the new qualification year starting 1st April 24 and ending 31st March 25 – meaning I will easily achieve Gold within that timeframe.

  My Gold status will then be valid from 1st April ’25 till 31st March ’26 and assuming I don’t re-qualify, I will drop down to Silver from 1st April ’26 till the following year.

  I don’t see how this isn’t a benefit for the vast majority of us but given the hundreds of comments perhaps I’ve misinterpreted the information. It does look quite straightforward though…..

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    6 Feb6 February 10:51

    Only flights after 1st April 2024 will applly under the new scheme not all flights earned dueing your the current year.

• duncan_c says:

  6 Feb6 February 10:52

  Ross – specifically on the BA site, where does it day “Any TP’s earned in my current qualification year will be added to the new qualification year starting 1st April 24 and ending 31st March 25”

  • planeconcorde says:

    6 Feb6 February 13:40

    It doesn’t. For Ross it is going to seem like that because most of his points are going to be earned towards the end of his current year, so most will be double counted under old and New Years.

• Sideshowbob says:

  6 Feb6 February 11:36

  So…

  My collection year ends on 9th March 2024. I have a flight booked on 23 March 2024. Does this mean any tier points earned on this flight are not counted towards my status for the new year?

• GUWonder says:

  6 Feb6 February 11:48

  Raffles/Rob,

  For how long have you sensed increased friction between FT privileged actors and yourself?

  In the last couple of years, it seemed there was tension over your engagement on FT in a way that wasn’t there when I got into really appreciating your contributions on that forum back during the GW Bush and Obama Admin years.

  • Rob says:

    6 Feb6 February 12:34

    We’re all mates at the end of the day – it’s not life and death – although I can understand why some people might be frustrated (for want of a better word) that I make a very comfortable existance from this whilst FT is very much a volunteer community and we do take some content ideas from FT (with full attribution).

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

      6 Feb6 February 12:41

      And they willingly accept links to HFP in posts (when it suits them)!

• GUWonder says:

  6 Feb6 February 11:50

  What do you think this kind of change will mean for LHR lounge crowding in the time ahead?

• Trevor says:

  6 Feb6 February 11:55

  The previous 16 pages of comment highlight what a shambles it is for BA to tear up the rule book with so little notice. Then replace the rule book with ambiguity.

  I think it is the speed of the change, rather than change itself, that has caught everyone by surprise, messed up future planning and caused upset. If BA had given notice this was happening from April 2025 we would all have had some time for thought.

  Instead we have reference to an undefined “transition period” and everyone’s earning period effectively reset to 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025 with little over a month’s notice. BA is clearly not concerned about reputational damage from its actions.

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    6 Feb6 February 12:37

    There is no actual shambles but a perceived one caused by people not even understanding the current system properly and then failing to read information!

    • Trevor says:

      6 Feb6 February 13:03

      There are many well informed readers of HFP. Your derision of them and blanket support of BA rushing through major changes does not really take the discussion any further.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        6 Feb6 February 13:45

        Excuse me?

        I havn’t given BA my banket support. Please show me where I have done so

        But read many the posts and you’ll soon agree that there is a basic lack of knowledge of how the current system works and that is colouring opiniosn on the new system.

        I spent time reading the info on the BA website and that Rob & Rhys posted to understand the changes and hen spent time to work out the implications. It’s a shame so many just jumped in without doign that,

        For those that have grasped the changes they are not as bad as some are making out.

    • Rhys says:

      6 Feb6 February 13:06

      The assumptions in this article are incorrect. I’ve been on the phone to BA all morning and have *finally* got, I think, the confirmed way it will work.

      It was poorly communicated, the media weren’t briefed (so we couldn’t ask the BA loyalty team anything in advance, which would have let us flag some of the more confusing elements) etc.

      Updated article to follow!

      • Skywalker says:

        6 Feb6 February 13:13

        “The assumptions in this article are incorrect”

        @Rhys, will there be an update to this article, or a whole new article?

        • Skywalker says:

          6 Feb6 February 13:14

          I have just scrolled and seen your comment about updated article to follow! 🙂

  • Dickie_H says:

    6 Feb6 February 12:57

    What reputational damage? It’s a frequent flyer programme: BA will be focused on attracting corporate clients whose staff need to shuttle regularly across the Atlantic and around the world in J. These people will, by and large, be unaffected by any of these changes.

    On the other hand, the small number of individuals who take a couple of carefully timed Tier Point runs to bag status for a couple of years – but who’ve found themselves relatively less fortunate on this particular occasion – aren’t going to keep BA awake at night with worry ….

    • Trevor says:

      6 Feb6 February 13:41

      The answer is in the name “frequent flyer programme” – it’s a strange business that does not care what its “frequent” customers think about the company actions – Gerald Ratner immediately comes to mind. The fact we are all here talking about it suggests customers care about what BA is doing. If BA didn’t have us individual frequent flyers then its Amex affiliated credit card for personal customers would be somewhat pointless – Who would pay £250 pa for a credit card if it were not for the frequent flyer benefits. I’ve read that Frequent flyer programmes can be worth more than the actual airline – others out there will know if this is correct. Frequent flyers are loyal customers not to be ignored lightly.

• C2K77 says:

  6 Feb6 February 11:59

  What annoys me is the whole “we’ll count everything you earn from 01.04.24 to 31.03.25 when assessing your new status level”. We have a BAH to Tenerife 1st week of March this year earning double TPs/ 320. Which is 50% of our requalification requirement. Now this will be ignored and unless we spend out ( and find the leave to take it after our existing leave already booked out) on another double TP booking OR pay for two 160 runs then we will fail to maintain status although under the current system we would be 40 over based on current bookings.

  This cannot be deemed fair in anyway as as it stands BA is making changes that force us as consumers to provide them additional financial benefit or be subject to punitive actions

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    6 Feb6 February 12:05

    But they will still count for your current collection year and any status earned during that will be extended

  • Stu_N says:

    6 Feb6 February 12:12

    Your double TPs will still count towards your current year ending in 2024. It won’t count for the next year that ends on 31 March 2025. It has always worked like this, so you’ve not lost anything here so it can’t be unfair.

    Now, If your trip was in April 2024 it would – as a one-off – count towards status in two years so you would be gaining, relative to the current system. It’s a benefit to the customer but that doesn’t mean your situation is unfair.

    • duncan_c says:

      6 Feb6 February 13:33

      Stu – I don’t believe that your double tier points prior to April 24 will count towards the current year ending in 24 – that is the problem as per the reply by C2K77

      • Stu_N says:

        6 Feb6 February 14:01

        Don’t see why not. If @C2K77 was relying on the double TPs from March 2024 to get status in year to 8 May or 8 November, or whatever then nothing has changed.

        The point is, the March 2024 holiday will only count for the current year, whereas an April holiday would potentially count for both current year and next year.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    6 Feb6 February 12:15

    I can’t see what’s unfair. Your current TP year is unaffected. You would’ve even earn status or not.

  • AB says:

    6 Feb6 February 12:52

    I agree with you. C2K , BA says this is to help families etc, etc, But as we know planning a family holiday is not normally a last-minute thought. Then let’s not forget just before this news BA was pushing its sale! ending 31/01.

    For years we all have been very aware of the end date of the collection year and have planned accordingly both business and leisure trips.    I didn’t believe it was that difficult to plan even with the family all having different year ends. For BA to throw this change now without any forward warning gives a bad and bitter taste in one’s mouth. Yes, when they change to tier point spending it will be far worse. 

    Despite the high-end spenders, we are still the regular majority and I see nothing wrong in letting the airline or any company in the service industry ( or Government- “GO” farmers!)  know they are wrong. It made Delta rethink after bad press from passengers.

    I am sure if we had been given a year’s notice we would have all planned things very differently for the coming months. This is poorly managed business planning rushed out, and still surprised the plan wasn’t leaked which means very few in BA were aware of it.

    Modern IT programs can handle anything so this is not about making life eraser for the IT department or the customer.  When you look at the profile and background of the CEO you will understand that everyday customer matters not.

• Alastair says:

  6 Feb6 February 12:30

  What I am not clear about is how GGL will work here. I am aiming for GGL this year (currently ending 8th January) and have not been it before. This means that I will be amassing 5000 TP (hopefully) by then.

  5000 is of course the threshold for GGL – but renewal is 3000 as I understand. By my current planning I will get to GGL by about November – but as MOST of this (not all) is going to be done after 1st April (not all – I’m on a TP run now, LHR-HEL-ARN return with a nested BMA-HEL-AGP return) I will in terms of these “phantom tier points” have amassed probably 3000 since April. These would then count in the April 2024-2025 year, which should mean that my GGL stays until at least end March 2026 … is that right? If so – I think this works for me…

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.