Changes made by British Airways (BA) to its loyalty programme, which make it harder to earn coveted bronze, silver and gold status, have provoked strong debate.
We asked frequent BA flyers – and a loyalty expert – for their views.
‘I’m hoping airport lounges will be less crowded’
Adam Marshall, 27, a commercial director from London
“I’m a BA silver card holder and I’m happy with the overall changes to the programme, under which I earn tier points for pounds spent with BA, not on distance flown. I appreciate the perks of BA status, particularly free seat selection and complimentary additional baggage allowance, along with lounge access.
“Changes to my business that mean I fly more to and from Asia. This means that I will earn gold status this year. My only loss is that under the new system I don’t expect to earn enough tier points to get a Gold Upgrade Voucher.
“I regularly travel on BA for short-haul trips, and will continue to do so. I’m not looking to use Lufthansa or Air France, because I value the convenience of the direct flight and don’t want to connect in Frankfurt or Paris. I find BA is often competitively priced compared to low-cost carriers such as EasyJet or Ryanair.
“As fewer people overall make silver or gold status under the new rules, I’m excited to see how the lounges change. I hope they will be less crowded.”
‘As a leisure traveller there’s now no way for me to earn gold’
Caroline Hill, 58, a marketing executive from London
“I’ve been a BA gold card holder for the majority of the last 10 years. I earned it from a mixture of self-funded travel along with the generosity of BA, who have kindly extended my status due to personal issues a couple of times.
“I’ve been a BA fan for years, encouraging all my friends to fly with BA on trips when they would have been happy with easyJet or Ryanair. I was happy to pay more for the benefits of staying loyal to BA. I regularly travelled in business class if I could find a good fare.
“After not being able to travel for a couple of years, I was focused in 2025 on going for gold once again. By Christmas, I was poised to book trips to Thailand and the US. So I was devastated by the announcement of the changes to the BA Club which BA made just before new year.
“As a leisure traveller there’s no way for me to earn gold through the new revenue-based system. The new targets are well beyond my budget. I’ll even struggle now to make silver. So I’m resigned to booking my travel based on convenience and cost from now on. I’ll consider looking at low-cost carriers, easyJet and Ryanair, but the reality is I’ll probably just travel less because, for me, it won’t be as enjoyable.
“I still love BA and get a huge buzz of excitement when I arrive in T5, so I’ll continue to enjoy it while I can. But I’m really sad that my gold status will run out. The changes have taken the wind out of my sails.”
‘Travelling with BA used to be a must – not any more’
Michael Crooks, 60, a translator from Oxford
“I’ve been a BA silver card holder on and off for eight years, actively taking otherwise unnecessary flights just in order to come in just over the number of tier points required. I am part of a family of three and we mainly fly World Traveller Plus (premium economy), going long-haul.
For us, the free seat selection became the key benefit of silver status. It can save a couple of hundred pounds for us as a family. There is no way we’ll meet the BA Amex cash spend now required, so when my silver status ends, I might stump up for World Traveller Plus or Club occasionally, if travelling alone, but as a family we will have to accept randomly-assigned seats.
“Travelling with BA used to be a ‘must’ but now it will now simply become one option among others. Like many, I’ll be on Skyscanner to do a general search for all airlines.”
‘How many once-loyal BA flyers will now be considering Emirates or Virgin?’
Rob Burgess, editor of frequent-flyer website headforpoints.com, who takes 20 BA flights a year
“BA is determined to move its programme from an airline loyalty scheme into a high-spender recognition programme. This is far too blunt an instrument in any industry, when any good reward scheme should be based on driving incremental revenue from all members, not just big spenders.
“It’s an even blunter instrument in aviation, where your biggest spenders are usually business travellers forced to fly with you due to a corporate deal. The ‘swing money’ is from those who can freely choose which carrier to fly with, such as small business owners and premium leisure travellers. How many of those once-loyal BA flyers who will lose out under the new scheme will now be considering Emirates when flying east or Virgin Atlantic when flying west?
“BA knows passengers are angry. Cracks in the new scheme seem to be growing. BA has already sweetened the introduction of the new system by offering bonus tier points promotions and last week it announced it would give 500 tier points to many BA Amex credit card holders as a ‘gesture of goodwill’ amid all the uncertainty and irritation.
“With easyJet planning to launch a loyalty scheme via a status match offer to BA members, the need for a strong BA loyalty programme is greater than ever.”