BA gives EU members ANOTHER year on reduced tier point thresholds

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When British Airways Executive Club was restructured in 2011, the biggest losers were members based in Continental Europe. They had previously enjoyed far lower thresholds for earning Silver and Gold cards. A Silver card required just 400 points (600 for a UK member) and Gold required just 800 points (1,500 for a UK member).

A lot of UK residents took advantage of this disparity by ‘moving’ their BA accounts to the address of an office or friend in Europe, in order to achieve status with fewer tier points. However, there were downsides to this – you couldn’t have a British Airways American Express card, so no 2-4-1 voucher, and you couldn’t convert Tesco points to BA.

To allow European members to have a very soft landing to the new system, BA agreed that status members could renew for the next two years – 2012 and 2013 – under the old system. If you were a Euro-Gold in November 2011, you could renew in 2012 and 2013 with just 800 points.

2014 was the year that this all came to end.

Except it isn’t going to.

BA seems to have been spooked by something. I’m not sure what, but presumably they have looked at the travel patterns of these grandfathered members and decided that few of them would retain status at the standard 600 / 1500 level. BA is probably guessing that most of these members would defect to other airlines rather than continue to fly BA without their previous status.

Whatever the reason, BA has decided to extend grandfathered memberships for another year. If you currently earn Silver for 400 points or Gold for 800 points, you will be told shortly that you will be allowed to requalify for 2015 based on these numbers.

Good news for Euro members. Bad news for people who were complaining that the Heathrow lounges were getting too crowded!

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

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 BA Amex American Express card

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 BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

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: