British Airways Elite Status: Guide to Qualifying and Privileges

British Airways Executive Club rewards its most frequent flyers by letting them advance up the program’s elite status tiers.

Having a thorough understanding of how to qualify for the program’s elite tiers and the associated benefits can benefit you greatly, whether you’re seeking to earn status for the first time or maximize it year-after-year.

This article will guide you through the elite tiers of British Airways Executive Club, including how to qualify and the incremental privileges that come with each tier.

How to Qualify for Elite Tiers on British Airways Executive Club

Qualifying for higher tiers on British Airways Executive Club is based on the following factors:

• Earning Tier Points
• Completing a minimum number of eligible flights

In order to earn and maintain status with British Airways, you’ll need to satisfy both the Tier Points requirement and the minimum flight requirements, or fly a minimum number of segments with British Airways, which we’ll cover in detail below.

Tier Points

Tier Points are collected on revenue fares with British Airways, its franchisees, and its Oneworld alliance partner airlines. The sole purpose of earning Tier Points is to advance Executive Club status and benefits.

Importantly, Tier Points are distinct from Avios, the points currency used by British Airways Executive Club.

Avios are also earned on revenue flights; however, they can be redeemed for award flights and other products, but don’t have anything to do with your status.

Importantly, Tier Points and Avios aren’t earned on award flights, as well as agency discounted fares and industry discounted fares.

The number of Tier Points you’ll earn depends on the flight distance, airline, cabin, and fare class. It’s worth noting that you’ll earn the same number of Tier Points regardless of your current membership tier.

Calculation of Tier Points is per flight, rather than cumulative. This means if you’re flying Toronto–London–Paris, you’ll earn the corresponding Tier Points on the Toronto-London and London-Paris segments separately.

British Airways Executive Club doesn’t explicitly publish a chart for earning Tier Points. Instead, you’re directed to the flight calculator, which lets you know how many Tier Points and Avios you’ll earn on specific routes.

Let’s take a look at a few examples to illustrate how many Tier Points you might earn on flights.

For a…