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BA start to remove error status
We reported last week how British Airways mistakenly extended the status of thousands of status members of BA’s The Club and how BA had admitted it was done in error. The majority of people given an extension were not due one; however, those within 5% of the required tier points or those affected by Middle East flight cancellations should have been extended. Instead, they extended a seemingly random group of people, including those with status that was gifted and those who had hardly acquired any tier points. Whether this error is related to the previous years when they usually extended the people that I had gifted status to, but never me, who actually spent the money with BA, we will never know.
British Airways has been working its way through members in alphabetical order, and it looks as though all the reversals should be done today. It can take quite a few hours from receiving the email to actually being downgraded in the app. I feel sorry for anyone who booked something with BA on the back of the status extension, who may now not have any prospect of being able to cancel their booking.
Here is what the email says.
“We’re getting in touch regarding a recent update to your British Airways Club tier status. Last week a small number of
British Airways Club members were incorrectly informed that their tier status was being extended. Unfortunately, the error affected your account and it has now been updated to reflect the correct end date of your tier.We want to reassure you that safeguards have been put in place to ensure this particular issue doesn’t happen again. We are truly sorry, we value your loyalty and appreciate your continued membership.
I can’t say I’m that impressed with the wording of the email, given that some people made bookings based on receiving the email.
What do you think of the email that was sent? Let us know in the comments below.
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4 comments
At this point I’m verging on refusing to believe their underhanded move over the Christmas/ New Year period 2 years ago was designed to thin out the club and refocus on corporate ( no choice) travellers. Their approach now seems to be an ‘all in’ pursuit of having no customers of any kind, ever.
I do appreciate the maxim of: Never assign malice to that which can be explained by incompetence. However this is a demonstration that when we all believed we’d seen the pinnacle of idiocy they’ve proven us all wrong once again. They do seem to have enhanced ( no doubt due to our own self gaslighting feedback) their ability to lie with pure abandon. So at least their “improving” somewhere.
Mistakenly thought that BA had renewed my Gold status after reviewing my 40 year loyalty. Wrong – their ‘mistake’ and subsequent actions show their contempt for their historical loyal premium customers. Goodbye BA .. you’ve sealed the deal.
Muscat might not be as nice as Doha airport but if you are checking in there with status it is an extremely pleasant experience complete with a totally separate area, think the old first class check in at T5 but MUCH nicer. Then you have your own security and finally your own immigration. I actually felt for the first time like a VIP.
I had understood that Oman Air had a good reputation and was thinking about booking flights to India with them, but then I looked at their reviews on Trustpilot and Tripadvisor, which are absolutely dreadful – and I’m going back before the current Middle East war. Some of them refer to bad experiences of Business Class travellers, but just Economy Class. The reviews on Skytrax aren’t much better, although they don’t seem to have affected the overall rating.