British Airways yesterday announced status extensions for members whose Tier Points collection year was set to end January – March 2022. The airline had earlier instituted a similar policy for 2020 and 2021.
The status extensions have now been rolled to eligible members, and the airline also made the Concorde Room access a benefit of the Gold Guest List (GGL). Previously, you needed to collect 5,000 Tier Points to access the real first-class lounge at Heathrow and JFK.
You can access BA’s page for Covid-19 Executive Club policies here.
Status Extension:
My Tier Points collection year ends in early March 2022 (flat 0 so far), and the status was set to expire on April 30th. It has now been extended by a year through April 2023.
BA’s Announcement:
COVID-19: How the Executive Club is supporting you
What’s new?
Your loyalty means the world to us. That’s why we’ve extended Tier status by another 12 months for those Executive Club Members with a Tier Point collection end date between 1 January 2022 – 31 March 2022. This means that any Member with a Tier Point collection end date before 31 March 2022 will enjoy their status for another year, irrespective of how many Tier Points they earn. So, you’ll have more chance to enjoy the benefits you deserve, whenever you’re ready to return to the skies.
This is an extension to the existing membership support where all Executive Club Members with a Tier Point collection end date between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2021 had their status extended by another year, irrespective of how many Tier Points they had earned.
Other ways we are supporting you and your membership
What’s more, we’ve reduced the amount of Tier Points needed to reach each Tier by 25% for those aiming to retain or reach a Tier up to June 2022.
This results in lower Tier qualification thresholds, as shown below:
- Bronze: 225 Tier Points or 18 eligible flights
- Silver: 450 Tier Points or 37 eligible flights
- Gold: 1125 Tier Points
To ensure our Members still have the opportunity to use their Gold Upgrade Vouchers, Companion Vouchers and Travel Together Tickets earned via a British Airways credit card, we’ve extended the expiry date of all unused vouchers, giving you more chance to enjoy them. Please see the below FAQs for details.
And for those whose TIer Points collection year ends after March 2022:
We’ve decreased the amount of Tier Points needed by 25% for members renewing or upgrading to higher Tiers until 30 June 2022, making that next Tier more achievable. Further measures will be considered in time, we’re continuing to assess the fluid situation and are keeping developments under close observation.
BA Status Extension Email:
The email also includes information about the Concorde Room access for GGL’s.
BA Concorde Lounge Access Email:
The airline sent out a slightly different version of the email to GGL members whose Tier Point collection year was not about to end.
Conclusion
I am glad to get the Concorde Room access back that I lost last year due to the Tier Point collection ending right at the beginning of the pandemic. I was actually in the middle of Oneworld RTW ticket ex-Karachi when most restrictions were put in place. Not sure if I ever get to use the rest of the flights, as the ticket might have expired already.
North America is opening up Europeans this November, and let’s hope that Asia comes back online sometime in early 2022, although I won’t keep my hopes up on the latter.
Now, let’s hope that the BA further extends the expiry of the eVouchers. I have three expiring in the first half of 2022.
Here are the frequently asked questions by BA:
How do I benefit from the 12-month membership status extension?
The 12-month status extensions have been automatically applied for those memberships with Tier Point collection end dates between July 2020 – 31 March 2022, irrespective of how many Tier Points have been earned. There is no need to contact us to arrange this.
You don’t need to have met the minimum eligible flights requirement to benefit from the 12-month extension, which has been applied to those memberships with Tier Point collection end dates of July 2020 – March 2022.
The eligible flights requirement will apply for members to qualify for the 25% Tier threshold reduction in order to upgrade, or subsequently renew their membership for the following year.
Where can I see if the 12-month extension has been applied to my membership?
No. This extension is only for Members that have not earned enough Tier points in their current Tier Point collection year to retain their status. If you have already qualified for a Tier status renewal through earning the required number of Tier points, you will not be automatically extended for an additional 12-months after a Tier Point collection end date that falls after March 2022.
How do I benefit from the reduced Tier Point requirement to upgrade or renew my membership?
If you are eligible for a Tier upgrade under the reduced Tier Point or eligible flight requirement, there is no need to contact us. This will be processed automatically once the required number of Tier Points or flights have been credited to your account.
If you are eligible to renew your Tier under the reduced Tier Point or eligible flight requirement, there is no need to contact us. This will be processed automatically once your Tier Point collection year ends and you will receive an email from the Executive Club team to confirm this.
Please note, members will need to have flown a minimum number of British Airways or Iberia flights to qualify for the 25% Tier threshold reduction in order to upgrade, or subsequently renew their membership for the following year. This is 2 for Bronze membership, and 4 for Silver and Gold membership.
All unused vouchers had a 6-month extension applied to their validity in March 2020. Subsequently, all unused vouchers that were due to expire before 31 March 2021 had a 6-month extension applied to their validity in October 2020. In February 2021, we added a further 6-month extension to all vouchers that were due to expire before the 31 December 2021, giving members more chance to enjoy them.
We’re also adding an additional 6-months validity to all new Companion Voucher or Travel Together tickets earned before 31 December 2021.
If you’ve applied a Voucher, or Travel Together Ticket to a booking for travel from 1 March 2020, we have already applied a 6-month extension to your voucher. If your voucher was due to expire before 31 December 2021, in February 2021 we automatically added a further 6-month extension.
Should your flight(s) get cancelled or you defer your travel to a later date, the extended validity has already been applied and there is no need to request this.
All unused Gold Upgrade Vouchers had a 6-month extension applied to their validity in March 2020 and in October 2020. In February 2021, we added a further 6-month extension to all vouchers that were due to expire before the 31 December 2021, giving members more chance to enjoy them.
Remember, you only need to book your trip or apply your voucher to an existing booking by the expiry date, for travel up to 12 months after.
If you’ve applied a Gold Upgrade Voucher to a booking for travel from 1 March 2020, we have already applied a 6-month extension to your voucher. If your voucher was due to expire before 31 December 2021, we’ve also automatically added a further 6-month extension.
Should your flight(s) get cancelled or you defer your travel to a later date, the extended validity has already been applied and there is no need to request this.
We’ve decreased the amount of Tier Points needed by 25% to make it easier for members to retain or upgrade their membership. This reduced Tier Point requirement doesn’t apply to earning Gold Upgrade Vouchers or other membership benefits.
We want to maximise the opportunity for Members to use their well-earned vouchers. If your Companion Voucher, or Travel Together Ticket, earned via a British Airways credit card is issued before the end of December 2021, we will be automatically applying a 6-month extension when your voucher is awarded to your account.
This does not currently apply to Gold Upgrade Vouchers.
Is my voucher included in the 6-month extension policy?
This policy covers vouchers earned using a British Airways credit card.
This includes: American Express Companion Vouchers, Chase Travel Together Tickets, RBC Companion Award Vouchers, Absa Companion Vouchers, RSB American Express Companion Vouchers, RSB World Mastercard Companion Vouchers.
This policy also includes Gold Upgrade Vouchers.
What measures are in place for memberships expiring in April 2022 and beyond?
We’ve decreased the amount of Tier Points needed by 25% for members renewing or upgrading to higher Tiers until 30 June 2022, making that next Tier more achievable. Further measures will be considered in time, we’re continuing to assess the fluid situation and are keeping developments under close observation.
