Do you currently hold frequent flyer status with British Airways? Not going to meet the tier point or eligible flight minimum before your membership year end?
So when does your British Airways Executive Club elite status perks and benefits expire?
Well the answer isn’t as straight forward as you may think. Below, let’s take a look at what factors into your membership status expiry date, as well as when your British Airways frequent flyer status benefits begin.
When does my new British Airways frequent flyer status perks and benefits begin?
We firstly need to establish when your British Airways frequent flyer elite status perks and benefits begin.
The answer is once you cross the tier point and eligible flight threshold to upgrade to the next elite status. As soon as you complete a flight that crosses these thresholds, and your Avios and tier points post to your account, you will receive an email notification from British Airways that you have moved to the next tier. As soon as you receive this and your account updates, you will have access to frequent flyer perks and benefits of your new status straight away.
To find out more about the perks and benefits you are entitled to at your new elite status level, check out my article here on the British Airways Executive Club. I cover all the different tiers of the loyalty program and their perks and benefits, as well as how to obtain elite status.
In my past experience, Avios and tier points post fairly quickly after the flight with British Airways, however some oneworld partner airlines can take longer or may require you to claim for missing Avios and tier points online. I recently had issues with Cathay Pacific flights not posting to my British Airways account, but you can rectify this online on the BA website.
Have you had any recent issues with oneworld partner flights not crediting to your British Airways Executive Club account? Let me know at [email protected].
Your British Airways status is valid for the rest of your current membership year, as well as the membership year after.
When does my British Airways status expire?
Your British Airways Executive Club elite status expiry date is made up of the following components:
- The rest of your current membership year to your membership year end;
- A full membership year, the following year;
- And a small 7-8 week buffer
As your British Airways Executive Club frequent flyer status is valid for the rest of the current membership year and following complete membership year, this means that if you qualify with a mileage run early on in your membership year, you can get nearly two full years of elite status perks and benefits with British Airways. If you qualify within the first 2 months of your membership year, you will essentially get a full two years of perks and benefits, taking into account the 7-8 week buffer.
This is worth keeping in mind if you fly frequently in Economy, for work for example, as it can be beneficial to your travel experience to conduct a mileage run early if your membership year. Achieving British Airways Silver or Gold will give you the same ground perks as those passengers in Business Class, at no extra cost.
How can I find out my British Airways Executive Club status expiry date?
Finding out your British Airways Executive Club status expiry date is easy. Simply log into your British Airways account on their website, and click your name in the top-right hand corner.
Under “My Tier Points” you will see “Year ends”. This is your membership year end by which you need to accrue enough tier points and/or eligible flights to either upgrade or renew your British Airways elite status.
Click on the banner titled “View more account information”. The date listed besides “Card expiry date” is the at date your British Airways Executive Club status perks and benefits expire at your current tier level if you do not achieve the required minimum tier point and/or eligible flight thresholds to renew your status.
So if you’re just falling short of those minimums to renew or close to upgrading, how can you reach them quickly before your membership year end?
Insider Tips to get Tier Points quickly to renew your British Airways status before expiry
Firstly, you must achieve the minimum tier points and/or eligible flights before your membership year end, not the expiry date. By then, it will be too late and you will need to focus on earning enough points in your new membership year to upgrade your British Airways Executive Club elite status.
The eligible flight requirement for BA Silver is 50 flights – a pretty hefty target of nearly one British Airways operated or marketed flight or Iberia operated and marketed flight per week. Therefore, focusing on the 600 tier point threshold and 4 eligible flights is much easier to achieve.
How to earn more Tier Points from your Travel
Tier point earn is much higher in premium cabins – Premium Economy, Club Europe, Club World and First. Focus on creating a mileage run itinerary in those cabins.
Find cheap flight deals in premium cabins on British Airways sweet spot flights. From London, flights to Eastern Europe and Greece generally earn 80 tier points per flight segment. If you are US-based, look at trans-Atlantic Premium Economy or Club World sale flights.
Tier Points for Connecting Flights
The other secret to hit the eligible flight minimum, is to connect from a US airport with American Airlines or Alaska Airlines onto a British Airways flight (with a single British Airways ticket), or onwards to a European destination. This is because you will receive tier points on each flight segment. For example, flying a connecting flight return from Denver to London via Chicago in Business Class/Club World would net you 360 tier points. Tier points are distance-based, so if you did this in Winter in the off-season and on sale, you could save a fair sum of money. Do note that generally there is a 2-flight segment maximum with British Airways (eg. 1 stop), but do experiment with a multi-stop too as these may work out cheaper for certain routes.
Not sure where to start with a mileage run? Check out my Beginner’s Guide to Mileage Runs here.
Soft Landing: What happens if I don’t hit the required number of tier points?
Even the most frequent of travelers occasionally face situations where they are unable to accumulate enough tier points to maintain their British Airways Executive Club elite status. We saw this with COVID-19 (however British Airways and most airlines gave generous extensions to help their frequent flyers), you could have a newborn (British Airways offers a one-year maternity/paternity/adoption extension) or your corporate travel budget could be cut.
So what happens to your British Airways Executive Club status if you don’t meet the minimum thresholds before your membership year ends?
Soft Landing
Luckily, British Airways Executive Club works on a generous “soft landing” system when you status is due to expire. This means if you don’t meet the required minimum tier point and/or eligible flight thresholds, you simply move to the next tier down for the next membership year.
For example, if you held British Airways Gold elite status and you don’t meet the minimum thresholds, for your next membership year, you will move down to British Airways Silver.
Once you earn enough tier points and meet the minimum eligible flight threshold to upgrade, your elite status will move up again immediately.
This is much better than a “hard landing”, where you would lose your status altogether and only requalify for the status you meet the minimum thresholds for.
Schedule your big trips early in your Membership Year
If you have an extended trip planned, gap year or lots of business travel planned within a specific membership year, you could look at accumulating enough tier points (through British Airways and oneworld partner flights) to aim for British Airways Gold, then get the rest of your membership year and following membership year at that status (up to 2 years), 1 year of British Airways Silver, and 1 year of British Airways Bronze, even if you didn’t fly at all after than one specific year.
Up to 4 years of frequent flyer elite status sounds like a pretty good deal to me, even if you need a mileage run or two to achieve British Airways Gold elite status.
Conclusion
Knowing when your British Airways elite status does expire is important to maximising the benefits you earn, if you won’t requalify for status within your membership year. The 7-8 week buffer is handy to maximise the last of your perks and benefits, and maximise your use of lounge access if you hold British Airways Silver or British Airways Gold status.
Additionally, planning mileage runs towards the beginning of your membership year with the aim of upgrading your elite status helps to maximise the length of time you hold British Airways Executive Club elite status for.