In this post:
BA clarify tier point changes (a bit)
The absolute mess of trying to explain the changes to align members’ tier point years by BA continues with the majority of people still confused and many unanswered questions, such as what happens with things like when you get your GGL jokers and partner cards. If anyone from BA is reading this, I beg you next time to get a group of either frequent flyers or journalists who specialise in this area like myself and Head for Points and brief them first. Firstly, to see if what you have written is actually understandable and also so we can try to explain it to other people. An hour of BA’s time would have stopped this mess from happening.
In the meantime, BA has updated its website to clarify what happens to the status beyond March 2025, as this was not at all clear from the previous announcement, although I had assumed that there was no change to any existing card expiry dates in my article.
Any existing status valid beyond 31 March 2025 will continue for the full duration.
This means, for example, that if you have already earned Gold status in your current membership year, which ends 8th October 2024, your status will remain valid until 30th November 2025. It will not be shortened to end on 30th April 2025.
They also stated that there will be no change in the way you can renew or upgrade your status during your Tier Point collection period ending on or before 8 March 2025. Any Tier status earned in your next Tier Point collection period ending on 31 March 2025 will be valid until 30 April 2026.
Finally, as well as adding on the tier points earned during the transition period, this will also include any eligible flights as you still obviously have to meet that minimum criteria as well as the tier points target.
You can find my original article which goes into more detail here.
Easy 1000 Avios with Accor and Qatar
If you are planning to stay at an Accor hotel soon (or fly with Qatar), you can earn an easy 1000 Avios bonus by simply linking your ALL and Qatar Airways Privilege Club accounts before 29 February 29, 2024. Then, to get the bonus, you need to stay at an eligible Accor hotel and/or Travel with Qatar Airways between January 30 and March 31. You then receive a bonus of 1,000 Reward points and/or 1,000 Avios.
The only downside would be that if you are collecting BA tier points, you would have to credit the flight to your Qatar Privilege Club, not BA, to get the bonus.
You can find the page to link your accounts here.
Rosewood gift card bonus
You can, in effect, get a discount on your next Rosewood stay by buying a gift card online and getting a 10% bonus gift card. You have to purchase a Gift Card online worth US$500 or more by 18 February, but given the price of Rosewood Hotels, that should not be too hard! You then receive an additional 10% bonus E-Gift to spend at Rosewoodโs collection of hotels and resorts around the world.
Qatar Airways latest discount code
Qatar Airways has a new discount code, but it is only for 5%. Usually, they offer at least 10% or more, so I wouldn’t rush unless you find a good fare now and need to book it.
- Booking period: 5th Feb 2024 to 31st March 2024
- Travel Period: 5th Feb 2024 to 30th June 2024
- Code: TAKEOFF
The code is available for most European departure points, including the UK. You can only fly to certain destinations but most major Asian destinations such as Bangkok, Singapore, and Australia.
You can find the list of routes and more details on the offer page here.
10 comments
Hi Michele, thanks for keeping us all informed as we all try to navigate through the impact of the changes.
A friend of mine is currently silver and her membership year ends in Aug 2024. In Nov 2024, she has a big First Class trip booked as a BA Holiday that will earn her 1,600TPs. When she booked it, the rules at the time would have meant that she would then have been Gold all the way through to 8th Aug 2026, plus then to the end of the following month (Sept 2026). Ie the rest of that membership year โfreeโ until Aug 2025 plus the full next year.
Under the new rules, Iโm reading it that because she will not earn her status before the end of her current membership year (Aug 24), she will now be subject to the new rules and that her gold status will now end in April 2026 (5 months sooner than under the existing rules when she booked the flight)? Is that also your take?
Or does the rather wide statement about โnobody being worse offโ mean they will have a special process for situations like this? Thanks!
Donald, Iโd like to think theyโd use discretion and honour transactions like this that were completed in good faith before the new rules were applied.
Maybe a decision would be based on an individualโs overall spend with the company and whether or not it was a double Tier Point trip? They may argue that she is still getting one year and four months of Gold membership after the November 2024 trip, fitting the โnobody being worse offโ statement.
Iโve encountered some lovely people on the phone lines that are happy to use discretion, rather than follow a script or policy. Letโs hope your friend gets one of these. ๐ค
Tier Points is the one thing that call takers, and often even their managers, have zero discretion on though.
Unless they intend to change this in the future but in fairness from a business POV I’d understand their refusal to grant such powers to contact centre staff as it does open up the risk of fraud exponentially – “Hey call this num at this time and when I answer say Ur calling back about your ongoing case” and hey presto Gold awarded to a friend/ extended family ( I imagine sorting out your Ma or Pa would be too obvious). Contrary to popular belief there’s often some pretty smart people working in such places and when they work out the cash cow doing such a thing could be then you can bet your bottom dollar someone’s gonna work out a way to do so and generate a fake case/ hide the paper trail.
Now that’s probably both over simplifying things and using an extre case but BA are gonna have exactly that kinda thing in mind and not allowing CS Staff access privileges regarding TPs.
I agree with your hopes and points though and I imagine that they will reach a time when their hand is forced & a team is set up to do TP adjustments..
I’m in the OPs situation and will have no qualms issuing a notice of legal action IF they wanna try taking my status which I’ve already covered and paid for this year but will lose on the next assessment if they don’t count pre 01.04.24 earnings
Thanks for keeping us updated Michelle! What a nightmare trying to understand. As a silver member for 20 years Iโve never been more dissatisfied! We took a BA holiday in November and despite 4 calls still havenโt received the correct amount of tier points! Any idea how I can get their attention?
Have you submitted a claim on line under missing Avios? Another Avenue is to try FlyerTalk and message someone called MissingAvios although recently they have gone quiet so not sure if that is still working.
Whoever worked out this policy is a total idiot. I’m GGL and GFL, so in some ways fairly immune to it, but that’s not the point. My YE is Jan which means the 1,500 or so Tier Points I will earn in Q1 2024 become effectively worthless. GGL is good and has a couple of real benefits but, honestly, it’s not so good that I’m prepared to (yet again) be screwed by BA. I’ll keep my GFL and go elsewhere – to much better airlines – for flights. What BA seem incapable of understanding is that the only thing they are remotely close to being a world leader in is the Exec Club. Now they’re managing to mess even that up.
What a mess. As if being treated with complete and utter contempt by BA during COVID wasnโt enough, they now kick us in the teeth with this brain fart. Honestly, sometimes I wonder whoโs running the company. Do I need to book another trip between April and October this year? Or, do I need to book something between January and March next year? I have absolutely no idea what I have to do to maintain Gold until November 2026 as would have originally been the case. A really crappy way to treat loyal customers
Thanks for all the updates, Michele. This seems a total mess.
I have been a gold card holder for many years. My tier year ended yesterday (9 Feb) and I see that my 2700 tier points were wiped (as expected) but I see that my Gold Membership now only lasts until 31 Mar 2024. This seems totally at odds with what the BA FAQ says about my tier year. BA IT strikes again? This is such a mess!
Slightly off topic Michelle, do you think BAH will extend their double TP offer into 2025?
I think itโs possible but I donโt think we will see a decision for a few months.
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