Published: 28 July 2026

This page is part of our British Airways Club Hub which pulls together all our articles on BA & Avios

Your Guide to the British Airways Club: Earning Status & Status Benefits

British Airways Club status can transform your travel experience. From free seat selection and lounge access to priority boarding, fast-track security, additional reward flight availability and increased Avios earning, elite status offers benefits that can easily outweigh the effort required to earn it.

Since BA overhauled its loyalty programme in 2025, earning status has become more complicated. Tier Points are now primarily based on how much you spend, with additional Extra Tier Points available on eligible flights, holidays and selected credit card spending.

This guide explains exactly how the system works, how to earn Tier Points as quickly as possible and what benefits you’ll receive at each status level.

Part 1: How Does the British Airways Club work?

The principal way of earning status in the British Airways Club (formerly the British Airways Executive Club) is by collecting Tier Points. Alternatively, regular flyers can earn Bronze or Silver status by the number of individual flight segments taken.

The membership year runs 1 April-31 March and you achieve status based on the number of Tier Points collected in that membership year.

When you achieve the required number of Tier Points for status, you keep that level until the end of the current membership year, and the 12 months afterwards.

If you achieve a higher status level in the period, you will be promoted to the new level and keep that for the remainder of the current membership year, and the following 12 months.

What are the key status benefits at each level of the BA Club?

BA Club Tier	Avios Earning	Key Benefits	Tier Point Requirement
Blue	6 per £ on flights	Earn Avios, free wi-fi messaging	n/a
Bronze	7 per £	Free seat selection 7 days before departure, priority check in & boarding	3,500 TPs or 25 flights on BA
Silver	8 per £	Free seat selection at time of booking, business lounge access, fast track security	7,500 TPs or 25 flights on BA
Gold	9 per £	First class lounge access, additional reward flight availability, flight upgrade vouchers	20,000 TPs
Gold Guest List	9 per £	Concorde Room access at Heathrow T5, gift 1x Gold & 2x Silver memberships to friends	65,000 TPs (50,000 to retain)
Premier	9 per £	Special services at airport, lounge access, gift 1x Gold & 2x Silver memberships to friends, flight upgrade voucher	None (but requires a lot of influence!)

Is British Airways Club Status Worth It?

Bronze status is definitely worthwhile if you are a semi-regular BA flyer and would usually pay for seat selection.

Silver status is the “sweet spot” for most travellers as it offers fast-track security, lounge access and free seat selection. Business travellers who regularly connect through Heathrow can achieve Silver after 12½ business trips of 4 flight segments (total 50 segments). Booking a long haul business class BA Holiday can also generate a significant number of tier points and could get you well your the way to Silver after one trip.

Gold and Gold Guest List have very high tier point requirements which require a minimum of £20,000 a year spend with BA (excluding taxes & fees) and are mainly aimed at high spending, frequent business travellers.

Complementary Premier status would be amazing but you can forget it unless you control a multi-million £ travel budget or are a person of international fame…

Part 2: What are the Detailed Benefits at Each Level in the BA Club?

What Benefits Do You Get with BA Club Blue Status?

6 Avios per £ spent with BA/AA, 5 Avios per € spent with Iberia
Free wi-fi messaging (available on most planes)

What Benefits Do You Get with BA Club Bronze Status?

7 Avios per £ spent with BA/AA, 6 Avios per € spent with Iberia
All Blue benefits plus the following
Free seat selection at 7 days prior to departure
Use of business class check in (Bronze/Ruby check-in lane at JFK) on BA and when flying with another OneWorld alliance member
Priority boarding
Requires 3,500 Tier Points or 25 flights with a BA flight number

What Benefits Do You Get with BA Club Silver Status?

8 Avios per £ spent with BA/AA, 7 Avios per € spent with Iberia
All Bronze benefits plus the following
Free seat selection at time of booking (excludes exit row seats on long-haul flights) on BA and when flying with another OneWorld alliance member
Additional baggage allowance for all passengers on the booking (excludes Basic fares) and 32kg weight allowance per checked bag in any travel class on BA plus additional baggage allowances when flying on other OneWorld alliance members
Lounge access (+1 guest) on BA and when flying with another OneWorld alliance member
Fast track security
4,000 bonus Avios (at 11,000 tier points in the year)
5,000 bonus Avios (at 16,000 tier points in the year)
Requires 7,500 Tier Points or 50 flights with a BA flight number

What Benefits Do You Get with BA Club Gold Status?

9 Avios per £ spent with BA/AA, 8 Avios per € spent with Iberia
All Silver benefits plus the following:
Free seat selection of log-haul exit row seats at time of booking
First class check-in, including use of the First Wing at Heathrow Terminal 5
First class lounge access (+1 guest), where available
Use of the Arrivals lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5 (when travelling on long-haul flights)
Additional Reward Flight availability
Access Gold Priority Rewards – unlock any seat for a reward flight for double the standard Avios rate
Ability to Transfer Avios to other British Airways Club members for free
1x Gold upgrade for two (GUF2) voucher (at 35,000 tier points in the year)
2x Gold upgrade for one (GUF1) vouchers (at 50,000 tier points in the year)
Requires 20,000 Tier Points

What Benefits Do You Get with BA Club Gold Guest List Status?

9 Avios per £ spent with BA/AA, 8 Avios per € spent with Iberia
All Gold benefits plus the following:
Access to BA’s best lounges: Concorde Room at Heathrow Terminal 5 and Chelsea Lounge at JFK Terminal 8 for the member and a guest travelling on the same flight
Lounge access for member and 5 guests in BA’s own lounges (excluding the Concorde Room and Chelsea Lounge)
Gift 1x BA Club Gold & 2x BA Club Silver Memberships to friends or family
Hilton Honors Diamond status
Complimentary upgrades on the Heathrow Express from Standard class to Premier+for member and a guest
Gold Guest List redemption benefit (also known as Space Release or a Joker) – BA will turn any cash ticket for sale in fare classes A, D, T and B into an Avios ticket (at 75,000 Tier Points)
Choose from an additional Gold Guest List redemption, two additional Gold Upgrade for One vouchers or 50,000 Avios (at 90,000 Tier Points and every 15,000 TPs thereafter)
Requires 65,000 Tier Points, of which 52,000 earned by flying on BA
Retention of Gold Guest List status requires 40,000 Tier Points, of which 32,000 earned by flying on BA

What Benefits Do You Get with BA Club Premier Status?

9 Avios per £ spent with BA/AA, 8 Avios per € spent with Iberia
Members generally control large corporate travel accounts, spending multi million £s with BA or are highly influential (Theresa May registered hers in 2022) or are top tier A-list celebrities
Use of airport Special Services teams including escorts through security and to/from the aircraft
Use of British Airways lounges at all times, even when not flying on BA. Includes the Concorde Room at Heathrow Terminal 5
Lounge access for member (+2 guests)
Gift 1x BA Club Gold & 2x BA Club Silver Memberships to friends or family
1x Gold upgrade for two (GUF2) voucher
Invitation only

Any Other Benefits to Being in the British Airways Club?

OneWorld Alliance

Many of the benefits gained with your British Airways status such as avios earning, tier point earning and lounge access are recognised when flying with other members of the OneWorld alliance.

OneWorld member airlines are Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Fiji Airways, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian and Sri Lankan Airlines. For more details see here.

Keeping Members Happy

In theory, airlines look after the members of their frequent flyer schemes more than the general public so by being a member of the BA Club, you are less likely to be downgraded or offloaded in an overbooking situation or when there are operational issues with the flight. However, by no means a guarantee, and do not expect to have a significantly higher chance of a free upgrade just because you are a member.

Status Freeze

If you have Bronze status level and above, you can apply for a Status Freeze in the event that you take maternity, paternity or adoption leave which will protect your status in the British Airways Club during the period you are not working. Parents taking shared parental leave can both apply and each member is entitled to a maximum of 2 status extensions within a 5 year period.

Soft Landings

If you have Silver status level or above and do not achieve the criteria to retain your status for the following 12 months, you will only drop down one level. This is an unpublished scheme benefit.

Dedicated Contact Numbers

Silver, Gold and Gold Guest List members each have dedicated priority contact telephone lines to deal with bookings, seat selection, tier benefits, and account queries

Lifetime Status

Gold for Life is available when you achieve 550,000 lifetime Tier Points
Gold Guest List for Life is achieved with 1,500,000 lifetime Tier Points

Part 3: How Do I Earn Tier Points in the British Airways Club?

Tier Point earning is rather complicated, thanks to a redesign of the scheme effective from April 2025 which resulted in many members having unrealistic targets to achieve/retain their status. As a result, BA introduced a secondary method of earning Tier Points on each flight, known as Extra Tier Points.

1) Flying on British Airways

1 Tier Point is awarded for every £ of “eligible spend” on BA marketed flights (ie those with a BA flight number on the ticket)
Eligible spend is the base price of the flight and carrier charges but excludes government taxes and airport charges.
Extra Tier Points are allocated based on the length of flight, the cabin class and the ticket type. These are awarded for each individual flight segment:

	Basic	* Non-Flex	Semi-Flex	Flex	Fully-Flex
Short Haul Flights
Euro Traveller (Economy)	0	75	175	-	275
Club Europe (Business)	-	175	275	-	375

Long Haul Flights
World Traveller Economy)	0	150	250	350	450
World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy)	-	275	375	475	575
Club World (Business)	-	500	700	900	1100
First	-	650	850	1050	1250

* Non-Flex is not a BA term but our way of grouping fares named Standard, Plus, Premium Economy, Business and First. Other fares are labelled Basic, Semi-Flex, Flex and Fully-Flex

So for example, 1 person spending a whopping £3,069 on a business class semi-flex ticket, flying from Newcastle to New York via London would earn a total of 5,176 Tier Points (£3,069 flight cost – £368 taxes/fees = 2,701 TPs) + (275 + 700 + 700 + 275 = 1,950 Extra TPs each for the flights flown)
In addition, 2 Tier Points are awarded for every £ of add-on spend such as checked bags, seat selection and contribution towards Sustainable Aviation Fuels

2) Flying as part of a British Airways Holiday

1 Tier Point per £ spent on the holiday is awarded on “Flight + Hotel” and “Flight + Car” bookings. The tier points are split equally between the total number of people on the booking but only those passengers who add a British Airways Club membership number will be credited with Tier Points.
In addition each traveller will also receive extra tier points for each individual flight segment, based on the cabin flown in:
- - Euro Traveller (Short Haul Economy): 75 extra tier points
  - Club Europe (Short Haul Business): 175 extra tier points
  - World Traveller (Long Haul Economy): 150 extra tier points
  - World Traveller Plus (Long Haul Premium Economy): 275 extra tier points
  - Club World (Long Haul Business): 500 extra tier points
  - First (Long Haul First): 650 extra tier points
Standalone bookings or flights with hotels added separately later do not qualify
For example, 2 people spending £1,000 on a flights + hotel weekend in Rome, from London in Economy would each earn 650 Tier Points (£1,000 / 2 = 500 TPs each for the holiday spend) + (75 + 75 = 150 Extra TPs each for the flights flown)

Read our full guide to earning Tier Points and Avios with British Airways Holidays.

3) Flying on American Airlines and Iberia (including Iberia Express & Air Nostrum) Marketed Flights

As with BA marketed flights, 1 Tier Point is awarded for every £ of “eligible spend” on AA & Iberia Flights. This is the base price of the flight and carrier charges but excludes government taxes and airport charges.
Any tickets booked in a foreign currency will have the price converted into sterling.
Extra Tier Points are also awarded based on the length of flight, the cabin class and the ticket type. These are awarded for each individual flight segment:

	Extra TPs on AA/Iberia
Short Haul Flights
Economy	75 #
Business	175

Long Haul Flights
Economy	150
Premium Economy	275
Business	500
First	650

# “Basic Economy” fares on AA/Iberia do not generate any Extra Tier Points

4) Flying on other BA Partners

Tier Point earning on all other partners is based on a percentage of the distance flown in miles on each leg of the trip. For example a cheap economy ticket might earn 2% of the actual miles flown, whilst an expensive business class trip might get Tier Points equalling 60% (or more) of miles flown.
For example, a BA Club member flying in Economy class (A fare class, 4% of miles flown) on an Aer Lingus flight from London Heathrow to Dublin (280 miles) would earn 11 Tier Points each way, while a First Class flexible fare (F fare class, 60% f miles flown) on Qatar Airways from Heathrow to Doha (3,261 miles) would earn a huge 1,956 Tier Points each way. Fare classes are usually clearly shown when booking on the airline or travel agent’s website.
As well as American Airlines and Iberia (mentioned above), BA’s partner airlines include members of the OneWorld alliance such as Alaska Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Fiji Airways, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian and Sri Lankan Airlines. In addition, flights with sister airline Aer Lingus also qualify for Tier Point earning.
Tier Points are not awarded on China Southern or LATAM flights (although you do earn Avios), unless you are flying on a BA flight number
Use this calculator to work out how many Tier Points you will earn on a flight with a BA partner.

5) Spending on the American Express British Airways Premium Plus Credit Card

Holders of the Amex BA Premium Plus credit card can earn up to a maximum of 2,500 Tier Points each year based on their spend. Card holders must opt in and only spend after the registration date counts for the purpose of Tier Points
From 1 April 2026 to 1 February 2027, Tier Points will be issued as follows:
- - 750 Tier Points when spending £15,000
  - 750 additional on a further £5,000 (total £20,000 spend)
  - 1000 extra on a further 5,000 (total £25,000 spend)
From 1 April 2027 there is a change to the earning structure:
- - 1 Tier Point per £10 spent on the card
  - Maximum of 3,000 Tier Points per membership year, up from 2,500 TPs in 2026/27 (total £30,000 spend)
  - The new scheme runs for the full 12 months from 1 April to 31 March each year, rather than over 9 months during 2026/27.
Tier points are not earned on things like balance transfers, cash withdrawals, travellers cheques, Non-Sterling transaction fees, interest/late payment charges, card membership fees or cancelled/refunded transactions

Other Points to Note

Tier Points are not awarded on reward flights although if you use Avios as part payment towards your flight, Tier Points will be awarded as normal.

If you are booking with BA, you can usually see the number of Tier points that you will earn for your flight during the booking process

You can also see the number of Tier Points to be earned in Manage My Booking on BA.com

Our Take

British Airways Club status can deliver significant benefits, particularly if you fly regularly with British Airways or its oneworld partners. While the changes introduced in 2025 made the programme more spend-based, there are still several ways to build Tier Points through flights, holidays and, more recently, through credit card spending.

For many travellers, Silver status offers the best balance between effort and reward. Lounge access, fast-track security, free seat selection at the time of booking and an increased baggage allowance can dramatically improve every journey. Gold status brings further premium benefits, but requires substantially higher spending or frequent long-haul travel.

Before chasing status, consider how often you’ll actually use the benefits. If you only fly once or twice a year, paying for occasional lounge access or seat selection may work out cheaper. However, regular travellers who consistently fly with British Airways, American Airlines, Iberia or other OneWorld airlines could find that earning status quickly pays for itself.

Understanding how Tier Points are awarded—and planning your bookings accordingly—is the key to reaching the next tier.