British Airways announced significant changes to the Executive Club two weeks ago (read more here, here, and here). The qualification is now entirely revenue-based, and the lifetime status requirements have also significantly increased.
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You can access BA here.
Reader’s Question:
I read your article about the changes to BAEC / good article thanks. I’m in the same position as you, I need 6k lifetime TPs to hit GFL. I have 3 months to do this and I think you would agree it’s worth it getting GfL now.
I have been splitting my feathers past 24 hours trying to figure out how the heck to achieve 6k TPs in 3 months.
In your opinion what is the quickest way to achieve these TPs?
I’m thinking i would need to book a few first class trips for multiple Long haul sectors such as Europe-jfk-lax-hnl to get an average of 1600k TPs per trip.
But how on earth do I find the cheapest fares for such trips? I tried on google flights but didn’t get anywhere. Can you help advise on this please?
Once four past and two future flights have been credited to my account; I will be roughly 4,000 Tier Points short of the lifetime Gold requirements.
My current travel plans are for early February, and I have seven weeks to earn some Tier Points (TPs) before the program changes.
I have previously posted that I am not into Mileage Runs, but I do take into account the award and elite miles or qualification points earned.
Here’s what I am looking at:
Some Finnair fares from the Nordics to European destinations earn 140 TPs, such as the HEL-AGP/LIS segments. You would earn 360 TPs for a return trip when you factor in the 40 TP feeders.
Royal Jordanian has flights ex-CDG to destinations in Asia that earn 640 TPs for return, as the CDG-AMM segment is 140 TPs (but longer LHR-AMM is just 80 TPs – you wonder why?).
There used to be excellent Malaysia Airlines fares for travel within Asia that earned TPs at an excellent ratio, but I have had trouble finding any. KUL-DEL/ICN/TPE/PVG/PEK are all 140 TPs, while many others, such as HKG and MNL, are only 40 TPs.
For travel ex-UK, I would look into buying a BA Holidays package with a car or hotel component that would double the TPs earned for the flights.
BA’s Obnoxious “Announcing The British Airways Club” Email
British Airways Makes Significant Changes How Lifetime Gold & Gold Guest List Is Earned
British Airways Moves To Revenue Based Tier Points From April 1, 2025 (Read It & Weep)
Conclusion
I would request that readers who plan to get the last TPs in before March 31st share some of the good fares they have found.
It is doubtful that I can hit 4,000 TPs between early February and the end of March because I am not willing to do back-to-back flights but need a few days between them.
I would instead book long-haul flights because sitting in Euro Business (an economy with a middle seat blocked) is torture, and I am sure I would regret booking more than a couple of them.
The changes BA is instituting to its program are unfortunate and likely will affect how members interact with the airline and the new “Club.”
