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Confirmed (we think): How BA’s tier point collection year changes affect you

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There has been a lot of confusion about yesterday’s announcement that British Airways will be moving everyone onto aligned tier point collection years, starting on 1st April 2025.

The official British Airways page announcing the changes is here.

Rob and I spent all morning yesterday trying to parse BA’s cryptic and clear-as-mud information. It’s not just us either. Our article yesterday has over 350 comments, confirming that confusion was widespread. The FlyerTalk thread on the subject is even longer, at over 650 posts.

These are people who know the British Airways Executive Club better than anyone else. If we’re confused, then your average points and miles collector has no chance!

Confirmed: How BA's tier point collection year changes affect you

After multiple back-and-forths with the BA Press Office and the BAEC team, we have now confirmed how the changes will affect you. We think.

Part of the complexity is that everyone is treated differently, depending on your membership year. For this reason, we are breaking it down month-by-month. All you need to do is look at the relevant section for your membership year.

This is a very factual ‘how it works’ article. Yes, you may (or may not) be getting status for a shorter period than you anticipated. Yes, you may (or may not) be short-changed by a shorter than expected soft landing – if they even continue, given that Iberia does not have them and the programmes are being aligned. Our only aim here is to tell you what is happening without comment.

Ending in February 2024

If your membership year renews on 8th February 2024:

  • Your tier point collection year will renew on 9th February 2024 and continue as normal until 8th February 2025
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 31st March 2026
  • Your next collection period will be shortened to 9th February 2025 – 31st March 2025
  • A Tier Point Adjustment will be made at the start of your shortened collection period (on 9th February 2025), re-crediting any tier points and qualifying flights you earned from 1st April 2024 – 8th February 2025
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will run for 12 months from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2027
  • Irrespective of the above, your status will not drop before the expiry date currently shown on your Executive Club membership card

Ending in March 2024

If your membership year renews on 8th March 2024:

  • Your current tier point collection year will continue as normal until 8th March 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2025
  • Your next collection year will start on 9th March 2024 and continue as normal until 8th March 2025
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will be shortened to 9th March 2025 – 31st March 2025
  • A Tier Point Adjustment will be made at the start of your shortened collection period (on 9th March 2025), re-crediting any tier points and qualifying flights you earned from 1st April 2024 – 8th March 2025
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will run for 12 months from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2027
  • Irrespective of the above, your status will not drop before the expiry date currently shown on your Executive Club membership card

Ending in April 2024

If your membership year renews on 8th April 2024:

  • Your current tier point collection year will continue as normal until 8th April 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 31st May 2025
  • Your next collection period will be shortened to 9th April 2024 – 31st March 2025
  • A Tier Point Adjustment will be made at the start of your shortened collection period (on 9th April 2024), re-crediting any tier points and qualifying flights you earned from 1st April 2024 – 8th April 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will run for 12 months from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2027
  • Irrespective of the above, your status will not drop before the expiry date currently shown on your Executive Club membership card

Ending in May 2024

If your membership year renews on 8th May 2024:

  • Your current tier point collection year will continue as normal until 8th May 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th June 2025
  • Your next collection period will be shortened to 9th May 2024 – 31st March 2025
  • A Tier Point Adjustment will be made at the start of your shortened collection period (on 9th May 2024), re-crediting any tier points and qualifying flights you earned from 1st April 2024 – 8th May 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will run for 12 months from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2027
  • Irrespective of the above, your status will not drop before the expiry date currently shown on your Executive Club membership card

Ending in June 2024

If your membership year renews on 8th June 2024:

  • Your current tier point collection year will continue as normal until 8th June 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 31st July 2025
  • Your next collection period will be shortened to 9th June 2024 – 31st March 2025
  • A Tier Point Adjustment will be made at the start of your shortened collection period (on 9th June 2024), re-crediting any tier points and qualifying flights you earned from 1st April 2024 – 8th June 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will run for 12 months from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2027
  • Irrespective of the above, your status will not drop before the expiry date currently shown on your Executive Club membership card

Ending in July 2024

If your membership year renews on 8th July 2024:

  • Your current tier point collection year will continue as normal until 8th July 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 31st August 2025
  • Your next collection period will be shortened to 9th July 2024 – 31st March 2025
  • A Tier Point Adjustment will be made at the start of your shortened collection period (on 9th July 2024), re-crediting any tier points you earned from 1st April 2024 – 8th July 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will run for 12 months from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2027
  • Irrespective of the above, your status will not drop before the expiry date currently shown on your Executive Club membership card

Ending in August 2024

If your membership year renews on 8th August 2024:

  • Your current tier point collection year will continue as normal until 8th August 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th September 2025
  • Your next collection period will be shortened to 9th August 2024 – 31st March 2025
  • A Tier Point Adjustment will be made at the start of your shortened collection period (on 9th August 2024), re-crediting any tier points and qualifying flights you earned from 1st April 2024 – 8th August 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will run for 12 months from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2027
  • Irrespective of the above, your status will not drop before the expiry date currently shown on your Executive Club membership card

Ending in September 2024

If your membership year renews on the 8th September 2024:

  • Your current tier point collection year will continue as normal until 8th September 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 31st October 2025
  • Your next collection period will be shortened to 9th September 2024 – 31st March 2025
  • A Tier Point Adjustment will be made at the start of your shortened collection period (on 9th September 2024), re-crediting any tier points and qualifying flights you earned from 1st April 2024 – 8th September 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will run for 12 months from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2027
  • Irrespective of the above, your status will not drop before the expiry date currently shown on your Executive Club membership card

Ending in October 2024

If your membership year renews on the 8th October 2024:

  • Your current tier point collection year will continue as normal until 8th October 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th November 2025
  • Your next collection period will be shortened to 9th October 2024 – 31st March 2025
  • A Tier Point Adjustment will be made at the start of your shortened collection period (on 9th October 2024), re-crediting any tier points and qualifying flights you earned from 1st April 2024 – 8th October 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will run for 12 months from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2027
  • Irrespective of the above, your status will not drop before the expiry date currently shown on your Executive Club membership card

Ending in November 2024

If your membership year renews on the 8th November 2024:

  • Your current tier point collection year will continue as normal until 8th November 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 31st December 2025
  • Your next collection period will be shortened to 9th November 2024 – 31st March 2025
  • A Tier Point Adjustment will be made at the start of your shortened collection period (on 9th November 2024), re-crediting any tier points and qualifying flights you earned from 1st April 2024 – 8th November 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will run for 12 months from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2027
  • Irrespective of the above, your status will not drop before the expiry date currently shown on your Executive Club membership card

Ending in December 2024

If your membership year renews on the 8th December 2024:

  • Your current tier point collection year will continue as normal until 8th December 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 31st January 2026
  • Your next collection period will be shortened to 9th December 2024 – 31st March 2025
  • A Tier Point Adjustment will be made at the start of your shortened collection period (on 9th December 2024), re-crediting any tier points and qualifying flights you earned from 1st April 2024 – 8th December 2024
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will run for 12 months from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2027
  • Irrespective of the above, your status will not drop before the expiry date currently shown on your Executive Club membership card

Ending in January 2025

If your membership year renews on 8th January 2025:

  • Your current tier point collection year will continue as normal until 8th January 2025
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 28th February 2026
  • Your next collection period will be shortened to 9th January 2025 – 31st March 2025
  • A Tier Point Adjustment will be made at the start of your shortened collection period (on 9th January 2025), re-crediting any tier points and qualifying flights you earned from 1st April 2024 – 8th January 2025
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026
  • Your next collection period will run for 12 months from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026
  • Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2027
  • Irrespective of the above, your status will not drop before the expiry date currently shown on your Executive Club membership card

Hopefully, this now makes more sense than it did previously …..

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Comments (208)

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

  • Ziggy says:
    6 Feb6 February 16:11

    Well done (and thank you!)

  • will says:
    6 Feb6 February 16:16

    It would have been quite helpful, and I’m sure pre-empted a lot of calls to BA, if they had simply made a help file like this article and published it on the website as well as sending it out i the email.
    You really do have to wonder sometimes about how these companies operate.

  • Harry Holden says:
    6 Feb6 February 16:21

    In summary:
    0% of members benefit from these changes.
    100% of members lose out in some way, shape or form.

    Unless you are blue. Which tells me BA wants to alienate the good customers rather than the once a year customers.

    • Paul says:
      6 Feb6 February 18:13

      I get an extra 10 months of gold from this. Currently bronze, hitting silver in March and Gold in June.

      • Charlie says:
        6 Feb6 February 23:15

        Not necessarily! Only if you yield 1,500 TPs between April 2024 and March 2025 will your gold status be extended until 30th April 2026. And it depends on your year start date. If your year start date is 8th January (and it is probably a different month) then when you hit gold in June 2024 your gold status will be until 30th February 2026 anyway. If, however your year start date is 8th July, then when you hit gold in June 2024 your gold status will only be valid until 31st August 2025, at which point you will drop to silver until 30th April 2026 (presuming everything else remains constant).

    • patrick says:
      6 Feb6 February 18:44

      Yes, that will be it.

  • Adrian says:
    6 Feb6 February 16:54

    I just want to say thank you to Rob and Rees for the analysis.

  • Kirsty says:
    6 Feb6 February 16:57

    This is much clearer than the BA website, thank you! Has it been confirmed with BA that for example for a September 24 year end, with gold achieved, that this will be valid until October 25 rather than April 25 as is implied by the BA website? This is where I feared I would lose out with not so many trips planned in teh second half of the transition period.

    • Rob says:
      6 Feb6 February 17:00

      Yes, ba.com was amended yesterday to confirm “Any existing status valid beyond 31 March 2025 will continue for the full duration.”

      • Kirsty says:
        6 Feb6 February 17:01

        Thank you!

      • Earthman says:
        6 Feb6 February 17:14

        So if your card says expiry 30th Sept 2025 and in theory you have paid trips booked (as opposed to avios)even in say July to mid September 2025 that total 1500 tp’s you have Gold untill April 30 3027 correct?

        • Earthman says:
          6 Feb6 February 17:19

          Sorry April 30 2027,I’m going to be too old to fly in 3027 and besides we’ll all probably be getting Scotty to best us wherever then 😂

        • Rob says:
          6 Feb6 February 17:30

          Yes

  • R L says:
    6 Feb6 February 17:05

    So my biggest complaint is that they plan to change the system starting in April and the told us in February. My tier point year starts in November. I bought a holiday in last August for January – a month that I normally don’t fly in – and splurged for a really long flight, thinking I’d be 80% to gold afterwards, would spend less on flights (or try to use already-difficult to use vouchers) until November, and be covered until December 2025. Under their new system, I lose 8 months and will struggle to maintain gold or have to spend significantly more to maintain it. Anyone like me with a tier-point year started towards the end of the year who front-loaded their flights get totally screwed by this. (Compare, for someone with an April tier-point year, there really is no change except for 8 days).

    The change shows lack of thought. A fairer way to do this would have been to give proper notice – at least a year, rather than less than 2 months – then, all members would have time to plan. To say it makes it “easier to manage travel plans for yourself, colleagues and family” is a lie (or at least a half-truth) – we’ve all managed to figure it out until now. This change simply makes it easier for BA to reduce the number of gold card members. If they want to reduce the number of gold card holders, they should just get rid of the double tier points for holidays – but I suspect that’s next. Lastly, this will requires a systems change for BA – and we all know how good their systems are (not)…

    • StanTheMan says:
      6 Feb6 February 17:12

      If your membership year renews on the 8th November 2024:

      Your current tier point collection year will continue as normal until 8th November 2024
      Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 31st December 2025

      So you are moaning about what ?

      • R L says:
        6 Feb6 February 17:47

        I understand that this was clarified earlier today – so sorry if the comment is late. This still means that in order to maintain gold, I have to earn 1500 between Apr 2024 and Mar 2025 (several months earlier than Nov 2024 – Oct 2025) to continue my status after Dec 2025, so will again have to buy tickets (rather than potentially using Avios or vouchers)

        • Dickie_H says:
          6 Feb6 February 18:58

          Or you could just earn your 1500 points several months later, between Apr 2025 and Mar 2026, and accept the potential downgrade to Silver for a few weeks from Dec 2025? After that, you can start planning your trips around the new TP collection year again.

    • AB says:
      6 Feb6 February 18:04

      Being suspicious by nature there is still something here we are all missing and Irrespective, I still consider the vast majority of us are going to lose. But I thank the team at HfP for trying to help us.

      RL, I believe you are 100% correct, the real reason is to cull off what BA see as low-class status card holders, even if they contribute to a good proportion of J-class seat purchases.

      I am not sure how many received an email from BA about the new change, I for one didn’t and was only by chance as booking a flight saw a headline about it.

      This clearly as many have mentioned was not run through all the right departments for comments, red flags or recommendations. If any FF were sent questionnaires, if so BA certainly only used the replies that they wanted to hear – selective reviews, no doubt again only from GL and BC.

      I am sure from HfP team communications that they must hear BA are not truly clear themselves. BA needs to come clean with an honest and better reason for changing other than, IT and easier for travel, alining programs etc for changing a long well well-trusted way to collect tier points and status.

      The bottom line is they want to rid a good proportion of FF and only remain with the clients of GL and above.

      Finally, I wonder in contingency planning BA has thought through how to bring back once loyal passengers in the event of yet another global shutdown or limited war that reduces air travel numbers again.

      Sadly what BA and others have done is a sign of the age we live in, 99% of us are not important.
      Just posted on BA – no need to guess why it’s going offline.

      Executive Club Members
      We’re carrying out maintenance from 01:00 GMT on 7 February so you may not be able to log into your account, or complete an Executive Club booking online or via the Contact Centre, at this time. We’ll finish this activity as quickly as possible. Thanks for your patience.

      • Charlie says:
        6 Feb6 February 23:41

        No one is losing out except those who drop a tier, who will lose between 1 and 11 months of soft landing (which is an unwritten benefit anyway and may be discontinued).

        It would, however, have been far simpler, in my view, just to extend everybody’s tier between 1 and 11 months. That would also have created likely additional revenue too, created goodwill, and certainly eliminated all this confusion. What do you expect from BA though hey?!

  • Paul L says:
    6 Feb6 February 17:15

    Well that is clearer – thanks very much. What an absolute pigs ear BA made of this how on earth could that message have been allowed to be sent out it beggars belief.

  • Sideshowbob says:
    6 Feb6 February 17:16

    Rob, can I just clarify…
    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?

    • Rob says:
      6 Feb6 February 17:32

      “Your next collection year will start on 9th March 2024 and continue as normal until 8th March 2025. Any status earned or renewed during this period will be valid until 30th April 2026.”

      • Sideshowbob says:
        6 Feb6 February 19:34

        What about the shortened collection period from 9 March 2025 to 31 March 2025? When recrediting tier points during this period then flights between 9 March 2024 to 31 March 2024 don’t count? That seems pretty unfair.

        • Stu_N says:
          6 Feb6 February 20:29

          Try thinking of it this way.

          1. Your last year under current system is 9 March 2024 to 8 March 2025.

          2. Your first new year is 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. You include the period in your old year plus the rest of March 2025 in this one. You don’t include flights in March 2024 as that would be more than a year.

    • Stu_N says:
      6 Feb6 February 17:32

      This is covered in the example for March year-ends above.

      “Your next collection year will start on 9th March 2024 and continue as normal until 8th March 2025”

    • Charlie says:
      7 Feb7 February 01:43

      The answers above are not helpful. Your flight on 23rd March 2024 will count towards your status year, 9th March 2024 to 8th March 2025. If, for example, you yield 1,500 TPs on that 23rd March flight, you will be gold until 30th April 2026 under the old system, as you similarly be if you attain 1,500 TPs at any point between 9th March 2025 and 8th 2025. You are neutral in the new system. You don’t lose if you choose to drop down a tier (which technically makes you a winner :-).

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