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British Airways has recently revealed plans to overhaul its Executive Club rewards program by implementing a fixed membership year for all customers beginning in 2025.
It simplifies the programme by synchronizing the tier points collection period, which determines status (gold, silver, or bronze), to a standard calendar year. The collection period will now run from April 1 to March 31.
Currently, the accumulation of tier points is dependent on the date of enrollment into the program and lasts for a period of 12 months, such as from February to February or October to October.
This situation occurs when couples and households have varying years of membership, causing challenges in monitoring the number of flights required to maintain certain status levels that provide access to perks like lounge access, priority check-in, and complimentary seat selection.
Can this be interpreted as a modification to how Avios are earned?
No, this is unrelated to the earning or redeeming of Avios points.
Last year, British Airways revealed updates to their rewards system. Members will now earn Avios based on the cost of the base fare for each ticket, not including taxes, surcharges, and seat selection fees.
What changes are being made to the Executive Club membership years by British Airways?
British Airways is aligning itself with other programs, like American Airlines’ AAdvantage and Iberia’s Iberia Plus, by implementing a standardized system for earning status across all members.
Currently, the Executive Club counts membership years starting from the date of joining and they are set on the 8th day of each month. This can make it challenging to keep track of the required tier points for maintaining or achieving status levels. It also means that a family of four may have four different membership years, causing additional complications for members who wish to nominate friends or family for “partner cards”.
Starting in 2025, all members of the British Airways Executive Club will be synchronized and will have the time period from April 1 to March 31 of each subsequent year to accumulate the required tier points.
Beginning in 2025, British Airways will be modifying its membership earning schedule.
What is the reason behind British Airways’ decision to make this alteration?
According to British Airways, the primary motive is increased simplicity, which allows for more efficient management of travel arrangements for individuals, coworkers, and family members.
The travel website Head for Points suggests that this could potentially facilitate British Airways’ implementation of other cost-cutting measures, such as adopting a joint IT system with Iberia (both airlines are under the ownership of IAG) or implementing tier points based on spending to align with the recent switch to spending-based Avios.
What is the process for transitioning to the new Executive Club tier point collection years?
This is where things become complex.
In the upcoming months, members who are not currently on an April-March schedule will have their tier point collection period shortened to end on March 31, 2025 as a one-time exception. However, any tier points earned after April 1, 2024 will be added to the shortened collection period as a one-time adjustment.
To illustrate, if your current tier point year ends on July 8, 2024, your following year will now end on March 31, 2025 instead of July 8, 2025. However, any tier points earned between April 1 and July 8, 2024 will count towards the shortened year as a one-time tier adjustment.
British Airways has released a FAQ that details the impact of the modifications on each of the 12 membership years.
Who are the beneficiaries and those at a disadvantage in these changes made by the Executive Club?
The winners will be those who no longer have to rely on a mental spreadsheet to determine their eligibility for lounge access on their upcoming holiday.
Those who earn a large number of tier points between now and March 31st, 2024 will not receive credit towards the new post-April 2025 status. However, these points will still be counted for the current earning and status cycle. For instance, if a member’s current year started on January 9th, 2024, their membership year from January 9th, 2025 to March 31st, 2025 will be shortened. Any tier points earned between April 1st, 2025 and January 8th, 2025 will be added as a one-time adjustment, but any points earned before April 1st, 2025 will not count.
Source: independent.co.uk
