BA tightens up on baggage rules for Gold and Silver cardholders

I posted last week about the new benefit for Bronze members of British Airways Executive Club – the ability to board via the Priority Boarding line.

At the same time, it seems that BA has quietly downgraded one of the benefits of Gold and Silver membership. 

Historically, in the same way that you only need one Silver cardholder per booking for everyone to get free seat selection, your whole party used to benefit from the higher Silver baggage allowance.  This allowed you to take a 32kg suitcase for no charge, whereas you would normally have to pay extra for any case above 23kg.

A beady-eyed Flyertalk poster spotted that BA has changed the rules.  Only the Gold or Silver cardholder can now check in a suitcase for free that weighs between 23kg and 32kg.  All other family members are limited to a case of 23kg or less, if they are unwilling to pay £40 per case each-way for excess baggage.  This is likely to lead to more careful packing in future, with heavy items now needing to be predominantly in the same suitcase.

Here is the new wording from ba.com:

Executive Club Gold and Silver members and oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members receive additional checked-baggage benefits when flying on British Airways and oneworld member airline flights.

Executive Club Gold and oneworld Emerald members:

An additional free checked bag in any class of travel for the cardholder and any customer travelling on the same booking (excludes hand-baggage only fares and special group rate bookings).

A weight allowance of 32kg (71lb) per checked bag in any class of travel for the cardholder only.

Executive Club Silver and oneworld Sapphire members:

A minimum checked baggage allowance of two pieces in any class of travel for the cardholder and any customer travelling on the same booking (excludes hand-baggage only fares and special group rate bookings).

A weight allowance of 32kg (71lb) per checked bag in any class of travel for the cardholder only.

Now, in reality, 23kg is still a lot.  It is about the maximum that I feel happy carrying around.  That said, plenty of people who carry heavy equipment around for their job will find themselves up against the 32kg limit – as would anyone normal person with a very large, full, suitcase!

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)